Murder Game

CHAPTER TWELVE

Kadan padded on bare feet out of the bathroom to the bedroom, rubbing his hair with a towel, another slung loosely around his waist. Tansy hadn't said much, other than to order him to go take a shower, once they'd gone to the master bedroom. He wasn't certain what he was going to say to her, or how he would reply when she asked him what he intended to do about her father. He had no acceptable answer to give her.

He stopped dead when he entered the bedroom. The room was lit with low, flickering candles and smelled like heaven. Tansy sat on the bed naked, only her long hair covering her golden expanse of creamy skin. She looked sexy, a fantasy creature, lifting her eyes to his even as she rolled a bottle of oil between her hands to warm it.

"Where did you get all this?" He wasn't even certain that was his voice, husky and low and already groaning with de-sire.

"I have my secrets." She flashed a mysterious smile, tipping her head to one side, her hair sliding over her one shoulder and down her back to pool on the soft sheets. Her breasts gleamed invitingly in the candlelight, her nipples already tight, tempting him to devour her.

"Come here." She patted the bed. "I want you to lie down on your stomach."

He opened his mouth to protest; lying down wasn't what he had in mind, but there was something so secretive, so sensual in her expression, he lost his voice. He tossed the loose towel aside and shed the one around his waist, his shaft already growing hard in anticipation. He'd treated the small abrasions and lacerations over his body, but there was little he could do for the bruising. He'd just hope she wouldn't notice too much in the soft light. He stretched out facedown and cradled his head on his hands, eyes open to watch her every move.

Tansy leaned over him, her long hair brushing seductively over his back and sides. The feel of the silky strands sliding over his bare skin had his body tightening instantly. She began a slow massage at his neck, rubbing the scented oil deep into his skin. She paid very careful attention to every line of his muscle, every hard knot. She moved down his neck until he was groaning with pleasure, his body relaxing under her hands.

Her fingers traveled down his biceps with slow, mesmerizing strokes; she tugged until he straightened his arm, and she continued along his forearm, until she twined her oiled fingers with his. Each finger was lubricated and rubbed until he felt almost boneless. She started down the other arm, until once again she'd locked her fingers with his and then begun a slow, individual massage of each digit.

"Are you planning on putting that over my entire body?"

She began working his back muscles, rubbing harder in some spots and with a sensual circle that nearly drove him out of his mind in others. "Yes," she answered softly. "Everywhere."

His shaft jerked hard. "I'm leaking all over the bed," he said, his voice going velvet. He was as hard as a rock, almost painfully so, even his balls tight. She was going to kill him, yet he'd never felt so completely at peace and happy.

Her hands followed the slope of his flank, kneading the tight muscles. Her hair brushed along the back of his thighs, and he jerked in shock when she bit him. The small sting sent lightning careening through his bloodstream and arcing over his skin. For a moment her oiled hand slid under him. He lifted his hips to accommodate her and her fist closed around his shaft, slick with the heated oil. He groaned in satisfaction as she stroked him several times, but when he went to turn over, she stopped.

"No, stay still." Her hands went to the backs of his thighs, kneading and massaging the heavy muscles and then down to his calves and even his feet.

Kadan wasn't certain he would survive. Her hands were exquisite on his muscles, and the oil grew warmer, heating more with the manipulation of her fingers, until his skin began first to tingle, and then to flicker with electrical shocks, charging deeper into tissue until fire streaked through his bloodstream and pooled low and sinfully wicked in his groin.

When he was groaning, so full and heavy he was afraid he would burst, she licked up his thigh to his flexing flank, biting again. "Turn over."

He moved fast, wanting to drag her under him, but she shook her head and caught at his arms, bringing them over his head, leaning in, her breasts tantalizingly close to his mouth as she positioned his hands on the pillow.

"I'm not finished. You're supposed to be enjoying this. I know I am." She bent to brush a kiss along his mouth, then caught his lower lip between her teeth and tugged. "It's only fair that I know every inch of you. If I'm marrying you, I should see what I'm getting."

Her hands slid down his chest to find his heavy erection. She wrapped both well-oiled hands around his thick shaft, stroking, drawing the head toward her, leaning in to lick at the pearly drops she extracted. The velvet rasp of her tongue sent lightning lashing through him again. Her hands slid lower, beneath his sac, stroking upward, massaging the oil into his sensitive balls until his hips bucked nearly uncontrollably.

He reached for her, but she sank back onto her heels, kneeling just out of reach, shaking her head. "You're supposed to do what I want tonight."

"I am?" He lay back, watching her through half-closed eyes. She was so beautiful to him, there in the candlelight, taking the control, giving him more pleasure than he'd ever known in his life, than he'd ever known existed.

She nodded slowly and poured more oil into her hands. "Yes. You scared me tonight. I think that calls for a little cooperation, don't you?"

Instead of massaging the oil into him, she began a slow massage into her shoulders and then down her arms. Kadan's breath stilled when her hands cupped her breasts, slid over the creamy mounds, thumbs rubbing the oil into her nipples and kneading it into her skin until she gleamed in the soft candlelight. Her hands slid lower, tracing along her ribs and down her belly.

He touched his tongue to lips. "I could help."

She shook her head. "I'm watching you watch me."

Kadan took a deep breath. He'd never seen anything so sexy in his life. Her hands slid over her body, taking her time, massaging the oil into every single square inch he wanted to taste. He could almost taste her now, a hint of cinnamon in his mouth mixed with wild honey. Her skin glowed in the soft light, her curves accented, her body open to his hungry gaze. Her skin loved the oil, absorbing it quickly until only the glow, scent, and that heightening awareness, the growing heat rushing through his system, remained.

She crawled over the bed, over him, a sensuous slide of skin against skin, her head dipping to lap at him as she moved over the top of him. Her long hair teased his hips and chest as she began to rub the oil into his front. She paid particular attention to his bruises, adding featherlight kisses to help with healing. She dipped her head again to trace circles over his chest and nipples with her tongue, teeth scraping gently, teasing and tugging while his stomach bunched into tight knots and his shaft swelled to bursting.

She moved down his flat belly, rubbing along the defined muscles there, following with strokes of her tongue. His breath hissed out when she moved over his thighs, the insides, the backs of her hands sliding over his sac, now so tight and coiled, so ready he couldn't stop the little pulses rocking his cock.

Her hands finished with his feet and moved back up his legs in a slow glide. His breath strangled in his throat, trying to anticipate what she might do next. She reached casually for the glass of ice water she'd set on the small table by the bed and took a long drink. His entire body went on alert, every nerve ending coming alive, as her naked body slid up his. She wrapped her arms around his hips and lowered her head, again with that painful slowness, her long hair teasing his skin.

Her mouth slid over him like a glove, and his entire body arched in reaction, hips bucking wildly at the explosive combination of fire and ice. She sucked hard, flicking at the sensitive mushroom head with her cold tongue. The cinnamon burst around him and through him, inflaming his senses. If it was possible, his shaft thickened, every drop of blood in his body racing to gather into one point.

He caught her hair in his hands, tangling his fingers in the silken strands in warning. He couldn't take much more without exploding. His breath came in ragged gasps, and he knew that in another minute he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking back control. Her mouth was too effective, driving him beyond all limits.

Just as he reached for her, she sat up and straddled him, dropping her body, so slick and tight and hot, over his, so that he filled her, pushing through glorious silken folds and lodging deep. She rose above him, the shadows from the candlelight flickering lovingly over her body as she began a languorous, sensuous ride. He could see the lines of her body, her head thrown back, eyes closed, throat exposed, and an expression of pure ecstasy on her face as her muscles worked him, while she rode up and down with that same slow purpose she'd been taunting him with since he came out of the shower.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he whispered, his hands going to her breasts.

He'd never forget this night or the way she looked. She'd loved him with every touch of her hands, with her mouth and now her body. She'd loved him and he felt it and knew what the word meant, what the emotion was. Love. He tasted the word and it tasted like cinnamon-like Tansy.

I have nothing else to give you. Only me, only my body, only the way I feel about you.

Tansy wanted this night to be perfect, her gift to be the ultimate expression of love. He had sacrificed for her, risked his life, and come back to her expecting nothing in return. This was all she had to show him what he meant to her.

You're everything to me. And he meant it, filling her mind with the way he felt, with the overwhelming intensity of his emotions for her.

She lifted her body leisurely, as if she had all the time in the world, rolling one way and then the other, moving her hips in small circles as she slid up and then down, inch by inch, filling herself with the hard, thick length of him. His shaft was scorching, fiery-hot, hard, like velvet over steel, stretching and filling her to bursting. Going so slow, she could feel every inch of him, the friction sending streaks of pleasure up through her body, spreading to her thighs and breasts in waves.

She opened her eyes to look at him and found him watching her through half-closed, glittering eyes. The emotion was stark and raw and so intense her vaginal walls rippled in response and her heart gave a funny flip. He looked at her with more than just dark lust; he looked at her as if she were the only one in his world. She could see a kind of worship in his eyes. His breath came in ragged pants and she felt the dig of his fingers into her hips.

A slow smile teased her mouth. "You really like this, don't you?"

Kadan wasn't certain he could get a sound out through his clenched teeth. Hell yeah. It was the best he could do when her tight sheath gripped and suckled, hotter than he'd ever known. He wanted the ride to be hard and fast, to grip and pound into her; the slow pace was killing him by degrees, but how could he give up the sensation of pure pleasure washing over and over him as she lifted her body and worked her muscles?

She rose again, a sultry, sensuous move that took his breath as she lowered herself again, her hips twisting into a tight roll that nearly destroyed him. His ringers dug into her hips hard, thighs bunched as he drove hard upward to meet that downward spiral. Lightning streaked again and his balls tightened painfully, her muscles tight and hot and strangling him.

He was done. At his end. He flexed his hands once, her only warning, and then he took control, lifting her with his enormous strength, driving her down onto him hard, tearing through those tight folds over and over, pounding into her the way he needed. He hit the back of her cervix and kept plunging deep and hard, using his strength and his speed. Her womb spasmed around him and the walls rippled and pulsed. Still he drove into her, hammering out a rhythm that took her over the edge fast.

He felt her shudder, felt her body clamp down on his. He refused to let it end for either of them, driving her to a second orgasm before the first subsided. Her muscles locked down, milking him hard, so that he couldn't stop the violent explosion, tearing up past his legs, centering in his groin, flooding her deep with his hot release. Her keening cry echoed more in his mind than through the room, but his hoarse cry of satisfaction joined the soft sound.

Kadan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down over him like a soft, living blanket as the walls of her sheath continued to ripple powerfully around him.

Tansy. He whispered her name, his soft voice shaky with emotion even in her mind. How can I ever go back to living without you? He couldn't. He wouldn't.

She'd given him more than the most erotic experience he'd ever known, she'd given him a gift that was beyond measure. She hadn't held back anything from him. She'd poured everything she was into their lovemaking. She'd given the gift of herself-of her love.

He rocked her gently, trying to regain control of his breathing, of his scattered wits. Around his, her body continued to rock with small aftershocks. He could feel the little shudders that went through her and the way she struggled to breathe. He rubbed his way down her back, massaged the curves of her buttocks, kissed his way along her shoulder and neck.

When she was quieter, he rolled her over, still buried deep, and found her mouth with his. His kissed her with everything he was, with every bit of tenderness he could manage. He was never a gentle man, and he certainly could never articulate in words the depth of his feeling for her, or his appreciation of what she'd given him, but he tried to show her, kissing her over and over, taking her mouth and giving her his own while his hands stroked caresses in her hair.

"Where in the hell did you get that oil?" He rolled to his side, allowing his body to separate from hers, tucking her close to him.

"I made it." She brushed his hair from his face. "Did you like it?"

He turned his head to kiss her fingers. "You know I loved it, Tansy. What do you mean you made it?"

"I don't suppose you noticed all the flower gardens on the estate? When I was a little girl my mother tried to think of things we could do together that would be fun, girly, and didn't involve touching. So we gardened at first. I had my own little garden that really grew into a huge project. I loved being outdoors with her. She'd talk about all the different plants and their different uses historically. She mentioned perfume and oils and I was intrigued. She always smelled so good, and she told me how my dad took her to this perfume shop and had a special scent made just for her. I decided I wanted to do that myself."

He nuzzled her neck. She smelled delicious. "So you did."

She nodded, turning her head just a bit to give him better access. Maybe it was because she'd been deprived of human touch for so long that she craved his hands on her, but she wanted to feel his palm cupping her breasts, his thumb stroking back and forth over her nipple and his mouth skimming the hollow of her shoulder.

"I did. And I discovered that different oils could be bases used for different purposes. Arnica can help with bruising and is great for massages. Grapeseed is a great moisturizer. There are so many natural oils and herbs and flowers that can be used for all sorts of uses while also creating great fragrances. The cinnamon is my favorite, and fortunately I found a way to make it absorb, taste, and smell good."

"And you just happened to carry candles in your pack as well?" He leaned over and blew them out, then lay back, licking at her shoulder and then teasing with his teeth, producing a little shiver.

"I was camping and light tends to hurt my eyes, so as a rule I keep a box in my backpack. They aren't terribly fancy, but they do the trick."

There was a small silence. He could hear the clock ticking. He inhaled the scent of her, taking it deeper into his lungs, and nuzzled her breast. She never pulled away from him, as he half expected her to do. Instead, her body welcomed his, warm and so soft, always inviting. He could barely breathe with loving her. She thawed something frozen in him when she was close. He hadn't expected it to be like this, but there was no going back.

Thank you. He couldn't say it out loud. He would have choked on the words.

She looked at him, her gaze drifting over his face, seeing more than he wanted her to. "For what?" Her fingertip traced his lips.

For making me feel like I have someone to come home to. Hell. He was choking up anyway. Fuck it. For loving me. He despised being so inept with words, not when she deserved so much better, but it was the best he could do with his throat raw and his eyes burning.

"I do love you," she said, rolling over to sprawl on top of him, framing his face with her hands. She kissed him, sliding her tongue along his lips, and, when he opened, into his mouth, to tangle in a slow leisurely dance with his. "I didn't think I would, but who could ever resist you?"

"I want to be inside you again," he whispered. "I need to be. Slide down my body and get me hard, baby."

He was already coming back fast, but she didn't hesitate, kissing her way down his chest until her hands cupped his sac, stroking upward, and her mouth closed over him, tight and hot.

Kadan came alive instantly under the growing experience of her fantasy mouth. He made love to her again, as gently as he could for as long as he could, but inevitably, he grew rough and hard, plunging deeper and faster, riding her with everything he was. It didn't matter that he took them both over the edge again. His body might be temporarily sated, but his mind would never be. Touching her, loving her, was a miracle.

He curled his body around hers, his arm possessively around her waist, and listened to her breathing. He could spend a lifetime holding her close. He waited, there in the dark, with the scent of cinnamon and sex hanging in the air, until she was in a deep sleep. Very gently he pressed a kiss against the nape of her neck and removed her hand from over the top of his. Rolling carefully off the bed, he pulled on his jeans and a shirt and dragged his belt with his weapons and a few supplies around his waist, before slipping out of the room.

Ryland was waiting for him in the hall. "Took you long enough."

"I wanted to make certain she was asleep in case this goes bad."

Ryland nodded. "We'll have to make entry from outside. He's barricaded the door."

Kadan shrugged. "He's not stupid, but he's so full of shit. He's up to his ears in Whitney's mess. The wife is clean though. I could read her and she despises Whitney. I think the only real source of contention in their marriage has been Whitney."

"So she wanted to take Tansy to a different doctor and her husband refused," Ryland said. "I wonder why he would do that." He frowned and leaned close to Kadan, sniffing. "Cinnamon?"

"Shut the hell up." Kadan snapped and pushed past him.

Ryland took another whiff and gave a low whistle. "You smell yummy. I'm getting hungry. Maybe cinnamon buns."

Kadan flipped him off rudely.

Nico stood waiting by the front door. As always he was their backup. He frowned when the two GhostWalkers got close. "What the hell is that smell?"

"Kadan's new spicy cologne."

"Go to hell. Rye," Kadan said and shot him a look that should have withered him on the spot. "Both of you can go to hell"

"I think his blood sugar's dropping," Ryland explained. "Must have been all the cinnamon candy he got tonight."

Nico put on an innocent face. "That woman of yours smells a little like cinnamon."

"Makes you hungry, doesn't it?" Ryland said.

"Yep. Can't wait to tell Dahlia about this one. The ice man gets all hot and bothered around cinnamon spice. Who would have guessed?"

"Don't make me shoot you." Kadan yanked open the front door. "Because I'll do you both in a heartbeat and never look back."

Ryland smirked at him, not in the least intimidated. He began humming a tune overly loud under his breath.

Kadan shot him a look of intense irritation. "What are you doing now?"

Nico nudged him. "Don't you know that tune? I'd think it was your favorite. You're such a music cretin. Neil Young wrote some great songs." When Kadan still looked blank, Nico sang the lyrics while Ryland hummed. "I wanna live with a cinnamon girl…"

"I really am going to shoot you both." Kadan shook his head.

They'd never let him live it down. By tomorrow both of the clowns were going to buy him a Neil Young album with the song "Cinnamon Girl" on it. He shook his head and kept his grin to himself. He'd probably play it too, but hell if he'd ever tell either of them that.

He gave a small salute to Tucker, who was making the rounds and emerged out of the bushes as if he'd just materialized.

"Everything's quiet. Gator ditched the Humvee on the other side of town. He'll be back in a while," Tucker said.

Ryland nudged him. "You smell love in the air, Tucker?"

Tucker inhaled. "Kadan. Man. High-five me, bro."

"I'm going to make everyone of you eat those smiles," Kadan groused and pushed through them to stalk around to the side of the house, ignoring the soft, taunting laughter that followed him.

He crouched just below the window of the bedroom they'd given Don and Sharon Meadows. It was time to pay the man a little visit. They'd told him the window was wired, but there was no alarm on, not until Kadan knew exactly what he was dealing with. Just in case Don had his own method of alarms, he checked all around the window and listened for the telltale hum of a live wire. It was silent, other than a few soft snores from Tansy's father.

Kadan slipped his blade along the windowsill before levering the window up. He'd made certain there would be no noise when he opened the window, before he'd ever put the couple in the room to begin with. He went headfirst into the room, creeping down the wall to the carpeted floor, knife in his teeth, Ryland right behind him.

They split up, one on either side of the large double bed. Ryland pulled out the air syringe and made certain Sharon would stay asleep. When he was certain she was out, he signaled Kadan and slipped into the shadows where Don wouldn't detect him. Nico took up a position just outside the window, where he could train a gun on the man at all times.

Kadan crept up the wall at the head of the bed and slipped behind Don to settle his weight carefully. He didn't bother with a knife; if he had to kill Don, he would do it with his bare hands. He didn't want blood for Sharon to wake up and find.

He placed his hand carefully on the man's throat and pressed hard enough to wake him.

Don's eyes snapped open and he stiffened.

Kadan's fingers dug deeper, letting him feel his enormous strength. "I wouldn't move if I were you," he said quietly. "I'm a patient man, Mr. Meadows, but I'm tired tonight, and I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm going to ask a couple of questions, and whether you live or die in the next few minutes depends on your answers."

Don flicked a quick glance at his wife, his lips compressing tightly.

"She's fine. I can read minds, and hers was fairly open. She loves you and Tansy. The two of you are her world. She despises Peter Whitney and can't understand why you insist on having him in your lives when you know he's a monster." Kadan leaned close. "I can't understand why you would ever risk your daughter with that man. You know she's one of his experiments."

Don jerked, his eyes widening in shock.

"You think the government doesn't know about all the little girls whose heads he fucked up? He did the same thing to a bunch of Special Forces men. I'm one of those men. I don't have a lot of love for Whitney and you shouldn't either."

"I don't," Don snarled. "I despise the man."

Kadan stared down into the defiant, angry eyes and read guilt. He didn't let up on the pressure at all. "You despise him, yet you force your daughter to see him even when she says he makes her uncomfortable."

"It was part of the adoption agreement."

"You knew what he'd done when you adopted her." Kadan made it a statement.

Don's gaze shifted. "Damn it, this isn't any of your business."

Kadan leaned down, staring into the man's eyes. He wanted no mistakes, because this time, Meadows had better understand fully what and whom he was dealing with. "Tansy's mine now, and I take care of my own. I will kill you and never look back. Meadows. Give me a reason not to. I don't much like you and you sure as hell don't have to like me, but if you want to live, you'd better answer my questions. I can smell lies and deceit all over your sorry ass."

Don pressed his lips together harder.

Kadan gave him one last chance. "Do you know what he's doing with those girls now? Do you know why he wants Tansy back? He has a breeding program. The women don't have to be cooperative, just get pregnant by the men he chooses for them. He wants the babies. That's the man you're protecting. That's the man you're giving your daughter to."

Don stared up at him with shrewd eyes. The man had an enormous IQ. He was successful in a highly secretive world, quite brilliant and much respected in his chosen field. He might be arrogant, but he had some cause to be. Kadan remained silent under the close scrutiny. There was no doubt in his mind that Don was making up his mind about his future son-in-law. Kadan knew what he was seeing. Rough, cold, lines etched deep. The picture wasn't pretty and it shouldn't be. Kadan would kill him if it was necessary and he wouldn't lose sleep over it. If Don Meadows saw nothing else, Kadan wanted him to see that.

"I went to school with him. He was elite. Tons of money. His parents were billionaires, you know. The school was full of people with money, but few in his class. I was there on a scholarship. It was a private boarding school and I was young, wanting to fit in without a hope in hell of doing so. I was homesick, but this was a chance of a lifetime and my parents were so proud that I'd been chosen for the honor of attending such an elite school."

Don sighed and shifted slightly, glanced at his wife and then back up at Kadan. "If I'm going to tell you this, can I at least sit up?"

Kadan held his gaze. "You've got a sniper who never misses pointing a gun at your head. You have one of my team sitting across the room from you holding another gun in his hands and he doesn't miss either. And just so you know, I'd kill you before either of them got off a shot." He pulled his hand away from the man's throat and backed up a few steps, completely confident in his speed and ability to carry out his threat if Don made a wrong move.

Don rubbed his throat, sliding his body cautiously forward and folding into a sitting position. He reached for Sharon's hand and checked her pulse. "My wife has nothing to do with any of this. If you kill me, give me your word you won't harm her."

Kadan's eyebrow shot up. "You'd believe me?"

"You're a hired killer, Mr. Montague, but you're not a liar."

Kadan kept his expression blank. That wasn't exactly the truth. He'd do whatever it took to complete a mission, but he shrugged his shoulders. "Your wife won't be harmed."

For a moment relief showed in Don's eyes, then his gaze flickered away. Yeah. There was guilt there. The man was knee-deep in dirt.

"Peter Whitney is an incredibly intelligent man. I admire intelligence. We gravitated toward one another. I was younger, and in a school where everyone has money-and degrees of it-it's difficult to fit in. I wanted what they all had."

Kadan remained silent. He might understand it, but he had a bad feeling, and a part of him was already mourning for Tansy. As he watched Don talk, taking in the shape of his eyes and the silver hair, things began to click.

"Whitney has this built-in radar for psychic ability. He can pass someone in the street, and even if they don't know it, he does. He can shield his brain and he can spot psychics, but that's the extent of it. He's many things, Mr. Montague, but he's a patriot as twisted as his visions for the country are. Of course in the early days, I didn't see him as twisted. He was older, smart, which few people were, and he had more money than anyone else on the planet. Everything he said sounded golden."

Kadan stayed patient when he wanted to shake the man. His revelations were going to hurt Tansy-and she'd have to be told. Damn this man for his childish greed.

"Whitney envisioned a world without men dying in battle. He said we could create supersoldiers. I honestly didn't think the psychic abilities were strong enough in people. Mine weren't. I feel things sometimes. When I see a helicopter or an airplane, I can redesign it for better function and speed and maneuverability because I 'see' the flaws."

"And you have a natural shield."

Don nodded. "I didn't know it for a long time. How many people can read minds? I met Sharon while I was in graduate school. She was so small and fragile, with a weak heart. I fell like a ton of bricks, but she comes from the same kind of money as Whitney, and although I was making a name for myself, I was nowhere in her league. I didn't think she'd look twice at me."

Kadan was beginning to put the pieces together. Don Meadows was a fool. This was all about his wife.

"I managed to get her to go out with me, and in the end, she married me. Her family was furious and threatened to cut her out of her inheritance, but she married me anyway. Eventually her father backed me in my business, and we've been lucky and have established enough government contacts to be more than successful."

"But…" Kadan prompted. Don Meadows was circling the subject, hoping it would be enough without disclosing his ties to Whitney. Kadan wasn't about to let him get away with it.

Meadows sighed heavily and stroked Sharon's limp hand. "Long before Sharon's father would take a chance on me, I worked for Peter. He had a huge research center and I was given my own department. I had visions of maybe becoming partners with him one day and showing Sharon's family that we didn't need them. Peter and I took a business trip to Europe. I was twenty-six. Sharon was ill and couldn't come with me." He shook his head, his expression rippling with pain. "Her health is very fragile."

Kadan nodded. He already knew what was coming.

"I don't know what happened." Don rubbed at the lines in his brow. "I think about it all the time. I was drinking and there was this girl. She couldn't have been more than fifteen." He looked up at Kadan, pain in his eyes. "Thirteen. She was thirteen." He shook his head again. "I don't remember much about that night. Only that I must have gone crazy. The sex wasn't consensual. I know because I've seen the videotape a hundred times and it's ugly. It's damned ugly to know that you're capable of something like that when it's so repugnant to you."

There was bitterness in his voice, even self-loathing. Don brought his wife's hand to his mouth. "Peter cleaned up the mess-his money of course-and we came home. He swore no one would ever know."

"And you trusted him? You weren't suspicious that he might have had something to do with you acting so out of character?"

"I had to trust him. He was my friend. It didn't occur to me until a long time after, and by then, I had so much to lose. Sharon couldn't have children. She knew I wanted them. I was afraid if she found out I'd not only cheated on her, but that I was capable of rape, of animal brutality, she'd leave me. She'd think I married her for her money. There was a part of me that wanted the money and I had forced a child. God!" He dropped his head into his hands. "You have no idea what it feels like to know a monster lives inside of you."

"Have you ever done it since?"

Don's head jerked up, eyes flashing with anger-with denial. "No! I'd shoot myself first if I ever had such an inclination. I don't know what happened that night, but I saw myself. It was me raping that child. The video wasn't tampered with."

"But someone set the camera up in the first place."

Don nodded. "Yeah. But I didn't know there was a video until five years later."

"When Whitney brought Tansy to you. She's your biological daughter, isn't she?"

Don swallowed hard and ducked his head again, shaking it from side to side. "Whitney called me into his private lab and brought Tansy out. You should have seen her. All white hair and those eyes. She had the same mouth her mother had. I knew she was mine the moment I laid eyes on her. Whitney showed me the tape. And he had tapes of the girl in what looked like a hospital during her pregnancy. She sold the baby to Whitney. Later, he claimed she died in a car accident, and maybe she did; I searched for her, but couldn't find her."

"And Whitney had Tansy for five years."

Don nodded. "He'd enhanced her psychic abilities. Apparently the girl, her mother, was psychic and Peter wanted to see what he could do with the baby. She wasn't the only one he had. He told me they were orphans he'd collected, unwanted children. He had nurses for them and said he was getting rid of them, adopting them out. He told me I could take Tansy on the condition he continued to be her doctor so he could see her progression."

"And you balked."

"Hell yes. The son of a bitch. He had my daughter. He'd set me up. And when he produced the video, I realized he had to have been the one behind the camera, that all those years earlier, he'd been a party to what I'd done." He sighed heavily and leaned back against the headboard, still stroking Sharon's hand. "He wasn't always a madman. I saw the signs, but didn't want to. He was my friend and I didn't have too many of them."

"And he opened doors for you," Kadan wasn't going to let him off the hook. Don Meadows was an intelligent man. He also was ambitious. He wanted the respect, contacts, and money that came from his association with Whitney.

"I can't deny that."

"So he came to you with his proposal. He wanted you to adopt your own daughter. And if you didn't play ball with him, he was going to destroy the life you'd so carefully built."

"He would show the video to Sharon and her family. He said he'd go public with it. That video is sick," Don said. "It would have destroyed all of us."

"And the other children he had in his laboratory. He was experimenting on them and you knew it."

"He was adopting them out. They all had problems, just as Tansy did. He promised he'd give anyone who took them enough money to take care of their special needs."

'And you wanted to believe that."

"I had to believe it, for my own sanity. She was my daughter. My own child. I wanted her living with us any way I could get her. And I knew Sharon would take a damaged child, no matter how bad she was. Sharon desperately wanted children."

"You're a selfish son of a bitch, aren't you?" Kadan said, his tone mild.