She shook her head. "Family is just a word. I don't know any of these people but Renata."
"But you're already hurting for them." His hand tightened. "Don't be drawn in, Megan."
She smiled faintly. "But you're the one who drew me in. You sent me to get the Ledger. The family has the Ledger and evidently I can't get it without them. It's a Catch-Twenty-two."
"Distance yourself. That's the only way to—" He stopped and shook his head. "What am I saying? You don't know how to distance yourself. It against your basic makeup. You're even having trouble convincing yourself to distance yourself from me."
She looked down at their hands. His grasp felt good, safe. He was right, she didn't want to let go of that strength. She deliberately drew her hand away. "But I can do it. You talk as if I'm some kind of emotion-charged junky. I can do anything I have to do. I can walk away whenever I want to do it."
"But it hurts you more than it would other people," he said softly. "And if you're a junky, then I wouldn't have it any other way. You shine, you glow, you burn. I feel warm inside just being with you."
She didn't know what to say. The melting sensation deep within her that was like nothing she'd ever felt before. She wanted to reach back across the table and touch him.
And then she'd be back where she'd been when she'd gotten out of his bed only a short time ago. "We were talking about Renata."
"Yes." He leaned back in his chair. "And you want to get back on an impersonal subject. But nothing is impersonal between us. Haven't you found that out? We start out perfectly cool and practical and then it all goes downhill. You're wondering if I'm going to touch you. No, not right now. I can hold off since you're obviously suffering an overload. But it will happen. I can't help it." He smiled. "But we'll try to backtrack and give you some breathing space."
"How kind," she said dryly before she changed the subject. "I won't have Renata risk herself and she won't let us use the Ledger, but there must be some way she can help us."
"I got the impression from what you said that it was going to be her way or nothing."
Megan's lips tightened. "Then she'll have to change her mind."
He chuckled. "Lord, at this moment I can definitely detect a family resemblance. I don't know about the Devanez clan, but you may be sisters under the skin."
"That's ridiculous. We're nothing alike."
"Yet you're fighting with all your strength to protect her. You like her."
Yes, she did like Renata. In spite of her barbed toughness and stubbornness, Megan could sense vulnerability just below the surface that she instinctively wanted to shelter and protect. Since childhood Renata had not really had anyone to take care of her but her cousin, Mark, who had clearly concentrated on keeping her alive and not given her the security of a home and affection. "It's natural that I should want to help her. We both have had to be on our own, but I had Phillip. I don't believe she really had anyone."
"Well, evidently that lack caused the two of you to spin in different directions. You became a doctor and she became Lara Croft slash James Bond." He waved his hand as she opened her lips to speak. "I'm not putting her down. There's a lot about her that I respect." He smiled. "But then I respect Lara Croft and James Bond too. However, you'll have to accept that Renata will never hesitate to pull the trigger if she's cornered. You'd agonize and try desperately to find a way to keep from doing it, but she'd consider her options in a split second and then do what had to be done." He lifted his cup to his lips. "And it's not necessarily the difference in character and upbringing. It could be the talent. Your talent is based on emotional responsiveness and carries over to every part of your life. Renata's gift is more abstract. She can see patterns and connections in situations that lead her to be able to predict the next step, sometimes the final result. It's mental rather than emotional."
She grimaced. "I'd much rather believe in normal personality and environmental traits. Anything else would put entirely too much importance on all this psychic stuff."
"Heaven forbid," he murmured.
She ignored the faint mockery in his tone. "But we might as well take advantage of any edge we have." She frowned. "Though I can't see how a Listener would be of any help in trapping Molino."
"You found Renata," he pointed out.
"Much good that's doing us if we can't persuade her to give us the Ledger." She added slowly, "But you're both right. There's an opportunity to turn the prey into the hunter here. It's just that the prey can't be Renata."
He stiffened. "I don't like the sound of that." He studied her expression. "I don't like it at all."
"Why not? You're all into this opportunity bull." She turned toward the door. "I have to think. I'm going for walk."
He rose to his feet. "I'll go with you." He shook his head. "I know you don't want company. It doesn't matter. I'm not letting you out of my sight. We don't know how much Molino knows and where he is on the game board. And I won't trail you behind you as I did last night. You'll have to put up with me."
She didn't want him. He would disturb her. Just looking at him disturbed her.
"Get used to it," Grady said softly.
"I will." She turned and headed for the door. "For the time being."
"FALBON IS DEAD," SIENNA SAID. "He was found murdered on Onstadt Street in Munich late last night. A blow that sent splinters into his brain. We received a call from him at nine and he said he was going to have Renata Wilger before the night was over." He shrugged. "It seems he was wrong. Grady?"
"Probably." Molino thought about it. "But that doesn't mean he has to have the Ledger yet. Edmund Gillem was very stubborn and he held out for a long time. Grady may be hesitant to use the same methods we did. If we move fast, we may be able to snatch her away from him." He paused. "And Megan Blair is still with him?"
"Presumably. She was on the plane to Munich."
That was good, he thought with satisfaction. If Renata Wilger, Megan Blair, and Grady were together there was a chance that he could scoop up all these murdering freaks at one time.
"Was Falbon able to give us anything to use to find Renata Wilger?"
"When he was doing surveillance at the brokerage office, he was able to zero in on her cell phone. There's a chance that we can use a satellite to locate her if she doesn't have it blocked."
"Do it."
"I'm already working on it. We're too close to that Ledger to make mistakes now." Sienna tilted his head. "I thought you'd be more upset that Falbon had bought it."
"No, it won't matter in the long run. I just have to be patient. I'll have them all."
"I'm glad you're so confident." Sienna turned and left the room.
And Sienna wasn't that sure they'd succeed, Molino thought. Let him doubt. He would see that Molino was right.
I'll help you. We'll kill them all, Papa. We'll butcher the freaks.
He could feel the tears sting his eyes. "Yes, Steven," he whispered. "I know."
A SHADOWY FIGURE WAS standing beside her bed!
Renata's hand snaked beneath her pillow. Where was the gun? She gasped and then dove forward and butted her head into the man's stomach.