Iris Johansen - Pandora's Daughter

"Disposed of him?" Megan asked.

"I killed the bastard," Renata said bluntly. "What do you think? That I'd give him a tap and have him come after me again tomorrow? That wouldn't have been smart."

"No, it wouldn't," Grady agreed. "And now Molino will have to send someone else. It will give us a little time."

"Give me a little time," she corrected. "Thanks to you, I'll need it now."

"We didn't lead Molino to you," Megan said. "There was no way he could know the name of the person we're searching for. I didn't know myself until a few days ago."

"Then he found out from the same source."

Megan shook her head. "No way."

"Don't tell me that. You don't know what he'd do to get what he wants."

"Believe me, I do." She stared her in the eye. "I've been there."

"Bullshit. You've been safely tucked away in Georgia all these years. You don't know anything."

"How do you know that?" She remembered something else. "And how did you know what I looked like?"

"It's in the Ledger."

"What?"

"Photos. Reports. Your mother was found and documented when she was in her teens. After that we were able to keep track of both of you until you slipped away when you were fifteen. It took a long time, but Edmund was finally able to trace you when you were in your second year in medical school."

"Edmund…"

"Edmund Gillem." She was silent a moment. "He's not alive any longer."

Renata's voice was steady, but there was such a wealth of pain in those words that it shook Megan. She wanted to reach out in comfort but it would have been like comforting a wolverine. "No, he died in that trailer in Rome. He was very brave."

"He was a fool. I told him to run." She drew a deep, shaky breath. "Like I'm going to do."

"Too many people have run from Molino."

"Do you think I don't want to stay and take my chances to get that son of a bitch? I can't. Not now."

"Because you have the Ledger," Grady said.

"I didn't say that."

"No, that's true," Megan said. "But Edmund said it."

Renata went still. "You're lying. Edmund would never have told anyone. He would have died first."

Megan nodded. "You're right; he did die to keep anyone from knowing you had it." She added quietly, "And as he died, he prayed for you, Renata."

Renata stared at her for a long moment. "Oh, shit." She whirled on her heel. "Come on, let's walk, Megan."

"I take it Grady and I aren't invited?" Harley said. "Stay on the path so that we can keep you in view."

Renata didn't answer and Megan had to hurry to catch up with her.

Renata's hands were jammed into her pockets and she was looking straight ahead. She didn't speak for a few minutes and when she did, her voice was no longer steady. "You're a Listener?"

Yes.

"In the Ledger it said you probably would become one, but we weren't sure." She was blinking quickly to keep back tears. "Edmund bet me that you'd develop the talent in the next few years." She swallowed. "I told him he was crazy and that if you hadn't shown signs by now it was going to skip a generation."

"I wish it had."

She nodded jerkily. "But then you wouldn't be able to tell me about Edmund, would you? When was it?"

"Three days ago. In his trailer outside Paris."

Renata was silent again. "Was it… bad for him?"

She wouldn't lie to her. "Horrible."

"My God," She stopped on the path and closed her eyes. "I knew it. But I had to hear it."

"He was very brave and he was determined that no one else be hurt by Molino."

"He was such a fool. He'd agreed that even if there was even a hint of someone coming after him that he'd go on the run. But he didn't do it. When he came to see me three months ago, he said that it was just a feeling and it wasn't as if he could see the future. He laughed about it."

"But he felt uneasy enough to give you the Ledger." Yes.

"Will you give it to me? I promise I'll keep it from Molino."

She stared at her in astonishment. "Hell, no. Edmund died for that Ledger and he gave it to me for safekeeping. I'll never give it up." Her voice was vibrating with determination and passion. "Who do you think you are? You don't know anything."

"I'm trying to learn, Renata. Teach me."

"I don't have time. Just stay away from me. You're bad news."

"I can't stay away from you. I have to get Molino and he wants the Ledger. Grady says that Molino always stays in hiding and we have to draw him out. The Ledger may be the only way we can stop him."

"Then you'd better find another way. I won't risk the Ledger."

"It won't be a risk. We'd never let it-"

"No," Renata said curtly. "Back off."

Megan shook her head. "Okay, don't give us the Ledger. But don't run away from us. We'll protect you. God knows, we don't want anything to happen to you too."

Renata's lips twisted. "Because you're afraid then you'll never find the Ledger."

Anger suddenly flared in Megan. "Damn you. Is it too much for you to believe that I don't want you dead? Edmund must have cared about you. He prayed for you. He made me care about you. They tortured him, they did terrible things to him, and then killed him. I won't let anything else be taken from him. He wanted you to live and by God, you're going to live. If you run, I'll follow. If you hide, I'll find you."

Renata was staring at her in surprise. "I didn't mean that-Well, maybe I did." She lifted her chin defiantly. "But I have reason to doubt you. You're a stranger to me."

"Except what you read in the Ledger."

"That was bare bones. Edmund couldn't get a detailed profile on everyone. There are too many."

"Then I'll fill in the blanks. Because you've got to know me. You've got to trust me." She started walking again. "I won't let it be any other way. I don't want you to panic and dart away from me if there's any lingering suspicion. What do you know about Neal Grady?"

"I know he's been trying to find members of the family for a long time. He was CIA and he has a talent. Edmund thought it might be a good idea to approach him before he located any of us. He said that he thought he could talk to Grady. He liked what he'd found out about him."

"But he didn't do it."

She shrugged. "We're careful. We don't do anything on impulse. Edmund was going to give it another six months before he made a move."

What a tragedy, Megan thought. The two men had been gradually moving toward each other. If Grady had been two days earlier finding him, if Edmund had not been so cautious, that horror in the trailer might not have happened. "But he didn't have six months," Megan said. "How I wish he'd contacted Grady."

"He had to be sure. Grady wasn't the only one after us." Her lips tightened. "And it was through your mother that Molino found out that we even existed. That Tribunal Report on the family would never have meant anything to him if it hadn't been connected to Sarah."

"Do you expect me to apologize?" Megan asked. "Forget it. My mother never even knew about the Devanez family. She was just trying to survive and keep Molino's filthy hands off those helpless kids. And she went through hell doing it. So don't try to give me a guilt trip about your precious Ledger."

Renata was silent for a moment and then said slowly, "It is precious." She smiled faintly. "But so are children. And, you're right, I may have been trying to give you a guilt trip. I'm feeling defensive."

"No one is attacking you. You don't have to defend yourself."

"Yes, I do," she said simply. "It's a way of life with me."

Lately it had become a way of life for Megan too. She was beginning to feel a kinship with Renata Wilger. The woman was impulsive, distrustful, and from what Harley had said, violent, but she had cared about Edmund and she was willing to fight to keep his Ledger from being found. That last statement had possessed a poignancy that had touched Megan. "Then guard yourself from Molino. You're among friends here."