Iris Johansen - Pandora's Daughter

"What bridge?"

"I don't know. It's all blurry. Steel. It's no Golden Gate but it's big enough to see from a distance."

"Anything else?"

"No, I lost the view. But the tether is still strong. I'm heading toward it now."

"Where are you?"

"The last town I passed was Bristol."

"I'm sending Harley in a helicopter to meet you."

"I don't need Harley."

"If you can narrow down the target area, maybe he can find that bridge from the air and spot the house."

"Maybe."

"At noon Megan is going to be in that damn field with Molino. I can't touch him as long as he's a threat to Phillip and Davy, but I have to know where Molino's taking her."

"I know all that. Harley may get in my way."

"I'll chance it. He'll call you from the helicopter."

Renata hung up. She didn't want Harley here. She didn't want anyone to see her this weak and trembling. She picked up the dress again and clutched it beneath her hand on the wheel where it had been for the past seven hours. Even after all this time, her hand was still shaking and her emotions were raw.

"We'll just have to put up with it, Adia," she whispered.

"Maybe he will be able to help."

Then she blocked out all thought of anything but the tether leading her to Molino. Northwest.

"I'VE JUST HEARD FROM RENATA," Grady said as he came into the sitting room. "She thinks she has an idea where Molino's place is."

Megan straightened on the couch. "Thank God."

"And she's getting a general picture. It's northwest and near a bridge. I'm calling Harley."

"Good. I'll feel better with him there if she's really near Molino. She likes to do things a little too much on her own."

"She does them well."

"You're defending her." She managed to smile faintly. "That's a surprise."

"It shouldn't be. She's proved she's on your side. That's all the qualification I demand these days. If she was a witch incarnate, I'd help her gather eye of newt for her brews if I could be sure she'd be able to find Molino."

"Witch," she repeated. "I suppose in the past she might have been considered a witch. It's so unfair."

"Along with present company." He was dialing the phone. "But I have to get Harley going to help our witch."

She got to her feet and headed for the kitchen. "I'll make some coffee."

"Go to bed, Megan," Grady said quietly when she came back with two cups of coffee fifteen minutes later. "You've been sitting on that couch like a frozen statue since we came back from the cemetery. You won't sleep but you can at least stretch out."

She shook her head. "Scott is going to call me back after he talks to the police." She swallowed. "I asked him to have the police talk to Venable. I told him it wouldn't do any good to contact the police, that I'd get Davy back, but he wouldn't listen. I probably wouldn't listen either. He sounded as if he hated me."

"He's your friend. He'll get over it once we have the boy safe."

"Will he? What friend would put a little boy in danger? He doesn't care about anything but getting him back."

"Did you tell him about Molino?"

She shook her head. "Not about what a monster he is. I hope the police don't tell him. They don't need to know that. It would put them through even more hell than they're going through now. It's enough that I know. He's such a sweet little boy, Grady." She looked down at the photo she was still clutching. It was a shot of Davy on his new bicycle. Not the same one Scott had sent her. Davy's expression in this picture was intent, concentrating, and totally adorable. "They must have been watching him for a long time."

"Probably since you took him to the zoo. Darnell was watching you during that period. Since he was no relation, Molino wouldn't have regarded Davy of much importance. He only grabbed him when he wasn't positive Phillip would be enough of a draw."

"A double whammy," she said bitterly. "He found a way to-"

Her cell phone rang. Scott. She quickly punched the button. "Have you talked to the police?"

"The bastards are stalling," Scott said harshly. "After they talked to Venable they're not even trying to find him. They said it wouldn't be safe to muddy the waters. My God, Davy is alone with those sons of bitch and no one is doing anything."

"We're doing something. I won't let him be hurt, Scott."

"You'd better not. You're my friend but this happened because you're got yourself involved with scum. Now get my son back."

"I'm so sorry, Scott," she whispered.

"Sorry isn't good enough. Jana's hysterical and had to be sedated. I'm a basket case and my son could be dead tomorrow. Now fix it." He hung up.

She looked at Grady. "Venable called the police off the case. Scott doesn't understand." She put the phone down on the table. "Except that I'm to blame and he wants Davy back." She added unsteadily, "And he's right. Maybe we're all wrong about this Pandora business. Perhaps my 'talent' is that I let loose pain and disaster on everyone around me."

"Shut up," he said curtly. "This is Molino, not you. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself."

She lifted her head, startled. "I'm not feeling sorry for myself. I just-"

"Good. Because I can't take any more. Every word you say feels like it's stabbing me."

She smiled faintly. "Then maybe you should be the one to stop feeling sorry for yourself."

"I'll work on it. But it would make me feel better if you'd let me touch you." He pulled her down beside him on the couch. "Okay?"

It would make her feel better too. The first shock had passed, but the raw pain remained. "Okay." She cuddled closer to him. She was silent a moment letting the warmth and togetherness flow into her. "I hurt them, Grady," she whispered. "I can almost see why Renata won't let anyone come near her. I don't want to ever hurt anyone like this again."

"But you're not Renata. You can't do that." His hand gently stroked her hair. "You have to live with it. This isn't going to last forever. It's all going to straighten out. We'll see that it does."

"I wish I were with Renata. I'm afraid for her, Grady."

"Dammit, stop being afraid for everyone but yourself." He added roughly, "Renata's not the one who's going to let someone whisk her off to maim and mutilate her."

After his previous gentleness the sudden brutal frankness shocked her. She stiffened and tried to pull away but his grasp tightened. "I don't want to hear this, Grady."

"No, but it felt good to let it out." He put his cheek against her temple. "I hate it. You have no right to make me feel like this and then go off and risk your damn neck." Let me go.

"In a minute." He was holding hard and tight, but it was less than a minute when he released her and got to his feet. "I'm calling Venable and telling him to send some agents into Nashville in case we need them. If Renata is right about the general direction, then that should be a good jumping-off place." He headed for the door. "Nothing is going to happen to you, Megan. If Molino hurts one fingernail, one hair of your head, I'll find a way to send him to hell in the most painful way he could imagine. He thinks he wants to destroy freaks? Wait until he sees what this freak can do to him."

The door slammed behind him.

Megan shivered at the violence that was still electrifying the room. She had always been aware of the underlying violence that lay in Grady but she had still been unprepared for this explosion.

She had a sudden memory of what he had said when he'd said he wanted to have possession of the Ledger because he was afraid of what would happen if one of the family were cornered by Molino.

Well, Grady felt cornered now and there was nothing she could do about it. She was soon going to have her hands full dealing with Molino.

7:40 A.M.

"I'VE BROUGHT A TOPOGRAPHICAL and navigational map of the area." Harley laid the map on the car seat between him and Renata. "Turn on the top lights."