Shadows to Light (Shadows of Justice 5)

by Black, Regan

  "Jameson!"

  Blood spurted as he yanked it out, then the wound closed as if nothing had happened. "I've had time to think about it. What happened to you at the lab, happened to us. If the effect lasts, if it doesn't, I'm sure as hell not upset about it. Give me weird healing over pain, bruises, and stitches any day." He wiped his blood off the stylus and returned it to the drawer. "Accept it. You were cool before, you're even more amazing now. I saw the look on your face when you fixed Burkhardt's nose."

  Accept it? She wanted to, had felt a glimmer of strength earlier. He made it sound so easy. Maybe it was the Soldier in him, ready and willing for every new assignment.

  She studied his face, let her eyes wander to his wrist, and rubbed her thumb over the perfection of his skin where the stylus had been. Lifting his wrist to her mouth, she pressed a kiss to the spot and accepted the sizzle that fired through them both.

  "Amazing?"

  His chin dipped in a nod, but she felt his heated gaze on her mouth as if he were already kissing her.

  "You aren't appalled." He shook his head. "By me, or whatever I am."

  "Never was."

  His voice, ragged with desire, was as inciting as his touch. Suddenly she didn't give a damn about her order, her father, her enemies, or the rest of the long-suffering world.

  "Prove it," she whispered.

  He did. First with a desperation that pleased her immensely right there on the desk. Then with a through tenderness that launched her into a whole new stratosphere of pleasure.

  Later, spent and exhausted, floating in the dreamy twilight of his embrace, she'd remember the lingerie and wonder when they'd get to sleep together somewhere other than a narrow couch.

  Chapter 13

  Jameson woke with a pinch in his side, smiling when he realized it was Mira's perfect elbow. Warm and soft beside him, he decided he'd do whatever the job required to make sure they had a lifetime of mornings like this one.

  In a roomy bed, he amended, trying to move without dumping her on the floor. He considered the night's events progress and he wasn't just thinking about the incredible sex. He covered her with her parka and went to clean up.

  As he showered, shaved and dressed in the civilian clothes she'd purchased, he reviewed this whole screwy mission in his head. From lying on that roof, to being hunted last night. The threads of events overlapped, that was certain, but there was an obvious divergence with Mira.

  He believed the information he'd sent to Callahan through Julia could wrap up Montalbano and possibly bring Dr. Luther back into the fold. It'd be for the best if he stayed far away from that end of things, since he'd just as soon put another bullet in Luther after the man trampled Mira's feelings.

  So that left this hunter for him to reel in. His battle instincts insisted the hunter, and whoever he answered to, was the real threat to Mira's future. Which meant an equal threat to his future. Because without her, nothing mattered. He sure as hell wasn't going to let her continue to live on the fringes of society, afraid of who might be waiting to attack her for being herself.

  Well, he'd brought the sneaky bastard as close as he could without inviting him to breakfast. Once he convinced Mira his plan was their best hope for a speedy resolution, they could make themselves available to the hunter for a little chat.

  * * *

  "Absolutely not." Mira shook her head for emphasis. "You can forget it. It's too risky. And it's not your fight." She couldn't believe what Jameson was proposing. "People just don't go chasing after enforcers, much less souped up enforcers like the one who chased us last night."

  "You're not listening."

  "Of course I am," she snapped. "More, I recognize what you want to accomplish, but it's not safe."

  He covered her hand with his own, pressing just a bit to stop the drumming of her fingertips against the table. The eggs he'd made had gone cold and the coffee was putting a knot in her stomach.

  Her knee started jumping. Where was her composure, the calm she relied on when facing a challenging diagnosis?

  "Brent Jameson, I love you. Throwing yourself in front of a train would be easier to watch than letting you throw yourself in front of the hunter. What if you're right? What if he is tracking the light or energy or whatever it is inside me now? Even if you catch him, you can't believe he'll just give up who he works for and what they're up to."

  "I love you too, Mira."

  "Huh?" He grinned like an idiot while she tried to remember what she said. Oh, God. Had she said that aloud? Did she mean it? But she knew she did. She loved him soul deep, her heart had been yearning for him since that first kiss in the prison. Their connection was as close and essential to her as her own heartbeat. She would not let him risk himself this way.

  "Nope. I'm not letting you take it back." He patted her hand once more, then rose to clear the dishes. "We have to get to the bottom of this. I received confirmation earlier that Callahan and the others have Montalbano in custody. He's just a distraction, at least as far as you're concerned. Someone in your order is doing their damndest to get a hold of you. My idea turns that problem to our advantage."

  She recognized unreasonable, even without a mirror. Just as she recognized the determination on his face. A fear beyond losing Jameson leaped to the front of her mind and while his back was turned, she blinked away the rush of tears.

  She wasn't sure how she would cope if the 'enemy' within the order was her own father. How could she put her mother through that awful disgrace? Inside, she felt different enough already to know hiding, moving from one facility to the next in her previous nomadic healer routine, was no longer an option.

  Especially not with an enforcer able to lock onto her whenever she expended a bit of her new healing energy.

  "We both know the hunter isn't Luke," she said.

  Jameson turned, leaned back against the counter, and watched her as he agreed.

  God! She didn't want to say this. "Luke is dedicated to my father. It seems the dedication is mutual."

  Her throat clogged with emotion. No amount of coffee made it easier to spit out what had to be said. Now her fingers were drumming against her bobbing knee.

  She willed herself to stop moving and tell him straight out. Whatever he decided, he needed to be aware of the potential roadblocks. It took a long moment, but she found that stillness.

  "What if my father created that hunter? What if he – my father – is behind all of this?"

  Jameson was shaking his head. "I don't believe that."

  Mira sighed. Jameson still believed all the good Dr. Luther had accomplished meant he was an inherently good person. "You weren't in the lab. He hates me. Hates what I've become."

  "I don't believe that either. There's another reason for his behavior."

  He walked over and knelt in front of her. "Trapping the hunter means clearing your father."

  "Or condemning him."

  Jameson gently nudged her hair back from her face. "If you insist on believing the worst, fine. What happens if your dad has changed that much?"

  The tears rolled and she sniffled. "The order would deal with whatever's left of him after you and I are done. Then they'd deal with me."

  "No." The single word was soft, but no less lethal for it. "I won't let anyone take away what you've become." He tipped her chin up so she had to meet his gaze. "More importantly, I don't believe you will sit back and take it."

  "But –"

  "No, buts, Mira. After we get to the bottom of this I want your word on something."

  "What?"

  "I want you to promise me that you will thoughtfully consider what you want for your future and then grab it with both hands."

  It should have been a simple thing, but she knew better. She'd been healing within the world's expectations for so long, trying to toe a line that apparently was never meant for her. "It scares me."

  "It should." He grinned at her. "It should scare you a helluva lot more than this little errand we're about to run."

>   Little errand? She snorted, then laughed that he could label his plan so lightly. "You really think skipping around town healing people is the way to go here?"

  "I don't intend to skip. Ever."

  She laughed again, amazed by the lightness in her heart in the face of such terrible risk.

  "Brian got your name off law enforcement radar. Sorry that plan backfired. This plan won't."

  "It didn't backfire," she said, thinking about it again. "We just underestimated whoever's running the enforcers. I've thought about it some more. I'm sure the hunter caused that heart attack. We have to be prepared for anything."

  "Yeah, I got that part." He winked at her and stood up, pulling her with him. "Look at me. Sure, we underestimated him last night, but that's to our advantage because I know he's still underestimating you today."

  "If you say so." They both knew she didn't have much to offer if – when – things turned violent.

  "Let me stand up for you, let me do my job out there. Whatever happens –"

  "We're in it together," she finished.

  His smile sparked her own and the kiss was a lovely emphasis of their commitment to the course, no matter how it unfolded.

  * * *

  Leaving Water Tower place and making it to the street without incident, Jameson was glad they'd decided to start with a bang, so to speak. They walked toward Mercy Medical, giving the hunter plenty of time to jump them, but he didn't. Jameson didn't even feel eyes on them. Strange. If roles were reversed and he had been the hunter, he would've stayed in the area.

  They arrived at the hospital through the professional building to make it easier on Mira, so she wouldn't have to overlook quite so many patients in need. He held her hand as they bypassed offices and headed for the pediatric oncology ward.

  Nerves got the better of him for just a moment when she bumped into a nurse who recognized her. They exchanged pleasantries, she even introduced him, before making up something about seeing a friend's child.

  The nurse led her into a room. "If anyone can put this little guy at ease, it's you," she said, closing the door as she left them alone with the young patient.

  The boy looked too frail, curled up on his side in the big hospital bed, machines beeping and hissing. The colorful patterns on the bedding and walls were muted and Jameson could practically feel death hovering in the shadows, eager to swoop in and handle the matter with a brutal finality.

  He heard Mira take a deep breath and blow it out slowly.

  "You ready?"

  He smiled at her concern for him. "Make it count." For the patient and the mission, he thought.

  It was astonishing to watch her move forward, completely confident that she could heal this little boy. He smiled, wondering how the docs would explain the disappearance of an inoperable tumor on the kid's spine.

  She pressed a hand to the boy's forehead and Jameson caught the telltale glow of light in her palm. Then she started to glow, just a soft blue halo radiating around her. Nothing like when she'd protected herself from the explosion, but it was enough to cast away the gloom.

  He stayed back, let her focus completely on the problem. He hoped like hell the hunter would show up and give him something equally intense to focus on.

  Not that he wanted a nasty battle in the middle of a kid's hospital ward, but the sooner they ended this the better.

  Mira finished, the glow slowly melting back into her, and he was left with a surge of adrenaline and no target. Yet.

  "Is he better?"

  She beamed at him, there was no other word for the sheer delight of her smile. "It was a mess in there, but yes, he's all better now."

  "Then let's go before he wakes up." He felt the surge pump into him when he took her hand. "You don't feel tired?"

  "No." That gorgeous smile didn't fade. "Just the opposite."

  "Terrific." He guided her away from the kid's ward before she got some wild idea about healing everyone.

  Down in the emergency room she checked the board that listed patients and status. She walked over and fixed a businessman's broken wrist and then a college girl's kidney stone. Both patients would soon be on their way, little bread crumbs for the hunter to follow.

  Just to make it obvious, they took the el toward the campus and she treated the flu and a baby's ear infection on the train.

  "Why isn't he on us yet?" She snuggled up against him, just another couple on an errand in the city.

  "That's my problem. You're doing great by the way. I like the blue you."

  She gave him a light jab to the ribs with her elbow. "I keep telling you the prison thing was just a particularly bad day."

  "Well after this, let's not have any more of those, okay?"

  "Deal."

  Jameson kept it light and easy for her sake, but as they exited the station and headed for the campus he had to wonder just what would bring the bastard out to play.

  * * *

  He supposed he shouldn't be surprised Jacob needed his help to bring in Luther's daughter.

  The poor boy was beside himself with shame that he'd had his hands on her and still lost her.

  He'd worked with that shame, even turned it around to emphasize the hope she signified.

  Based on Jacob's report of her casting her healing light on people in need, she might be able to turn the switch that was surely dormant in other healers, transforming them as well. Oh, the potential and possibilities were simply delicious if that proved to be the case.

  But first they had to convince her of the greater purpose to which she'd been born. The purpose to which he'd dedicated his vast resources and effort.

  To that end, he waited for Jacob to deliver her to him. The lab was gone, but he still had the old keys to the office where he'd once worked side by side with his brother, Dr. Luther. Before the man had gone off on a wild tangent that had only managed to divide and distort the pure mission of the healers.

  No, his original plan had not included his presence in this place at this moment, but he appreciated the symmetry in it.

  His cell card chimed and he ran it through the monitor his team had set up for him. Jacob's face filled the screen.

  "Sir, she is on the move this morning."

  "Bring her in, safely and quietly."

  "Of course. But –"

  He paused, finger poised over the disconnect key. "Ah, Jacob. You worry too much. We are too close to fail now. None of her antics will stop us."

  "She is performing miracles large and small all over the city, sir."

  He struggled to keep the fury at bay. "You are stronger. You are trained. Bring her in as planned. We will prevail."

  He disconnected and allowed himself a frustrated growl. The Five would never stand for such a display. They probably had already assigned enforcers to her and his moles in that department were gone.

  Damned, idealistic foolish girl.

  When Jacob delivered her there would be hell to pay before he gave her a coveted place in the history and legends he was cultivating for the new order.

  * * *

  Mira didn't see much opportunity to heal anyone when they reached the nearly empty campus. "Should we stop by the health center or check out the dorms?"

  "No." Beside her, Jameson tensed up, battle-ready. "We have company," he continued. "Just not the kind I was expecting."

  He was looking to their left, and she saw who he meant. A pair of men with the intent look of enforcers were strolling toward the older part of campus. Squeezing his hand she tipped her head ever so slightly to the right where the hunter watched them.

  "Maybe he's not as green as I thought," Jameson muttered. "I wonder if those two are as strong as he is."

  God, she hoped not. "Let's go back to the student union."

  "We'll put more people at risk, if we do."

  "Just humor me a second."

  It felt good when he did, to know that he trusted her despite her limited experience. She didn't actually want to go in, she just wanted to use the s
mall crowd gathered there. "Did Jacobs follow us?"

  "Yeah, but not the others."

  "Wouldn't it make sense to flank us if they were working together?"

  "It would be my choice, but we don't really know his methods other than –"

  He stopped, clutching his belly. His face paled and he seemed to be fighting the urge to vomit. She was ready to counter the obvious attack but he shook his head.

  "Don't do it," Jameson groaned. "Let's turn back around."

  They hadn't taken more than a few steps before his color returned and the pain clearly eased up.

  "That's a helluva way to play the hot and cold game. Obviously the guy is done screwing around."

  She agreed with him. "But what does that mean about those others?"

  He shook his head. "Don't know yet."

  A theory bloomed in Mira's mind. "The Five might have sent out another recovery unit. Nearly every year someone goes nostalgic and starts performing 'miracles' at Christmastime."

  "How would they know to be here?" Suddenly, his knee buckled and he dropped to the ground. "Bastard. No, don't."

  "But –"

  "I don't need it," he hissed. "I'm recovering almost as fast as he's hitting me, but I'd rather he didn't know that yet."

  "Oh!"

  "You could sound a little less delighted by my pain."

  "Sorry," she murmured, helping him back to his feet. Spotting the pair of enforcers again, she wondered aloud how they knew to come here.

  "One problem at a time. Let this guy haul us in and we'll see how it shakes out."

  The hunter was on them the moment they rounded the corner of a building that blocked the view of the main campus.

  Mira realized Jameson had expected the ambush as soon as he rolled with the first punch, letting the momentum carry him off his feet.

  She couldn't stop herself from protecting him. Stepping between them, she drew on her energy. She couldn't do any real damage, but she could try and intimidate the jerk. "What are you after?"