Текст книги "Pandora's Daughter "

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

His court, his responsibility, his job. Not much of a responsibility at all. Just keeping Megan alive.

CHAPTER TWENTY

"YOU LOOKED SHOCKED," MOLINO said to Megan as the helicopter took off. "And I thought you'd be happy to see me blow Darnell's head off. After all, he's the one who made a vegetable of Phillip

Blair."

"You're the one who did that. You gave the order." She shrugged. "And I don't care if you killed Darnell. It's just one less scumbag to walk the earth. Speaking of scumbags, where is Sienna?"

"He's waiting eagerly for you at the house. I thought you should have a proper welcoming committee."

"I assumed you were joined at the hip."

"We have a mutually beneficial relationship. However, lately I've not been very happy about his attitude. That's why I was comfortable about throwing Sienna to the lions."

"I'm no lion."

"I know. What a disappointment." He chuckled. "You made me look foolish in Sienna's eyes. It wasn't what I had in mind at all. He was still full of ugly thoughts about my Steven when we left you last night." He waved a hand. "But I forgave him before I left to pick you up today. After all, I did promise to let him have you for the first night and I always keep my word."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well, I keep it when it suits me." He looked out the window. "We're almost at the house. It's almost time for the game to begin. Are you frightened, Megan?" No.

"You're lying. I can see the pulse beating in your throat. If I touched your hand, I'd bet it would be cold and clammy." He smiled. "But I'll wait to touch you until I have you properly tied and ready. Do you know, I learned a great deal from reading the priest's trial accounts of your ancestor, Ricardo Devanez? The tortures used by the inquisitors were both innovative and very satisfying. I used a few of their methods on Edmund Gillem. I can hardly wait to expand my repertoire. There's a particularly exciting one called 'the chair.'"

"What a ghoul you are." She added. "And your son must have been the stupid schizo Sienna thought him.

I doubt if my mother did anything to him. He was probably carrying a recessive gene from you that caused him to go off his rocker."

The smile faded from his face. "Liar."

It had been a shot in the dark but she had evidently hit the mark. "Yes, that must be it. Is there insanity in your family? It's clear you don't have all your marbles. You had to have an excuse because you felt guilty that you'd destroyed your Steven. He was as nuts as—" Her head snapped back as he backhanded her with all his strength.

Darkness. The interior of the helicopter was spinning around her. "Bitch," he hissed. "Whore."

"You did it." The coppery taste of blood was in her mouth. "Sienna proved I was no Pandora. Neither was my mother. You killed your son."

He hit her again. "I'll kill you, bitch. You foul liar. I'll tear you—" He stopped and took a deep breath. "I won't let you do this to me. I'm not going to make it quick." The helicopter was almost on the ground. "You just made the pleasure more intense for me. I can't wait to turn you over to Sienna."

"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 Sienna waiting."

She was shaking. Sienna. She felt sick as she remembered the warm, softness of his big hand. Then the softness had turned to brutality.

"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. "Sienna always demands his own quarters away from the rest of us. He likes his privacy. I have no problem with it. We're not all that compatible." He stepped aside to let her enter. "Sienna, here's the gift I promised you."

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.

Sienna was tied, pinned, to the wall. He was shaved bald, his skull bloody and crushed. His eyes were wide open, his features frozen, twisted, in a death rictus.

"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 Sienna had. Sienna understood pain. He was magnificent with Edmund Gillem."

She couldn't keep her eyes away from Sienna's face. "Did you torture Sienna too?"

"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 Sienna that I forgot all my interesting plans for the little boy."

"Pain? What else did you do to Sienna?"

"Not me." He turned to face her. "You. I was so unhappy that Sienna walked away after he took your hand yesterday. I should have known that you wouldn't disappoint me. I just didn't realize that it didn't always happen at once."

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. Sienna didn't show any signs until almost midnight last night. He was checking the guards along the cliff and they said he kept shaking his head to clear it. Then an hour after he went to his quarters we heard a thumping. When I went down to check on the poor man, he was already gone. Weeping, pulling out his hair in clumps, and hitting his head against the wall as if to drive away the demons."

"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 beginning. I've been getting nothing but pressure from Grady and the CIA about trying to make a deal with you to let her go."

"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.

"Not exactly eager to have you back, is she?" Molino asked.

"She doesn't think my life is worth exposing all those thousands of people in the Ledger to you."

"Thousands. Do you suppose there are thousands of those freaks about?"

"I have no idea. It was just a guess."

"When I first learned about the Ledger, my attention was split because I was obsessed with finding you. But now that I have you, I wonder what my life is going to be like if I don't have purpose to drive me onward. Steven wouldn't like it if I stopped now. No, I really think I have to have that Ledger."

"Then you'll make a deal?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Of course not. Don't get your hopes up. But we'll do a little sleight of hand to make them think I am. I'll arrange to have that Wilger bitch picked up and brought here." He shook his head. "And I can wait a little while to try out those Inquisition toys on you." He turned. "In the meantime, I believe I'll leave you here with Sienna. I did promise him his time with you." He glanced back over his shoulder. "By the way, did I forget to mention that you've done all this for nothing? I won't let either Phillip Blair or the boy live more than a week."

The next moment the door shut behind him and the key turned in the lock. Alone with that grotesque carcass that had once been Sienna.

Molino had said that she was the one who had really killed him. She wouldn't believe it. Molino was looking for ways to justify his son's madness. She was not a Pandora. It wasn't true.

The shock had been too intense and it had sent her spiraling away from everything else of importance. She had to stop thinking about it.

And that last jab about his intention to kill Phillip and Davy had been meant to hurt and panic her. But Grady would never let anything happen to them now that they were safe.

She tore her gaze away from Sienna and looked around the room. The basement suite was luxuriously furnished in bold colors, but there were no windows, dammit.

Weapons. A man like Sienna would have a gun or knife or... something. She started systematically going through drawers.

Nothing. Not even a fingernail file. Molino must have planned to leave her here with Sienna from the moment he'd killed him.

Why not? What could be more chilling or horrible than to make her share quarters with those gory remains?

Don't look at him.

She sat down in a chair by the door. She'd hoped to have a way to defend herself until help came. The call from Renata had been an obvious stall. When Renata had first come into their lives, she might have shown that tough facade, but she had changed. God, they had all changed in these last days. Megan, Renata, Harley, Grady.

Grady.

Whatever Renata was planning, it had to involve Grady. Don't let anything happen to Grady. Don't let anything happen to any of them.

But she couldn't rely on wishful thinking. She had to be ready to find a way to act.

GRADY HUNG UP THE PHONE from talking to Renata and turned to Venable. "She thinks he took the bait." He picked up his rifle. "I'm out of here. I'll let you know what's happening on that hill."

"I have twenty men sitting on their asses in these damn woods," Venable said. "When am I going to be able to tell them to start? Give me a chance to do my job."

"You move one man out of cover before I give the word and I'll shoot him myself," Grady said harshly. "If Molino's men catch a whiff that anything's going on, Megan's dead."

"I'm a professional. I wouldn't let that happen."

Grady shook his head. "Renata's right. When she called me, I didn't want to go along with her. I wanted to be there waiting when they got back and blow the damn place up." His lips twisted. "But she ran that scenario and says that Megan would have an eighty-seven percent chance of dying. That's too high. It scared the hell out of me. So we're going with Renata's plan. First, there has to be a built-in delay to make sure Molino keeps his hands off Megan. Renata and the Ledger. Then we needed a man in the woods on the hill to feed us information. Since Harley was on the spot, he was up there before Molino brought Megan back. Next, we have to have someone go up and take out the sentries." He headed up the path. "That's me."

"And what kind of percentage did your friend, Renata, give Megan on this scenario?" Venable asked. "Thirty-two percent," Grady answered. "If everything goes right."

Lord, the odds were still too high and the chances of everything going exactly right was laughable, he thought. Nothing ever went exactly as you thought it would.

He called Harley when he was halfway up the hill. "Brief me."

"Megan's in a room in the basement," Harley said. "Molino took her down stairs and came back alone. He's in the main house now."

"Renata made the call five minutes ago," Grady said. "It bought Megan some time, thank God. Where are you?"

"In the pine woods about a thousand yards down the road from the house. There are three men patrolling the grounds and I've seen four men moving around inside the house. There may be more but that's—Wait a minute. Two men are leaving the house. I think Molino took the bait. They're heading for the helicopter pad. They may be going to pick up Renata." He paused. "It might be a good time for me to try to get closer and see if I can slip Megan a weapon in case something goes wrong."

"Nothing's going to go wrong," Grady said. Maybe saying the words would make it true. "And I'm on my way up to clear the way for Venable's men. I'll take out the perimeter sentries and then move toward the house. Just stay put, dammit. I need to know everything that's happening in that house and you have to be there for Megan. I want to be told the minute Molino goes back to that basement."

"Whatever you say. If you're going to join me, you might want to know that there's one guard with a rifle behind the house. The other two are patrolling the woods bordering the cliff about a quarter of a mile from the house. One rifle. One handgun."

"That's it?"

"That's it. The helicopter is off the ground. You're sure you don't want me to—"

"Keep to the plan. Stay put." Grady hung up.

"COME OUT, MEGAN," MOLINO called as he opened the door of the basement apartment. "I've just had word that our little friend is going to be landing in a few minutes. We're going to meet her so that she'll feel safe and know my intentions are above reproach."

"And what are you going to do to her once you verify the pages?" she asked as she climbed the stairs.

"Why, I'm sure you're aware that there are many ways to get what you want without negotiation. I just have to make sure that she has the real thing." He was nudging her toward the helicopter pad. "And then you can go back and join Sienna. I'm sure he's missing you. Ah, here she comes."

A tan-and-cream helicopter was landing on the pad. Two men jumped out of the helicopter as soon as it landed. "Permit me to introduce you." Molino gestured to the tall, spare, red-haired man. "This is David Condon. He was flying the helicopter that brought you here, Megan. The other gentleman is Ben Stallek. I was a little distracted or I would have been more careful of the amenities. Did you bring Notting?"

A small man in a plaid shirt got out of the plane. "This will cost you. I was practically yanked away from my golf game to come here."

"It will only take a short time. Just a preliminary examination." Molino said to Megan, "This testy gentleman is very knowledgeable or I wouldn't put up with his rudeness."

"He's also very greedy." Renata got out of the helicopter. She handed Molino a large envelope. "Be careful of those pages."

"I always take care of what's mine." He moved toward the house with Notting. "Condon, you stay here. Stallek, you come with us." He glanced back over his shoulder. "Oh, Condon, if either of the ladies decide to be foolish please feel free to shoot them. The stomach, I think. Stomach wounds are so painful."

Condon drew his gun and pointed it at Megan. Renata ignored him. "Did Molino hurt you, Megan?"

"Not much." She looked at Renata. "You're the one who looks terrible. How did you get those bruises?"

"They did a strip search. I objected." She looked at Condon. "And he enjoyed it. I'm going to remember that." Her glance shifted to Megan. "That test probably won't take over fifteen minutes. Notting has the chemicals he needs to do the job. But Molino won't be in a hurry once he knows that the pages test genuine."

"Will they?"

"Yes. Where's Sienna?"

"Dead. Molino claims he went mad, that I did it, and he had to kill him. I think it's bullshit. Molino was looking for an excuse to kill Sienna."

"I don't care why he's dead. I'm only concerned that he's out of the picture." She looked at the grove of pine trees about a thousand yards down the road, to the left of the cliff. "That broken pine looks dead, doesn't it? These jokers have probably been using it for target practice. But I bet it isn't dead."

Megan frowned in puzzlement. What did pine trees have to do with anything? Dead or not.

"Is it dead, Condon?" Renata called out to the guard. "You've been living here. You should know if that pine tree's—"

The guard frowned and started toward them. "What are you—" Condon arched and opened his mouth in a soundless scream. He stumbled forward and fell.

There was a knife in his back.

"Grady," Renata murmured. "Good job."

Grady appeared out of the utility shed. "Get Megan out of here," he said curtly. "Now!" He disappeared behind the shed.

"Go." Renata pushed Megan toward the trees. "The pines. There's a gun there and I hope to God Harley's there too. He's supposed to be."

"What are you going to do?"

"Help Grady take out the men in the house. Tell Harley to call Venable and tell him to get up here. Hurry. And get that gun." She disappeared after Grady.

Megan wanted to run after her. No, she didn't even have a weapon. The gun! She had to get the gun and get help from Venable.

Megan flew down the cliff road toward the pine trees. "Bitch!" Molino's enraged howl shrieked behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him running toward her from the house. God, he was close.

He was pointing a gun at her head.

She had to get to the gun hidden in the pines.

No time.

She dove down to the ground even as a bullet whistled past her head. Another bullet. A different sound.

The thunk of a bullet against flesh. She looked back to see Molino stagger, blood blossoming from the wound in his chest, the gun dropped from his hand, but he was still coming.

"Run, Megan," Harley called from the pine trees. "He's too close to you. I can't get a good shot."

"Cheat me. You're trying to cheat me." Molino was on top of her, his hands closing on her throat. "Steven won't let you cheat. Butcher you."

Another shot. Molino flinched as the bullet hit his arm.

Megan pushed desperately and he fell off her and to the side.

But he grabbed her and rolled her over to only a few feet from the edge of the cliff. "Butcher you. Butcher all the …freaks."

She fought desperately, panic surging through her. He was going to push her over. He shouldn't have been this strong. But it was as if the bullets had not even touched him. If she'd only been able to reach that gun hidden in the pines.

No gun.

But she had another weapon.

"It won't be in time," she gasped. "Your Steven can't help you. My mother killed him." She freed one hand and reached out to him. "Do you know what it's like to go mad? Talk to Steven. I'm going to touch you, Molino."

He froze and stared at her hand as if it was a cobra arched to strike.

"Are you afraid? You should be. You killed my mother and she wants you dead. Even if I'm not a Pandora, she can act through me. After all, I'm a freak. You know all about freaks, don't you?" She caressingly touched his cheek.

He screamed, his eyes rolled back in his head. "No!" He scrambled backward. "Freak. Monster."

"You're the monster." She crawled closer to him. Only two more feet and he'd be over the edge. "You're going to die, Molino. Do you think madness and suffering follow people into the grave? I hope so."

"Get away from me." He scooted closer to the edge. "Don't get near me."

"But I want to touch you. Let me do it. I want to hold your hand." She lunged forward with her hand outstretched.

He screamed and fell backward over the cliff. But he grabbed her arm as he fell.

She was sliding, slipping, pulled over the edge after him. "Steven..." Molino gasped. "He won't let me die. We're going to—"

He screamed as his grasp on her arm loosened and he fell.

SHE WAS SLIPPING!

Megan's nails dug frantically into the narrow crevices in the rough stone.

Don't fall. Don't let Molino win.

Her feet were braced on a slight dirt outjutting on the sheer wall, but the dry dirt beneath her shoes was crumbling, giving away, as she scrambled to get a purchase where there was none.

Her fingers were tearing, bleeding.

"Hold on." Harley's face was peering over the cliff above her. "I'm scooting as far as I can on my belly. I'm going to grab your right wrist and try not to unbalance you."

Hope.

He reached down once. "I can't reach you." He wriggled closer. "Grady's running like hell from the house. We're not going to let you fall, Megan."

If they could get to her in time.

She slipped another inch down the cliff as the dirt continued to crumble. Her arms pulled taut, but she held on.

"God in heaven, just a few inches more." Harley was straining down toward her. He couldn't reach her. He tried once. Twice.

On the third attempt his hand clamped on her right wrist. "Got you." The earth hillock crumbled entirely away from her feet. She was falling!

"Help—me." Harley was holding her by one wrist as she dangled over the abyss. "Grab. I can't do it alone."

Her fingers closed blindly on his wrist.

"Megan, give me your other hand." It was Grady kneeling beside Harley and reaching out to her. "Don't you dare fall."

"Shut up." She gasped. She reached out with her left hand. "I'm doing the best I can."

"And it's a good best." He leaned over and grabbed her left hand with both of his. "It's a damn wonderful best. Now hold on a little longer while we pull you up."

Her arms felt as if they were being jerked from the sockets as the two men pulled her slowly up the cliff. It took at least three minutes before they were able to get her entire upper body on solid ground.

"My God." Grady voice was hoarse. He was suddenly holding her, rocking her. His heart was beating as hard as her own. "My God."

Life. She had been so close to losing it, losing him.

She was holding him with all her strength as she lay there, eyes closed, trying to get her breath. "Okay?" Grady whispered against her cheek.

She opened her lids to see Grady and Harley kneeling beside her. She pushed Grady away and then pulled him back again. Not yet. She didn't want to let him go. "No, I'm scared and I'm feeling very vulnerable right now."

"You should feel vulnerable," Harley grinned. "Flying isn't most people's strong point." He crawled to the edge of the cliff and looked down to the valley. "It certainly wasn't Molino's. He's lying down there like a broken Chucky doll." He got to his feet. "But in the movies evil Chucky always came back from the dead." He turned and moved toward the road. "I think I'll go down to make sure that there's no way he'll bounce back."

Megan knew what he meant. "I know he's down there." She stood up and moved to the edge of the cliff. "But I want to see for myself."

Grady was beside her, steadying her. "Molino's no Chucky. No one could survive that fall."

"I know that with my mind. But Molino has been the bogeyman for too long. I can't believe he's not going to always be there in the shadows." She stared down at the bottom of the cliff. There he was, lying spread-eagled on the rocks.

A broken Chucky doll, Harley had called him.

Monster.

Someone was coming out of the brush and walking toward Molino. Venable? Harley?

No, Renata. She should have known Renata would have the same instinct as Harley to be sure that Molino was dead.

"Satisfied?" Grady asked.

She nodded. "I think I am. I'm pretty numb right now. I can't sort out how I feel. I'll worry about it later." She didn't want to think of death. She had been too close to it for too long. She needed hope and life. "Get me to Bellehaven. I have to check on Phillip and Davy."

"DEAD?"

Renata looked up from where she was kneeling beside Molino to see Harley walking toward her. She nodded. "Broken neck, one shot in the chest, one in the arm, and his head must have hit the rocks. We don't have to worry about him any longer."

"You didn't have to worry about him at all." He stopped beside her. "I was on my way to confirm his death." He smiled. "Oh, that's right. That would have meant you had to trust someone besides yourself."

"I think I would have—I'm just used to doing as I've been trained." She got to her feet. "And it was Molino. That's why I didn't come running after you and Grady pulled Megan back over the ledge. I had to get down here and make sure. There couldn't be a mistake."

"I don't make many mistakes, Renata," he said quietly.

"No, you don't." She stood looking at him. "Of course you could have done better shooting the bastard."

"I was almost a thousand yards away. And she was too close to him."

"Well, on the whole, I suppose you did very well today."

He chuckled. "Lord, I feel as if I've been awarded a gold medal." He tilted his head. "Except I've never seen a judge who was as beat up as you are. You look like you've been rolling in dirt, that blasted wound is bleeding again, and you have a bruise on your cheekbone." He reached out and touched her cheek.

"Molino?"

"Condon, one of his men." She took a step back so that his hand fell away. "Cousin Mark should have taught you to take better care of yourself."

She shrugged. "Mark says the first rule of safety is to do the job and not to get involved. I didn't play by the rules."

"For which Megan is no doubt very grateful."

"Why? I should have found Molino before he got his hands on her. I did a lousy job."

"Oh, yes. I can see it was entirely your fault."

"I would have done better if I hadn't let emotion throw me off-kilter." She turned and headed for the path leading up to the cliff. "I've got to go see Megan and then call Mark and tell him about Molino."

"Just look at you. You're even limping."

She glanced over her shoulder to see Harley watching her with a frown. "I'm fine. Mind your own business."

"It is my business." He moved after her. "Megan wouldn't like it if I let you try to make it up the cliff alone. You know how softhearted she is. She's gone through enough today. Let me clean you up before she sees you." He slid his arm around her waist. "Come on. You've leaned on me before and it wasn't so bad."

Why not? She was hurting and experiencing a hollowness that could be... loneliness. It was probably the last time that she would need to take help from Harley or any of them. She'd be on her own again.

"You're right; Megan is much too softhearted." She leaned against him. "But I wouldn't want to make her feel bad."