Jamie (8 page)

“And that started a chain reaction,” Jamie guessed.

“Yes. Given how unethical and illegal the experiments were that Kline supervised, he became a pariah. Senators who had once backed him no longer wanted to be associated with him, either as a man or a scientist. Society condemned him. His wife divorced him and has since remarried. I haven't heard anything more about his daughter.”

“So Kline lost everything?”

Faith shrugged. “His labs, his funding, his family, and his money.”

Appearing thoughtful, Jamie murmured, “That wouldn't stop Kline.”

“No, unfortunately, it didn't.” It saddened Faith still to remember the turn of events. “He took his experiments to the private sector.”

Jamie closed his eyes. “Bastard.”

Beneath her legs, Faith could feel the rippling of Jamie's muscles, the tension radiating from him. Knowing how others had likely been hurt caused him pain, too.

Without looking at her, as if it didn't matter to him all that much, Jamie asked, “Whatever happened to Delayna?”

Glad that his eyes weren't on her, Faith whispered, “Not long after I left, she left, too. No one knows where she went. She just... disappeared.”

Other than the hardening of Jamie's jaw, he showed no emotion at all.

Curling close, Faith stroked his neck, his disreputable beard. He was astute enough to guess at what had transpired after all the investigations and the splitting up of teams, but still, she spelled it out.

“Professor Kline caused his own demise. He drew in unsuspecting citizens with the lure of tapping into their hidden telepathy. He promised to assist them in finding lost loved ones. He offered a chance to contribute to noble causes, like cancer cures. He gave them all the promise of better odds on winning the lottery. You name a vulnerability, a need, and Kline profited from it.”

“I'm not surprised.” Jamie stared past her shoulder. “But I don't imagine Kline's more visible supporters of the past were happy to see him setting up shop again.”

“That was a problem. It kept him in the public eye and under scrutiny.”

Jamie nodded. “So someone killed him to keep things quiet.”

“I don't know for sure, but I think it's possible. The CIA didn't want Professor Kline taking what he'd learned anywhere except the military. And continuing the experiments, in any way, ran the risk of bringing down everyone who'd ever been associated with the project.” She took a deep breath and shook her head sadly. “It's said that he died of a heart attack, though he had no history of health problems. Still, the whole thing was so hush-hush, no one is sure.”

“You said you destroyed every record concerning me.”

“Yes.”

“You're sure there weren't duplicates somewhere
^?
”

“At one point, yes, there were duplicates that I didn't have access to.” Weighing her odds of reaching him, against pushing him too hard, Faith decided to tell Jamie one small truth. “Delayna gave me all the files before I quit. This might be hard for you to believe, Jamie, but I think she knew I'd destroy them. She regretted her role in your life. She said that what had been done to you was inhumane and should never be done to another soul.”

Raw emotion flashed across Jamie's features before he deliberately changed the subject. “How did the papers find out about Kline? I know it wasn't you.”

“No. That was Delayna, too.” Faith half laughed at herself and admitted her awful cowardice—a cowardice that she couldn't yet explain to him. “As you already guessed, I was too afraid to say anything.”

His gaze connected with hers, touching her in ways that surpassed the physical. “By not speaking up, you let others suffer.”

“Yes.” But she'd had little choice. She couldn't trade one life to save another—and because Kline truly was a monster, that's what speaking up would have cost.

“I'm not judging you on that, Faith. I can't. I didn't say anything either.”

“Don't think that way, Jamie.” Faith wanted to offer him comfort any way she could. “We both did what we had to at the time. And we both lost things we valued.”

At her desperate words, his gaze sharpened, invading her, sifting through the layers of her mind. Some things she had to keep private, but other things Jamie deserved to know.

“You lost your family.”

“Yes.” There'd been so much confusion then—and so much hope. “But only for a while. To protect them, I had to isolate myself. I cut ties with everyone I knew so that the professor couldn't use them against me.”

Jamie nodded in approval. “Smart move. Kline is ...
was
more than capable of doing anything to get what he wanted.”

With a grim smile, Faith agreed. “We both know that, don't we?”

For several heartbeats, Jamie connected with her, until Faith looked away. In a whisper, she confessed some of the threats that had come fast and furious on the heels of her resignation.

“He said if one word of what I knew became public, my younger brother would have a fatal car accident. He was a new driver. Kline said it would be easy to make it look like an accident.”

This time Jamie's fingers curled around hers, and the sign of understanding, the show of comfort, nearly did Faith in. After everything he'd been through, including her present intrusion into his life, Jamie still had so much compassion. But she'd been holding on by a thread, and she needed Jamie's strength, not his comfort.

“He said my dad would lose his job, and my mother would run into men who enjoyed... redheads.”

Jamie eyed her hair. “Your mother's hair is like yours?” He fingered one long curl. “The same different shades of red?”

What did that have to do with anything? Faith shook her head. “Yes. My brother has brown hair. ”

“What about your father?”

She looked away. “He had brown hair, too.”

“Had?”

“He passed away a few years ago. It wasn't Kline,” Faith assured him. “He had a stroke and never recovered.”

“I'm sorry.” Jamie hesitated, then gave her hair a tug. “Go on.”

Faith swallowed down the uneasiness that always came with the memories. “It was horrible. My family didn't understand why I walked out of their lives, and naturally, I couldn't explain. They were so hurt, but I didn't know what else I could do. I couldn't involve them in something that was my problem because of choices I'd made.”

“You made those choices before knowing Kline was a monster. Once you knew, you left.”

“Not soon enough.” And that's what haunted Faith the most. “Maybe if I'd done something sooner, you would have been spared.”

Jamie stiffened, but not in anger. Not anymore. Did that mean he believed her? Faith hoped so.

“Don't fool yourself, Faith. Kline had a lot of important people in his pocket.” Leaning closer, Jamie dipped his head down to see her face. “You were just one small redheaded woman. What is it you called yourself? A worker bee. You didn't have enough clout to stop him.”

“Maybe not, but—”

Jamie easily stole her thoughts. “After you quit, you were financially strapped.”

“Sad but true.” Faith made a face. “They owed me two paychecks that they wouldn't give me, and I was too afraid to press them about it.”

“And since Farmington carried your scholarship, you had to quit college.”

She'd known how Jamie would get inside her head, but still it unsettled her. He knew her thoughts the same as if she'd spoken them aloud. “I found a job as a waitress and made it on my own.”

Now he frowned in apparent confusion. “You were already pregnant, right?”

Before a reply could form, Faith slammed the door shut on her thoughts, and that annoyed Jamie no end.

With his temper banked, Jamie asked, “Why did you do that, Faith?”

Being edgy put a snap in her tone. “Would you like it if I was in your head?”

“I don't even like having you in my house—but here you are.”

Heat ran up Faith's neck to settle in her cheeks. Jamie sounded very sincere in saying that, but she had to believe it was only bluster.

She tried to reason with him. “That was a painful time for me, more painful than you can know. I was afraid of so many things and so heartsick over what they'd done to you. It was cruel. And what they learned couldn't possibly apply to anything useful.”

“You're wrong.” Jamie dropped her hand, then rested back against the floor, stacking his hands behind his head in a pose of negligent disinterest. “They learned that when I'm emotionally charged, when my feelings come into play, I'm useless as a remote channel. I can't decipher shit.”

“That's not true.” Faith knew that she had to convince him.

“Yeah, it is. Concern and caring distort the facts, hope alters the reality. Kline figured out that he could twist my thoughts into being what he wanted them to be—and then use me to justify things that were... unjustifiable.”

Jamie's new distance pained her, so Faith leaned over him, resting a hand on his muscular chest, her head on his shoulder. He kept his arms behind his head, but the position was still cozy and made her aches and pains disappear. “That's why you avoid friends now, isn't it? It's why you isolate yourself here and refuse to get too involved.”

“Wrong again, Faith. I'm so damned involved with so many people now that I...”

She raised her head and smiled at him. “Worry even more?” God, he was so wonderful, and he didn't even realize it. Beneath her palm, she felt the steady thump of his heartbeat, a heart with more capacity for love than ten men combined.

Her fingers curled the tiniest bit. “You're human, Jamie, and you're allowed to experience human emotions.”

“It muddles things.” Again he closed his eyes, as if he couldn't quite figure it all out and he needed the quiet in his own brain to work on it. “It makes it impossible for me to be able to help.”

“No.” Faith stroked his hot skin, unsure whether or not it relaxed him, but knowing it made her feel better. “Don't you see, Jamie? It doesn't matter what ability you have, or how you fight it, you're still a man.”

Rather than reassure him, her statement seemed to annoy him more. He shoved up to one elbow, eyes narrowed, shoulders squared.

He looked at her body with lascivious interest. “Yeah, I'm a man, Faith.” His gaze lingered on her hand, open against his bare chest, then came back up to hers. “And you figure you can use that against me?”

Faith licked her lips and again opened her mind so Jamie would know that she spoke the truth. “I can use that to
help
you, Jamie. I can use it to convince you of what I already know—that you're capable of caring for someone and still seeing the truth in all situations.”

“You want me to care for you?”

He looked so appalled by such a possibility, Faith almost blushed. “Yes.” And she reiterated again, “So I can help you.”

“Why would you even want to?”

Her leg started throbbing. She needed coffee, and she was starting to get cold again. But this was too important to mess up, so she gave Jamie the truth rather than screw up a lie.

Because she was open to him, he smirked. “The truth would be nice for a change.”

“All right.” Faith brought her hand up to his shoulder, awed at the silky texture and the awesome heat that radiated from his skin. “Once I help you, then you can help my daughter. Because, Jamie, she needs you.”

“Right.” His jaw worked, his eyes blazed. “To do
what?”

“I plan to tell you everything. Believe me, I will. But it has to be in the right order. If I try to explain now, before you understand just how far-reaching your abilities are, then things might not work out.”

Jamie removed her hand from his body, scooped his muscular arms beneath her legs and back, and rolled to his feet in one fluid movement that amazed Faith.

She wasn't a lightweight. She weighed easily one-forty, yet Jamie treated her weight as negligible. He carried her without jarring her leg, without causing her any additional pain.

Trying for a spot of vagrant humor, Faith leaned away from him to see his face. “You're not going to dump me outside, are you?”

“I should.” There was no real anger to his tone now. “But no, I'm taking you to the couch.”

Thank God.
“I'm sorry I'm such a burden. I hadn't planned to be sick or to hit my head or to tumble down a ladder. I hadn't planned on passing out last night and sleeping so long. I swear.” She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed. “But I'm glad if being hurt convinces you to give me another chance.”

“Don't push it, Faith.” Taking long strides toward the couch, Jamie glanced down at her. “I haven't ruled out getting rid of you. But for now... you have me curious.”

“About?”

He snorted. “Hell, everything. But especially how you manage to compartmentalize your thoughts, hiding some things while revealing others. It's like... in deliberate layers, and some are buried beneath others. I've never known anyone who could do that.”

Shew. That she could explain. “You have me curious, too. Can we talk for just a while?”

“Do you do anything except talk?” Gently, Jamie lowered her to the couch and pulled her to rest on her side. He crouched in front of her and, with a sound of frustration, touched the ragged welt on her leg. “You're going to have more bruises and bumps than a drunk in a brawl.”