Part 14 (1/2)
Faith remembered the hot breath of the animal, the tearing teeth and theway its claws had raked her flesh, and swallowed hard. ”I'm sure.”
His expression was grim. ”Yesterday you were sure she was beingtortured.”
”Kane, all these ... memories, these flashes from Dinah's life andexperiences, are out of sequence. I can't tell what the proper order issupposed to be, if something happened weeks or months ago-yester- day.But I think it was the night she disappeared because I'm certain she wasattacked, and you would have known about it if it had happened beforethat night. I think the attack was a part of whatever led u to herdisappearance.”
”And the torture?” He bit out the words.
”I still believe she is was-being tortured. I believe her captors wantsome kind of information from her that she isn't willing to give them.”
”How can you know that? How can you?”
She didn't flinch from the rough demand, but it took all her resolutionto meet his haunted eyes.
don't know how, not really. They told me at the shelter that Dinah and Iseemed like sisters from the moment we first met, that we were instantlyand maybe inexplicably close. And I can't explain that any more than Ican explain any of the strange things I've experienced since I came outof the coma. But I know, I'm absolutely convinced, that what I'm seeingin these flashes is real. Somehow, there's a connection between me and Dinah, a tangible bond that exists.”
”Then why can't you tell me where she is?”
... don't know. I'm sorry.”
”Have you tried?” Kane leaned toward her across the piano, his voice
intense. ”Have you made any attempt to reach her directly?”
Katie's blithe a.s.sertion that she could do 'just that rose in her mind,
but Faith s.h.i.+ed away from it. What if she tried and failed? What if the attempt somehow severed the tenuous connection she knew existed?
”Faith?”
She felt trapped, cornered by his force, his need to reach Dinah. ”I
don't know how,” she whispered.
”There must be a way. Concentrate, Faith. Close your eyes and think about Dinah.”
She didn't want to. With her eyes closed, the blank darkness of her mind
was far more frightening, and in gazing 'into that was not something she willingly faced. But Kane had asked of her, demanded it of it her, and she couldn't refuse him.
So she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on Dinah, made herself think of nothing except the question of where Dinah was. Nothing else.
Nothing ... There's no proof,” Dinah said.
-Then we'll have to get proof,” Faith retorted. She chewed on a thumbnail for a moment. -But carefully.
These guys play for keeps, Dinah. ”
-You don't have to tell me that. If what we suspect is true, they've already killed to protect their secret.
They won't hesitate to kill again. ”
”Oh, it's true all right. I'm positive of that. So we need insurance,
something we can use for bargaining power if we find ourselves in a corner
”Faith ...” Dinah hesitated, but only briefly.
”Look, I know how much you've lost. I know how angry you are-- ”No, you don't. You don't know.” Her voice was harsh, clipped. -They took everything away from me, Dinah. Everything. And they got away with it.
The G.o.d d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.ds got away with it.
”Which is all the more reason why we have to be careful now. We have to be sure, Faith. We have to get proof, and it has to stand up in court.
Otherwise, you'll never get your justice.
”Justice?” Faith looked at her with an odd little smile. ”Yes, of
course. justice.
”Faith-”
The scene s.h.i.+fted dizzily, and she found herself back in that dark, damproom, her wrists bound to the arms of the chair. Her hands were numb,and when she looked down at them through blurred eyes, she saw that thewires had cut into her flesh almost to the bone. Scarlet blood drippedsteadily onto the floor.
Idly, she wondered how much she had left.
'Tell me.” The man's voice was astonis.h.i.+ngly quiet, almost mild. Shetried to peer up at him, but the dimness and her swollen eyelids made itimpossible to see anything but a shadow looming over her. ”All you haveto do to stop the pain is tell me what I want to know, Dinah.”
Mute, she shook her head wearily.
The closed fist swung at her, the blow so brutal it rocked her head backwith almost enough force to break her neck. One more like that, shethought dizzily, and he'll never get his d.a.m.ned answer.
An oath out of the darkness was evidence that the unseen watcher agreedwith her. ”Careful!” he growled. ”She can't tell me what I want to knowif she's dead.”
She wanted to point out that it was just a matter of time, that her lifewas dripping out onto the cold concrete floor, but couldn't allowherself to speak because if she opened her mouth, she would scream. Shecouldn't scream. Wouldn't scream.