"I don't know. The bullet plowed across his skull. He's unconscious." Her teeth bit hard into her lower lip. Hold on. Don't let go. She had to help Phillip. "Head wounds can go either way. Any trauma to the cerebral hemisphere is chancy. He could be okay tomorrow. Or he could be a vegetable. I slowed the bleeding. That's all I can do." Her hands clenched into fists. "I feel so damn helpless. I want to help him, Grady."

"We'll get him the best help, Megan," Grady said. "At the best hospital. I promise you."

"Why would anyone shoot Phillip?" she whispered. "He was good, Grady. Even you couldn't make him into something he wasn't."

"Then obviously he must have been guarded by the angels," Grady got to his feet as he saw the flashing lights of the ambulance spearing the darkness. "They've come for him. It's a bullet wound and there will be questions. I'll take care of them. You go with Phillip to the hospital."

She nodded, her gaze never leaving Phillip's face. She felt as if she were splintering inside. She wanted to scream and pound her fists into the sand. "I won't leave him. I'll never leave him."

PHILLIP DID NOT REGAIN CONSCIOUSNESS in the next ten hours.

The next day he was transported by helicopter from the local Myrtle Beach Hospital to the neural ward at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.

"No change?" Grady asked the next morning as he came into the waiting room where Megan was sitting. He handed her a cup of coffee. "Test results?"

She shook her head. "They think there may be brain damage, but they're not sure. He just won't wake up. They say he may never wake up." She had to wait a moment to steady her voice. "He's in a coma. They have him hooked up to those machines to keep him alive." She swallowed. "I don't know how many times I've ordered patients put on life support. But this is different. This is Phillip."

"I'm sorry," Grady said gently. "He's a fine man. He didn't deserve this."

"No, but he got it, didn't he? It doesn't matter if he deserved it or not." She looked away from him. "I've been thinking a lot about Phillip while I've been sitting here. I never had anyone but my mother who cared about me until he came into my life. That's why it hurt so much when I thought he'd betrayed me. I felt... fooled. I thought he'd just been pretending."

"He did care about you, Megan."

"I know that. I could feel it. And it wasn't any of that psychic business. He was... We were a team." She shook her head. "He said he wished I could have been his daughter. I wished that too. My father died before I was born and I never knew him. But no one could have been more loving than Phillip. You can't imagine how good he was to me."

"I can imagine."

"Of course, you brought us together. But you know, that doesn't even bother me any longer. The important thing is that we had those years together." She drew a deep breath. "I have questions but I don't want to think about anything but Phillip right now." She had to talk to Dr. Pretkay, the specialist they'd brought down from Johns Hopkins. Not that they'd given her much hope. It was only one more avenue to explore. "I just have to know one thing. That bullet wasn't meant for Phillip, was it? He was shooting at me."

Grady nodded. "You were the prime target. Though I'm not saying that the shooter might not have wanted to eliminate all witnesses."

"And that night I was run off the highway?"

"Deliberate. Probably the same man."

"Why?"

"Nothing you did. The man who killed your mother wanted to eliminate every member of her family."

"What? That sounds like some Mafia vendetta."

"Molino would appreciate that comparison. He grew up in Sicily in the shadow of the Mafia."

"Molino? He's the one who killed my mother?"

"He gave the order. The man who actually killed her was one of his men, Ted Dagnos."

"Why would Molino want my mother dead?"

"Revenge."

"Revenge for what?"

"It's a long story and you said you didn't want to think about it now. I'll be here to answer questions when you're ready." He studied her. "You've accepted the fact that I wasn't her killer, haven't you?"

"As I said, I've had a lot of time to think sitting here. It was hard for me to accept that she was murdered." She added unsteadily. "But I have to do that. Whatever other madness and mental chaos I went through in that cave two nights ago, I do believe that my mother's death was not an accident. Everything else is still suspect. I have to prove it to myself." She immediately shook her head. "No, you're right. Not now. But I'm going to want all the answers, Grady. You'd better be prepared to give them."

"Any day. Anytime." He added soberly, "Let me know when you hear something more about Phillip."

She nodded jerkily. "It should be soon."

"Would you like me to stay?"

She gave him a level glance. "No, I can't say I like the idea of leaning on a man who's been as deceptive and manipulative as you've been with me."

He smiled. "You have a point. And I don't think you're afraid of me manipulating you anymore."

"I'm not." But it was true she no longer felt the danger from him was immediate. In the past days he had been with her constantly, fast, efficient, arranging everything for Phillip. He never intruded but was always a quiet presence in the background. "And you weren't the one shooting at me at the beach. You may have saved my life. I'm sure it was probably for purely selfish reasons, but you clearly don't want me dead."

"Very clearly." He turned toward the door. "You have my cell number. Call me if you need me."

"Where are you going?"

He shrugged. "You don't want me here, but I have to keep and eye on you. I'll be around. Give me five minutes' notice and I'll be here. I should tell you that I've asked Jed Harley to stop by and check on you occasionally. I don't want you to think he's one of Molino's pet vipers."

"Who's Jed Harley?"

"I've hired him to keep an eye on you. He's a good man."

"How good? In what way?"

"In all kinds of ways. Guns, knives, karate, tai chi. If you don't need him to put down someone, he's very good at keeping you entertained."

"I don't believe I'm in need of a court jester."

"Harley doesn't care what you need. He is what he is. Since you're having trouble enduring my presence I have to make sure you're safe. Nothing's going to happen to you, Megan." He walked out of the waiting room.

She felt a surge of comfort at those last words. She was feeling very much alone at this moment and was filled with confusion and sadness. Grady was not motivated by love or kindness but he wanted her protected. She would need that protection if she was to work her way through this bewildering maze.

"HI. BAD SCENE, HUH? Anything I can do?"

She opened her eyes to see a tall, loose-limbed man in a red Hawaiian shirt standing in the doorway. She straightened in her chair. "No, thank you."

"Sure?" He came into the waiting room. "I'm not just a busybody poking my nose into your business. That would piss me off too. My name is Jed Harley and I've been paid to stick my nose in your business." He dropped down in the chair beside her. "That should make you feel better. Protect and soothe. That's my job."