Pandora's Daughter

"GRADY'S ON HIS WAY," HARLEY SAID to Renata. "He said he'll call when he's in the area. I'm landing now." He paused. "We'll be lucky to get her out of there alive."

That's what Renata had been thinking for the last thirty minutes of her drive. "What's Grady going to do?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure he knows. I guess we'll have to brainstorm and come up with the safest way to—"

"There's no safe way," she said fiercely. "And he'll kill her if we keep talking and not acting."

"Grady and Venable won't let the time drag—"

"To hell with Grady. I can't wait around until you all form a damn committee to decide what's to be done."

"And what's your alternative?"

"Stop talking and get her out." She hung up.

She didn't answer when Harley called her back a moment later. He would question and argue and she didn't want to hear either one. She was too tense and scared and she had to clear her mind of both emotions before she could start doing what she did best.

Weigh the odds of the different scenarios, estimate cause and effect to predict an outcome that would guarantee Megan would live and Molino would die.

She'd already started the initial process on the drive here when she'd realized that it was going to be too late for any ordinary assault on Molino's stronghold.

She looked down at the pink dress she still had clutched in her hand. "I have to leave you now, Adia." She carefully folded the dress and placed it in the briefcase with gentle hands. "Thanks to you, we know where he is. Now we have to go get the son of a bitch."

"STRAIGHT AHEAD," MOLINO'S hand on Megan's back shoved her forward down the curved steps just inside the door. "You mustn't keep Sie

She was shaking. Sie

"You're not talking now," Molino said softly. "You're afraid of him, aren't you? Women are so soft and breakable. Almost as breakable as the children. It's laughable when they try to fight us."

"Is it?" How could she get hold of that gun? If she could catch him off guard there might be a chance. She had been able to push his buttons earlier and she might still be—

"In here." He opened a door at the foot of the stairs. "Sie

Megan didn't move.

"Don't be shy." Molino shoved her into the room. "He's waiting." He waved his hand to the corner of the room. "Say hello to him."

Oh, God. Don't scream.

Sie

"How do you like his new haircut?" Molino asked. "Women sometimes find a bald head sexy, I'm told."

"You murdered him." She said hoarsely. "Why? Because he didn't believe your son—"

"I've lived with his skepticism for years. I could have tolerated it if I'd seen a future use for him." He shook his head. "It's really too bad that I had to dispose of him before I could keep my promise to him about you. Of course, I have other men who would accommodate you but none of them have the talent that Sie

She couldn't keep her eyes away from Sie

"Oh, no. Well, perhaps a little. He kept pulling at his hair so I had his head shaved. He didn't like that at all."

"Pulling at his hair?"

Molino smiled. "Screaming and pulling at his hair and knocking his head against the wall. He was in great pain, so I decided I had to help him. In fact, I became so involved with Sie

"Pain? What else did you do to Sie

"Not me." He turned to face her. "You. I was so unhappy that Sie

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. Sie

"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 begi

"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.