Iris Johansen - Pandora's Daughter

"Pain? What else did you do to Sienna?"

"Not me." He turned to face her. "You. I was so unhappy that Sienna walked away after he took your hand yesterday. I should have known that you wouldn't disappoint me. I just didn't realize that it didn't always happen at once."

She swallowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your mother grabbed my boy's hand and destroyed his mind within seconds. Maybe you're not as good as she was. Or maybe you didn't want me to know you were like her. Sienna didn't show any signs until almost midnight last night. He was checking the guards along the cliff and they said he kept shaking his head to clear it. Then an hour after he went to his quarters we heard a thumping. When I went down to check on the poor man, he was already gone. Weeping, pulling out his hair in clumps, and hitting his head against the wall as if to drive away the demons."

"It's not true."

"But it is. Why are you denying it? You must have known what to expect. I merely put him out of his misery."

"You're lying. You killed him because he was putting doubts in your mind about the sanity of your precious son and you had to have a scapegoat."

"I have no doubts about Steven." He looked down at her hands that were clenched at her sides. "What I could do with a power to kill like that. It's not right that freaks should be the only ones to be able to-" His cell phone rang. He pressed the button and a smile lit his face. "Good day, Ms. Wilger. What a pleasure to hear from you. This is my lucky day." He glanced at Megan who had gone rigid. "Yes, our Megan is quite well so far." He turned up the volume on the phone. "And we mustn't leave her out. She can hear you now."

"I don't care if she can hear me or not," Renata said curtly. "She's been trouble for me since the beginning. I've been getting nothing but pressure from Grady and the CIA about trying to make a deal with you to let her go."

"It's too late."

"Good. I don't believe one life is worth giving up the Ledger. Keep her."

"Wait. Don't hang up."

"You said it was too late."

"I might consider a deal. If I was sure that you really have the Ledger."

"I have it."

"Proof?"

"I can show you a few pages of it. You can have it tested for antiquity."

"I want to see the entire Ledger."

"I'm no fool. It's bad enough that I'm being forced to give it up. I won't give it up for nothing. The CIA has promised me compensation and protection from the rest of the family if I get Megan released. The Devanez family doesn't like traitors. I wouldn't last three days."

Molino was silent. "You'll come yourself to show me these pages?"

"Yes," Renata said reluctantly. "I'll come. If you're sure you want to deal. I'm at the Piedmont in Memphis. But I'm going to use my own helicopter. Your men can pick me up and search me and the helicopter for weapons and bugs. I'll let you pick up an expert who can verify the age of the pages and bring him along. Do you know an antiquity expert near here?"

"There's one at the university in Nashville who I use frequently. He was trained at the Louvre in Paris and you won't be able to fool him. I deal in antiquities from the ruins in Egypt and Italy and sometimes I can't trust my sources."

"Imagine that. Okay, I'll bring him. But once we land I'm not moving from that helicopter. You'll have to bring Megan to me so that I can be certain that she's still alive. She'll stay with me until you verify the pages. If you agree to the deal, I'm back in the helicopter and off to get the rest of the Ledger." She hung up.

"Not exactly eager to have you back, is she?" Molino asked.

"She doesn't think my life is worth exposing all those thousands of people in the Ledger to you."

"Thousands. Do you suppose there are thousands of those freaks about?"

"I have no idea. It was just a guess."

"When I first learned about the Ledger, my attention was split because I was obsessed with finding you. But now that I have you, I wonder what my life is going to be like if I don't have purpose to drive me onward. Steven wouldn't like it if I stopped now. No, I really think I have to have that Ledger."

"Then you'll make a deal?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Of course not. Don't get your hopes up. But we'll do a little sleight of hand to make them think I am. I'll arrange to have that Wilger bitch picked up and brought here." He shook his head. "And I can wait a little while to try out those Inquisition toys on you." He turned. "In the meantime, I believe I'll leave you here with Sienna. I did promise him his time with you." He glanced back over his shoulder. "By the way, did I forget to mention that you've done all this for nothing? I won't let either Phillip Blair or the boy live more than a week."

The next moment the door shut behind him and the key turned in the lock.

Alone with that grotesque carcass that had once been Sienna.

Molino had said that she was the one who had really killed him. She wouldn't believe it. Molino was looking for ways to justify his son's madness. She was not a Pandora. It wasn't true.

The shock had been too intense and it had sent her spiraling away from everything else of importance. She had to stop thinking about it.

And that last jab about his intention to kill Phillip and Davy had been meant to hurt and panic her. But Grady would never let anything happen to them now that they were safe.

She tore her gaze away from Sienna and looked around the room. The basement suite was luxuriously furnished in bold colors, but there were no windows, dammit.

Weapons. A man like Sienna would have a gun or knife or… something. She started systematically going through drawers.

Nothing. Not even a fingernail file. Molino must have planned to leave her here with Sienna from the moment he'd killed him.

Why not? What could be more chilling or horrible than to make her share quarters with those gory remains?

Don't look at him.

She sat down in a chair by the door. She'd hoped to have a way to defend herself until help came. The call from Renata had been an obvious stall. When Renata had first come into their lives, she might have shown that tough facade, but she had changed. God, they had all changed in these last days. Megan, Renata, Harley, Grady.

Grady.

Whatever Renata was planning, it had to involve Grady. Don't let anything happen to Grady. Don't let anything happen to any of them.

But she couldn't rely on wishful thinking. She had to be ready to find a way to act.

GRADY HUNG UP THE PHONE from talking to Renata and turned to Venable. "She thinks he took the bait." He picked up his rifle. "I'm out of here. I'll let you know what's happening on that hill."

"I have twenty men sitting on their asses in these damn woods," Venable said. "When am I going to be able to tell them to start? Give me a chance to do my job."

"You move one man out of cover before I give the word and I'll shoot him myself," Grady said harshly. "If Molino's men catch a whiff that anything's going on, Megan's dead."

"I'm a professional. I wouldn't let that happen."

Grady shook his head. "Renata's right. When she called me, I didn't want to go along with her. I wanted to be there waiting when they got back and blow the damn place up." His lips twisted. "But she ran that scenario and says that Megan would have an eighty-seven percent chance of dying. That's too high. It scared the hell out of me. So we're going with Renata's plan. First, there has to be a built-in delay to make sure Molino keeps his hands off Megan. Renata and the Ledger. Then we needed a man in the woods on the hill to feed us information. Since Harley was on the spot, he was up there before Molino brought Megan back. Next, we have to have someone go up and take out the sentries." He headed up the path. "That's me."