Whispers in the Dark (KGI #4)(110)

Shea went still and leaned forward, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

“In the beginning this was solely a military-funded and -backed research subject. Highly classified. Furthermore, there were other successful test subjects besides you and Grace. There were other children born with psychic talents. But once they discovered that they’d been able to produce the ability to heal, the others were discarded, adopted out, dropped from the program.”

“Grace,” Shea whispered. “It was about Grace all along. Why keep me then?”

“Because you have that ability too, Shea,” Donovan said gently. “Yes, it would seem that your abilities differ, but think about what you did for Nathan. Now consider how you and Grace could operate as a team. Remote healing. We talked about this before, remember? You could communicate with and take the pain and suffering from someone. Grace healed Swanny through you. Now think about how the military would use gifts like these. Indestructible soldiers. They get injured on the battlefield and are healed telepathically. They get captured and tortured for information? You take their pain and suffering and shield them from it. They’d be like machines. Never breaking. Imagine it from a rescue perspective. Just as you did for Nathan, you could communicate with the prisoner and lead a rescue team to him. These are talents that, yes, the military would kill for.”

“But you work for the military. All of you. Or at least you did,” she said in bewilderment. “Don’t you still?”

“This is a part of the military that no one ever sees. Not even the enlisted themselves,” Sam said. “ ‘Funded by the military’ is a code word for a top-secret project that only a few very high-ranking people even know about. The men and women out there serving aren’t monsters. They’re doing their jobs. Research like this is done for black op groups that don’t officially exist. We’re telling you this because you deserve to know. We aren’t supposed to know all we do, but we’re arming ourselves with knowledge so that if there’s ever a need, we’ll go public far and wide in order to protect you and Grace and any others who are targeted for this kind of research.”

“So there’s nothing we can do? I—we—just have to live with the knowledge and never be certain whether they’ll come after me again?”

“Resnick is very determined to blow this operation from the top down. I don’t entirely trust him anymore. But I also understand where he’s coming from. He’s playing the game just like we have to play the game. If he’s successful in pulling the plug, this will all quietly go away. It’ll be like it never existed.”

“If only it were that easy,” Shea murmured.

Nathan laced his fingers through hers. “You’ll never be alone again, Shea. You’ll never have to live your life on the run. We take a stand here. Together.”

“Hooyah,” Ethan softly called.

“Fuckin’ A,” Garrett said emphatically. “And the first one of you who rats me out to Sarah gets their ass kicked. That includes you, Miss Shea.”

Shea smiled and Nathan nearly folded in relief. She was going to be okay. He felt it.

“Shea?” Sam said.

She turned her attention back to Sam.

“What do you want to do about Resnick? He wants to see you but he’s determined that you feel safe, which is why he wants to do it here, with all of us present. It might be good for you to talk to him. He could probably answer a lot of your questions.”

Slowly she nodded and then took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll see him. Maybe he has information that will help us find Grace.” She hesitated a moment and then looked back up at Sam. “When?”

“Whenever you want. Whenever you’re ready. You just say the word and I’ll make it happen,” Sam said.

“Thank you,” she suddenly blurted out. She turned to look at them all, her eyes glowing softly. “Just thank you. You all have risked so much for me, and now that I’ve met your wives, I know I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you that would take you away from one of them because of me.”

“You risked everything for our brother,” Joe broke in. “How could we not do the same for you?”

“We should probably stop now, or I’ll get really mushy,” Shea warned.

That brought chuckles from the others, but they all stared at Shea with clear affection in their eyes.

Nathan smiled and pulled her tight against him, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

“That right there is why we’ll risk what we have to for you,” Ethan said as he stared at Nathan. “He’s smiling again. He’s himself again. You did that, Shea. You brought him home.”

CHAPTER 47

SHEA snuggled deeper into Nathan’s arms and watched as fireflies danced through the air and hovered close to the ground. They blinked through the tree branches and sparkled like Christmas lights in the dark.

“I love it here.”

“Hmm. I love you,” Nathan said.

She smiled as his arms came tighter around her. They were sitting in the swing on Sam’s deck as night fell around them. They rocked gently back and forth, aided by Nathan giving them a slight push every once in a while to keep them going.

“I wish Grace were here. She’d love your family. She’d love Sophie, Sarah and Rachel. Especially Sophie. Of all of them, I think she’s most like her.”