“I’m trying to find her,” he said through set teeth. “I’ve got men out there combing those woods to find answers. But she knows too much, dammit. I’m scared shitless that someone from the Vice Squad or the District Attorney’s Office has heard about your freak of a kid and wants to question her. I’ve put an alert out to all our informants to see if there’s any chat about her being snatched by the cops.”
She shook her head. “The police wouldn’t kill Tantona and the others, would they? Wouldn’t they get in trouble or something?”
“Yes.” Occasionally Gina came up with logic though that wasn’t her forte. She preferred to twist reality to suit herself. “But Teresa might be valuable enough for them to run the risk.”
“Because you’re so important,” she said. “And so smart.” She took his hand and slipped it beneath the silk of her robe to cover her breast. “Too smart for any of them. But you shouldn’t worry about Teresa’s being a witness against you or the family. Even if the police have her, she wouldn’t say anything if I didn’t want her to do it.”
His hand slowly tightened on her breast until he knew it must hurt.
She didn’t flinch, and her smile never left her lips. “Do you want it that way? I know you’re upset. You know I’ll never say no to you. I’ll love every minute of what you do to me.” She opened her robe, took his other hand, and put it on her other breast. “Do whatever you want with me.”
“Oh, I will.” Gina was better than any professional whore he’d ever paid. She never disappointed. He found her acceptance of any erotic play he chose to be mind-blowing. “You’ll scream for me.” He bent down, and his teeth closed on her nipple.
She inhaled sharply at the pain. “Good. And when it’s over, I know you’ll forget all about blaming me for Teresa. After all, none of it is my fault. She shouldn’t have run when you only wanted to talk to her.”
No, nothing was ever Gina’s fault. But could she really be lying to herself to this extent? Yes, probably. It didn’t matter. She could control her daughter. And he could control Gina Casali. “Yes, it’s all Teresa’s fault.” He lifted his head and smiled into Gina’s eyes. “We both know that’s all I wanted to do. Don’t we?”
Flagstaff, Arizona
“What is this place?” Allie’s gaze wandered over the snowcapped mountains in the distance as she went down the steps of the private plane. “Where are you taking me?”
“I thought you’d never ask. You haven’t said a word since we got on the plane.” Mandak followed her down the steps and took her elbow and nudged her toward the small terminal. “It’s just a small private airport near the campus of Northern Arizona University. You’ll be attending classes there in a few months.”
“If I’d asked you anything, I’d have had to count on you to tell me the truth.” She shrugged. “I’d already committed to doing what you asked. I knew I’d find out eventually.”
His brows rose. “No curiosity?”
She’d been curious. But the entire situation was intimidating her, and she hadn’t wanted to plead with him to tell her what she wanted to know. Not until she gained a little more confidence. “Maybe.” She watched him as he signed out a tan Camry rental car at the curb. “Maybe not.”
“Well, that’s definitive.” He opened the passenger door for her. “How is the wound in your side?”
“Hurts.” She’d received a blood transfusion before they’d left Kentucky, and the weakness had almost disappeared. “But it’s okay.” She got into the car. “You made me rest on the plane. That probably helped.”
“I had to make sure you were in top-notch shape.” He went around and got in the driver’s seat. “Perish the thought that I had even an ounce of humanity.”
“I believe you’re very human.” She didn’t look at him. “I can feel you … seething.”
“Oh, can you?” He started the car. “That’s interesting.” He glanced at her. “Anger?”
“No. You’re like one of those lava streams from a volcano. It would sear you to touch, but there’s no malice present right now.”
“You seem sure.” His gaze turned speculative. “Perhaps you have another talent beside your gift for reading memory?”
“No. Heaven forbid.” She grimaced. “I just sometimes feel things. It’s not all that unusual for someone to be able to guess what others are feeling. It doesn’t have to be freak-oriented.”
“There’s that word again. No, it’s not that unusual. Quite common for anyone studying the human psychology. You just appeared to be more certain than I would have thought.” He chuckled. “Though I believe you’ve been studying and probing me since I wandered under your radar. I had the idea you were giving Josh Dantlow the same attention when you met him. What did you think of him?”
“Smart. Very nice.” She looked out the window. “What you wanted me to think.”
“And?”
“Did I let his memories flow to me? Yes, I had to be sure that he was what you said he was. He was relatively clean. A little tortured about putting his mother in a nursing home before she died. And he’s a little afraid of you because of something you did last year. It kept floating and interfering.” She looked back at him. “But I couldn’t see anything that would make me think that he would hand me over to Camano.”
“And that’s all that’s important?”
“I can handle anything else.” She paused. “Where are you taking me?”
“I’ve rented a lodge in the mountains a few miles from the university campus. We have some work to do before I can turn you loose on your own.”
“What kind of work?” she asked warily.
“Blocking, principally. You said that you couldn’t be sure of its working every time. Sometimes not at all. You couldn’t trust it. In crowds, you became overwhelmed.”
“I didn’t tell you all that.”
“No, let’s just say I had a ‘feeling’ that was your problem.”
“Because you’ve known other freaks like me.”
He flinched. “I’m going to have to insist that you refrain from using that word. It offends me. It should offend you. We’re going to have to work on your self-esteem.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my self-esteem. I just don’t lie to myself. I am what I am.”
“Because people told you that you’re a freak doesn’t mean it’s true.”
“It doesn’t mean that it’s untrue. It’s all a matter of perspective. In most people’s eyes, I’m a freak.” She looked him in the eye. “Right?”
He nodded slowly. “If you want to believe that other people have the right to judge. Personally, I think that’s crap. Don’t you?”
“That’s a defense to keep you from admitting that—” She stopped. That sounded like something Dr. Kramer would say. “Yes, it’s pure crap. No one should judge someone else if they’re not harming anyone.”