Is this a cruel joke?
No. I understand what you are suffering.
He scoffed at that statement.How could you? How could anyone?
Because I am one of the children from the Solomon Clinic, and I bonded with another one of us.
He made a low sound. Of course, he should have realized why she could reach his mind.
You must rescue Stephanie.
He scrambled off the bed, ready to charge out the door, if he only knew where he was going—and what had happened.
How did she escape?
Two of John Reynard’s men captured her after you left. Then they set the explosive charge to kill you. Only someone else was caught in the blast.
Ike Broussard. I saw him. I didn’t understand why he was there. He said he was going to meet me at a restaurant.
I think Reynard ordered him to meet you.
How do you know?
My husband knows which cops are corrupt in New Orleans. Broussard was one of them.
Then why did he come to the cottage?
I can only guess. What if he hated being under Reynard’s thumb and thought that the two of you could work together to take him down?
Craig considered that. It might fit the facts, and he was sorry the man was dead, but his main focus was Stephanie.
The woman named Rachel must have read his thoughts.I can boost the signal between you.
All at once he could also hear Stephanie.
Craig?
Yes.
Oh my God, you’re alive! Reynard said you were dead.
I’m fine.
Thank God, but how are we talking?
Someone’s helping us. Another one of the children from the clinic.
Yes, I . . . heard her in my mind. I didn’t know what was happening.
Where are you?Craig urgently asked Stephanie.
At the plantation Reynard owns, near Morgan City.
I’m on my way now.
Be careful. It’s heavily guarded by armed men.
We’ll figure something out,he said, wondering what it was going to be.
