Code Name: Nanny (SEAL and Code Name #5)(76)

Cara nodded tensely.

“Tracey was acting funny and she bumped into me in the garage.” Sophy clasped her arms together tightly. “And I saw things. Bad things.”

“Like what, honey?”

“Fighting. Crying. A car at night.” Sophy closed her eyes. “Tracey was with someone in the car. They were doing strange stuff.”

Cara felt her heart begin to hammer loudly. “You . . . saw Tracey in the car? One night when you and Audra were outside?”

“No. I saw it in my head. It was like everything tilted, and then suddenly I was looking through Tracey’s eyes, not mine.”

Cara hugged her daughter fiercely, more frightened than she had ever been in her life. “What do you see now, buttercup?”

As she spoke, Cara willed her mind to one thought.

Sophy gave a low, hiccuping sob. “You. How you love me. I can feel it around me, bright and warm. You want me to feel it, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes.” Cara held on to her precious daughter. “I do love you, buttercup—more than forever, longer than always.” Cara brushed at her tears, sensing that nothing would ever be the same after this moment, that all their lives were going to change. As soon as possible, she had to talk to Audra about her weight worries, and something would have to be done about Tracey, too. Cara would ask their priest, Father O’Neill, to talk with Sophy about her visions. They would also find a child psychiatrist and maybe an internist who—

With an effort, Cara closed down the logical part of her mind. Sophy needed the deeper, primal part of her now. Most of all, her daughter needed honesty and the certainty of her unconditional love. “I believe you, honey. I’m just sorry it took me so long to understand.”

Sophy clung tightly. She didn’t ask any questions. With her mother’s arms locked around her and her love a deep, almost tangible force, no more questions were necessary.



Tate found them there on the dark porch, arm in arm. “What’s wrong?” He stared anxiously at Cara. “Did you fall? Is Sophy hurt?”

“We’re going to be fine,” Cara said fiercely, brushing her daughter’s wet cheeks, then wiping her own. “We weren’t before, but things will be different from now on. Won’t they, Sophy?”

Sophy nodded, leaning against her mother. Suddenly she shivered. “Aren’t you afraid?”

Almost by habit, Cara started to lie, but then she realized there could be no more soothing lies, no more evasions of any sort. Not with this unusual child who seemed to glimpse the truth in all its painful clarity. For Sophy’s sake, Cara would have to be honest, even if it cut into the established fabric of their lives. “Yes,” she said softly. “I’m afraid. I don’t want things to change, but they have to.” She looked at Tate. “For all of us, like it or not.”

He put his hand on Cara’s shoulder. “You two are starting to frighten me.”

“I’ll explain later.” Cara managed a crooked smile. “I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Tate put one arm around her shoulders and the other around Sophy.

The girl stiffened.

“Tate,” Cara said quietly. “Maybe you shouldn’t—”

“It’s okay.” Sophy took a deep breath and stared up at the stars. Her face tightened, as if she were grappling with ideas she couldn’t express or even understand. “I want it to be okay, and that means starting right here. I remember Summer told me that we all have to listen to the voice we don’t want to hear, the one that’s very quiet. She said usually that’s the most important one.” Sophy eased closer to her mother, but didn’t pull completely away from the senator. Her brow furrowed in a mask of fierce concentration.

Was she trying to block the outside thoughts, working desperately to be a normal, nothing-special nine-year-old in pink shoes and pigtails? Cara felt a stab of pain as she watched her daughter struggle to cope, facing a reality that seemed far beyond comprehension. There in the darkness Sophy was growing up fast, learning to listen to her heart.

Cara could only watch in awe.





[page]chapter 27

We’ve got company,” Summer murmured. “Stay down.” She pulled a big poncho over Izzy, who was pressed against the floor of the car’s front seat. When she checked Gabe, she was relieved to see him sliding beneath a blanket. As long as they didn’t move, the darkness should conceal them.

Her headlights picked up the dull glint of the weapon slung over the approaching officer’s shoulder. He waved his hands, speaking a torrent of Spanish.

Summer didn’t understand a word.

“Roll down your window,” Gabe whispered behind her. “I’ll tell you what to do.”

Summer took a deep breath. “He’s got a Heckler Koch MP5.” She rolled down her window and summoned a smile as the officer drew up beside her.

“He says your front light is broken,” Gabe whispered. “Just nod and smile.”

Cursing her high school decision to pursue French instead of Spanish, Summer followed Gabe’s directions, nodding vigorously.

The officer bent and pointed to her front fender, speaking again.

“He says he won’t make trouble for you this time. Not if you understand the seriousness of the problem.” Gabe spoke quietly. “Which means he wants a bribe. What color is his uniform?”