by Debra Webb
Kayla nodded. “ She’ s a little shaken up but she’ s going to be fine. Come in. Sit.” She gestured to the sofa. “ I was about to have some tea.”
“ I’ ll help.” Alex moved to her side. “ Then you can fill us in on exactly what happened. You can’ t imagine how worried we’ ve been.”
As the two of them prepared the tea, Alex brought Kayla up to speed on how they’ d arrived earlier that afternoon but hadn’ t been able to find her at the office or here. Alex had even gone by her sister’ s home as well as her parents’ . What she hadn’ t known, of course, was that Jazz had been missing by that time and Kayla’ s whole world had turned upside down. Finally Alex had tracked down Rebecca Claussen and learned about the kidnapping and shooting, well after the fact.
Back in the living room seated around the coffee table, Alex’ s faced paled as Kayla related the story of what Bradford had done. Justin Cohen, the man clearly in love with Alex, and a brother to one of the women who may have surrogated a child of Rainy’ s, listened intently. A member of the FBI as well, he had been working with Alex to try and find the surrogates as well as any offspring that had resulted.
Alex picked up a framed photograph of Jazz from the coffee table. She sighed softly as she stared at the photo that had been taken at Thanksgiving. “ I can’ t believe she’ s so grown up.” Her gaze met Kayla’ s. “ I’ m looking forward to finally meeting her.”
Kayla smiled, her heart bursting with joy at hearing Alex say those words. “ She’ s a treasure.”
“ She looks exactly like you.” She traced the image in the photo. “ Just like you did when you started at Athena.”
There was that.
Trepidation chased away those softer feelings. “ I’ ve decided to let her attend next fall.”
Alex drew in a sharp breath as her gaze locked with Kayla’ s once more. “ That’ s wonderful. I know she must be brilliant as well as beautiful.”
Kayla somehow kept her smile tacked in place. “ She is very bright.”
Her friend’ s expression fell. “ You’ re still worried about what happened to Rainy and… ” She shook her head, the movement as weary as Kayla felt. “ All this other confusion.”
“ It was a big decision,” she admitted. “ But I know sending her is the right thing to do. I just have to get to the bottom of what happened to Rainy first.”
Alex placed her hand on top of Kayla’ s. “ We’ ll find the truth and then you can feel good about sending Jazz.” A grin slid across her face. “ Imagine, Kayla, at the adventures she’ ll have… the amazing young women she’ ll meet.”
The smile was contagious. “ I’ ve been thinking about that.” She laughed. “ And some of the great times we had. All of us.”
Alex nodded. “ We were so lucky to have each other. The Cassandras.”
Kayla remembered Justin then and wondered if their sentimental journey bothered him considering what had happened to his sister. But he seemed quite pleased to hear about Alex’ s life at Athena. Still, he had a right to know the rest of what had happened today.
“ I suppose Rebecca filled you in on Betsy Stone.”
Alex nodded. “ Cyanide. Not a pleasant end.”
Ditto. “ She did confess to being involved with Bradford and Reagan. She claimed they forced her to take part. I had no doubt that she feared for her life. With good reason.”
“ What did Bradford hope to accomplish by kidnapping Jazz?” Alex asked.
“ He considered my investigation the main threat to him. I live here, have the most opportunity to investigate Rainy’ s death and its connection to Athena. I believe he felt that if he got rid of me, the rest of you would let the whole thing die.”
“ Then he didn’ t know the Cassandras very well.”
“ I still haven’ t had any luck tracking down Dr. Reagan’ s files,” Kayla mentioned in hopes of drawing Justin into the conversation. His sister had also been Reagan’ s patient, and a surrogate, and more information on her might be in those files. Reagan’ s files were crucial and Kayla sensed that his death was too convenient.
“ We’ ve hit a stone wall as well,” Justin answered. He stared at the cup of tea waiting on the table before him. “ But I have to admit at this point that it looks as if my sister did die from complications in childbirth.”
“ With Bradford dead,” Kayla pointed out, “ we may never know what really happened to Reagan or the location of his files. Bradford did say Reagan had outlived his usefulness.”
“ You killed Bradford?” Alex broached the question cautiously as if she feared Kayla’ s emotions might be too fragile to go there right now.
She took a deep, bolstering breath and said what she’ d been dancing around all evening. “ No. I didn’ t. The truth is, I’ d be dead right now if someone hadn’ t intervened.”
Alex blinked, stared at her expectantly. “ That Detective Hadden who’ s been ridding your ass all this time?”
Kayla felt her face redden at Alex’ s too-close-to-home remark. She couldn’ t possibly know about last night. That was one venue she didn’ t plan to visit with anyone just yet.
“ No. It was someone who’ d been tracking my every move for months now.”
A frown worked its way across Alex’ s smooth brow. “ I remember you mentioned once or twice that you felt as if someone were watching you.”
“ I was right. I discovered a tiny tracking device implanted just beneath the skin on my left shoulder. I had it analyzed. It was state-of-the-art technology… top-secret, futuristic technology.”
Alex tensed. “ Lab 33?”
Kayla nodded. “ That’ s my thinking.” She picked up her cup of tea, her hands suddenly ice-cold and needing the warmth. “ I figured out that Betsy Stone implanted it when I fainted at the Athena infirmary shortly after Rainy’ s death.”
“ The Cipher set it up,” Alex remembered. “ Just like he did my accident.” She stared down at her own cup. “ Like he did Rainy’ s.”
“ Now that I think about it— if they eliminated Reagan, maybe Lab 33 took his files,” Kayla said, mulling over the idea even as she said it.
“ That would make sense,” Alex agreed.
Silence took over the group for a time. Kayla sipped her tea, needing the sweet heat to soothe her frazzled nerves to tell the rest of the story.
“ Today I finally met the person who’ d been shadowing me,” she said, knowing there would be more questions than she could answer, but she couldn’ t keep this a secret any longer. She looked from Alex to Justin and back. “ Female. Former Athena Academy student by the name of Dawn O’ Shaughnessy.”
Alex sat her cup on the table with a clang. “ It was her?”
Kayla nodded. “ The face— now there’ s something I won’ t forget.” She cradled her hands in her lap and looked directly at Alex. “ She’ s definitely one of Rainy’ s children.”
Justin’ s shoulders stiffened. “ How can you be certain of that?”
“ Because I knew Rainy. Dawn is the spitting image of her, except for the hair and eyes.”
They waited for her to continue.
“ Blond hair, gold-green eyes. Extraordinary eyes. Those she inherited from her father.”
Like Kayla, Alex had seen pictures of Thomas King. One wasn’ t likely to forget those eyes.
“ I did a thorough background investigation,” Kayla explained. “ Just about everything about her past was falsified. She came to Athena in her junior year only, just long enough to get those skills that are offered at no other preparatory school, like flying.”
“ Did you speak with her?” Justin asked.
“ Yes. She grew up thinking Lee Craig was her uncle. The Cipher.” Adding that part wasn’ t necessary. They knew who Craig was.
“ Where is she now?” This from Justin. The anticipation radiating from him now was palpable.
“ I don’ t know. She saved my life and then she took off. She could be the child Cleo Patra carried.” She didn’ t want to giv
e Justin hope that the child his sister had died giving birth to had survived after all. At this point, all the evidence they had, meager as it was, indicated the opposite.
“ She shot Bradford?” Alex looked totally confused.
Kayla nodded. “ She saved my life. Mine and Jazz’ s.”
Alex shook her head. “ That doesn’ t make sense.”
“ No, it doesn’ t. From what I gathered listening to Bradford ramble on, she was supposed to have killed me days ago. He decided he’ d just do the job himself when she continued to ignore his orders.”
“ I don’ t feel comfortable with this, Kayla.” Alex pursed her lips and considered what she wanted to say next. “ We need to talk this over with the other girls.”
“ I agree. Darcy will be here tomorrow.” Darcy had called to say she was coming to see Christine.
“ We can dive into the Bureau files,” Justin suggested, “ see what we can find on this Dawn O’ Shaughnessy.”
“ That would be useful,” Kayla encouraged. “ Everything I turned up was crap.”
“ Have you heard anything more about Marshall?” Alex asked. A new kind of emotion joined the mix in her eyes.
Kayla shook her head. “ Nothing yet. Peter— Detective Hadden— will let me know when the… body… is back in the States.”
“ I’ m trying to find out what I can,” Justin added. “ But it may take some time. He was involved in a case that’ s ongoing, so security is tight.”
Kayla remembered that Hadden had said the FBI were involved. God, she still couldn’ t believe Marshall was dead.
“ It’ s so hard to believe,” Alex murmured. Kayla started. Alex had seemed to read her mind, and Kayla choked up as she remembered how, back in their Athena days, they’ d practically been able to finish each other’ s sentences. Things really were coming full circle.
Justin took Alex’ s hand, and Kayla almost got teary at the tenderness the tough agent showed her friend. “ It may be days or even weeks before his body is brought home. The Colombian government isn’ t always cooperative.”
Kayla shuddered. Well, when he did come home, they would still gather to acknowledge his life and death in a way that would make Rainy proud. No matter what he’ d done, Marshall had loved their friend, and they would always respect him for that. Suddenly, a familiar sensation prickled Kayla’ s skin. She stilled.
Alex was the first to notice her heightened tension.
Kayla held up her hand then made a circling motion for them to continue.
While Alex and Justin went back to discussing ways to look into where Dawn had come from, Kayla eased toward the kitchen. Maybe it was nothing, but she’ d felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere of her home. Felt that familiar tingling. Someone else was there… .
She palmed her weapon and swung around the corner into her kitchen, her aim leveled on the first object she identified as out of place.
Dawn O’ Shaughnessy stood in the middle of the room. No weapon visible, but that didn’ t mean anything, as Kayla had learned the hard way. Nor did locked doors, apparently, when it came to the young woman’ s determination to access her target.
“ I want to talk.”
Kayla put her weapon away and exhaled a tension-reducing breath. “ Would you like some tea?”
The look Dawn sent in her direction spelled an unequivocal no. Kayla had to admit, she didn’ t act like the tea type.
Kayla led the way into the living room. Alex gasped as her gaze roved over Dawn’ s face. She didn’ t wait for an introduction. “ She is Rainy’ s daughter.”
Justin appeared uncertain how to cope with what his eyes saw. Kayla knew he was wondering if there was any chance his sister might have given birth to this young woman. He would always hope.
“ She wants to talk,” Kayla explained to Alex.
They all sat, except for Dawn. She didn’ t allow herself to get too comfortable or too far from the door.
“ You were right about Lab 33,” Dawn said abruptly. “ I’ m a part of Lab 33. I was raised there, trained there. The only family I’ ve ever known was my uncle.” Her face tightened at the mention of her uncle.
“ He took care of you,” Kayla suggested.
Dawn nodded. “ He taught me everything I know.”
How to seek, Kayla surmised, how to kill.
“ What can you tell us about what goes on at Lab 33?” Alex ventured.
“ Whatever others can’ t or won’ t do, haven’ t thought of or wished they could accomplish, that’ s what Lab 33 does.” She mentioned the technology her faux uncle had created, how he’ d used it to mimic sudden lapses into deep sleep, as he’ d done with Rainy… with each of them to serve his needs.
“ Why are you telling us this?” Alex asked, her tone openly cautious.
“ At first I wanted to kill all of you.” She looked from Alex to Justin to Kayla and back. “ The others as well.” Kayla guessed that she meant Darcy, Josie, Tory and Sam. “ But then I overheard some of your discussions about what Bradford had been up to. I never trusted him. Or Reagan. As you guessed, Lab 33 destroyed his files.” She took a moment to consider what she would say next. “ When you told me that Rainy Carrington was my mother, I knew I had to learn the whole truth.” This she said to Kayla. “ I decided to do whatever necessary to… know everything.”
Kayla’ s heart threatened to jump out of her chest. She didn’ t want to risk spooking the young woman. She’ d already run from Kayla twice. But she had to take a chance.
“ I want to show you some pictures.” Kayla got to her feet and crossed the room to remove an old, tattered photo album from a bookshelf. She offered it to Dawn. “ Your mother is in there. Look at her and then think about what Bradford and Craig did to her.”
Kayla and Alex exchanged anxious looks as Dawn pored over page after page. When she’ d reached the end she tossed the album onto the nearest chair, seemingly indifferent.
“ She’ s dead. I’ ll never know her.”
Dawn made the statement with such cold, clinical objectivity that Kayla shivered. What had Bradford and Reagan created here? She was beautiful, extremely intelligent and capable. But where were the emotions?
“ There’ s only one thing I want to know.” She looked directly at Kayla then. “ Tell me who my father is.”
Another of those worried exchanges passed between Kayla and Alex.
“ Dawn,” Alex began, “ I think it would be best for all involved if we started an investigation into Lab 33. The Bureau could see that you’ re placed into protective custody.”
“ I don’ t need protecting,” Dawn said, her tone nothing short of lethal. Tension started to radiate from her like the summer heat rising off the rocks in the desert.
“ Why do you want to know?” Justin looked squarely at her. As an agent he’ d certainly had extensive training in detecting deceit as well as refocusing negotiations about to go wrong.
“ Because I have the right to know.”
“ You wouldn’ t want to harm him,” Alex countered.
“ No.” The single word was cram-packed with frustration.
Kayla held up her hands for everyone to stop. “ Let’ s remember that we’ re all on the same side here, right?” She looked to Dawn for confirmation.
After about ten seconds she finally nodded. “ I want to take care of Lab 33 myself. You have no idea what you’ d be dealing with.” She looked at each one in turn. “ You and all your resources couldn’ t do what has to be done. You can’ t possibly comprehend what you’ d be up against. I can handle it. I’ m in deep. Clear for full access. I can destroy Lab 33.”
A new kind of anticipation fizzed inside Kayla. “ They’ re doing more experimenting like what they did to Rainy.”
Dawn scoffed. “ Far worse. That was only scratching the surface.”
Kayla had to know. “ Does what they do still involve Athena Academy?”
Dawn shook her head. “ That was Bradford and Reagan’ s game. Lab 33 has many, many reso
urces. Their reach is mind-boggling.”
“ Then how do you propose,” Alex wanted to know, clearly skeptical, “ to bring them down single-handedly?”
“ Trust me,” Dawn said flatly. “ I can’ t offer you anything more than that.”
The silence thickened for another pulse-pounding minute.
“ And you’ ll keep us in the loop,” Kayla pressed for some sort of guarantee.
Dawn considered Kayla for a time before responding. “ You keep your knowledge of me under wraps and I’ ll see that you know what I know. I can’ t risk my cover being blown. Today was too close.”
Kayla knew she meant the shooting. “ I’ ll handle that. It was a justified shooting. If you hadn’ t shot him he would have killed my daughter and me. Even if you were forced to go to trial no jury would ever convict you of murder or even manslaughter for what happened today. Any D.A. worth his salt wouldn’ t even pursue charges.”
“ You keep up your end of this bargain and I’ ll keep up mine.”
Kayla looked to Alex for agreement. She nodded.
“ But I’ ll require a good faith gesture,” Dawn went on. “ Since you have nothing to lose and I have everything including my life on the line, I need some amount of proof that you’ re going to trust me.”
“ What is it you require?” Alex didn’ t bother beating around the bush.
“ The name of my biological father.”
“ There’ s only one way to confirm he’ s your father,” Kayla put in. “ DNA testing.”
“ But you know who he is,” Dawn argued.
“ We know who we think he is,” Alex clarified.
Dawn’ s expression reflected her impatience.
“ Thomas King,” Justin relented. “ Navy SEAL Thomas King. He’ s a highly decorated hero.”
Dawn took a step back, her eyes widening. She looked shocked. Kayla wondered if Dawn had been part of the team sent to eliminate King and Tory when Tory had gone to interview the Navy SEAL after his surprise rescue in the volatile Central American country of Puerto Isla. Tory had mentioned a blond female sniper who’ d shot at them… but she’ d also said the sniper had died. Perhaps Tory was wrong. If Dawn had been that sniper, it just made the Cassandras’ case stronger in Dawn’ s eyes. She hoped.
