Samurai Game (Ghostwalkers, #10)(40)
Sam rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “I suppose since Whitney put microchips in all the girls he experimented on, no one wants that for the babies, although we’d be able to track them if someone got their hands on one. In San Francisco, it was a very near miss with Kane and Rose’s child.”
“I know.” Lily sighed softly, sobering at the mention of her father. “We’re trying to come up with alternatives. The thing is, if we had a way to track any child he kidnaps, it would be safer, but if Whitney manages to put another spy in place and finds out, he conceivably could use a microchip against us.”
“When did Whitney start placing microchips in the girls he experimented on? At what age?”
Lily shook her head. “I didn’t find any data on that yet. We have to be careful sneaking into his computer. Our Flame here—and now Jaimie out in San Francisco—handles gathering information and then we sort through whatever we managed to get. It’s a slow process, because we don’t want him to get suspicious. Still . . .” She trailed off shaking her head.
Sam studied her face. “Lily, honey, you can talk to me. You’re upset about something. Is it Daniel? I know he’s extremely active, but he’s really an amazing boy.” He patted her hand. “I know cribs and playpens don’t hold him and he can get out of anything, but he’s loving and sweet and so intelligent.”
“I’ve taught him sign language, as his speech skills won’t really develop for another few months—at least they shouldn’t. But he signed to me, unless I’m reading him wrong, that he has an imaginary friend who plays with him.”
Sam was alarmed at the little hitch in her voice. She sounded close to tears.
“They play games like hide-and-seek. So I guess he thinks he’s playing with this friend when he’s hiding from us.”
She blinked rapidly as if staving off tears and Sam’s heart thudded. Lily rarely showed vulnerabilities, and when she did, it was heart-wrenching.
“I don’t know that much about children, Sam. It isn’t easy having a superchild for a first child. I read and research, but there’s no manual. The one thing I do know is that Daniel should be happy and fulfilled by his parents without needing an imaginary friend.”
“Lily.” His voice dropped into a soothing cadence. “You have to know you’re a good mother.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t exactly have a childhood like other children, Sam. My father is Peter Whitney. The girls I thought were my sisters were taken away and used for experiments. I was an experiment. I was isolated a good deal of my childhood. Truthfully, all the parenting classes in the world aren’t going to help me. Why would Daniel need an imaginary friend at his age? I provide him with all kinds of stimuli, both mental and physical. Ryland and I hold him all the time and love on him. All of you shower him with attention so it just doesn’t make sense.”
Sam hated to hear the pain in her voice. If it wasn’t for Lily, all of the GhostWalkers would be in terrible trouble. She’d shared her enormous wealth with them. She provided health care and, more important, exercises and ways to help those who were without filters to live in a world without an anchor close to them. She continued to research and work to find ways to help them overcome all the obstacles they faced with their enhancements, as well as learning to perfect using psychic talents. More than all of that, Lily was a genuine, loving person with exceptional values. He loved her like the sister he’d never had.
Along with all of the things Lily did for all four teams of GhostWalkers, she was trying to learn to be a mother of a child with special gifts. Daniel was physically and mentally advanced and yet still really an infant. There were no guides for such a child.
“Have you spoken with Briony about Daniel’s ‘friend’? Maybe her twins do something similar.” Briony was married to Jack Norton, a member of GhostWalker Team Two.
Lily shook her head. “Jeremiah and Noah are a bit younger than Daniel. He’s nine months now and already walking and climbing. They aren’t far behind him either, from what I’ve seen. You know we get them together often because they seem to want to be together. Daniel often asks me to visit with them. At least their playdates wear them out.”
“Ryland told us a while back that you think they all have a secret language.”
Lily frowned again, nodding her head. “I think they’re all telepathic and they communicate silently, but they do have some kind of language built on sound. They definitely have a strong bond. When we were in San Francisco for Rose and Kane’s wedding, even though their child was just a few weeks old, the boys all were very interested and clearly tried to communicate with him.”
“That’s reasonable, Lily,” Sam pointed out. “You’re a strong telepath, Ryland is as well, and Jack and Ken Norton have been communicating telepathically with one another since they were small children, just like Daniel appears to be doing.”
She pressed her lips together, clearly still a little worried. “That’s true, and it all makes sense, of course. We suspected Daniel and the twins would be extremely gifted, but they’re infants. It makes it difficult to know what to do with them.”
“The boys are very happy,” he said. “I think that’s the most important thing. And because they’re intelligent, you can explain early why we take so many safety precautions with them.” He flashed her a small, teasing grin. “That way, when your husband barks out his orders, Daniel won’t want to rebel.”