What a little tigress. "You wouldn't have decided to come out of the bushes if you'd really thought Molino was using me to trap you. And I'm not going anywhere until I get what I want." She glanced at the gun Renata was holding at her side. "So give Harley back his gun and let's talk."

"Why should I want to talk to you? You've probably already ruined things for me here. I'm going to have to go on the run."

"Maybe not."

"She's right," Harley said. "She had another tail tonight besides me. She'd already disposed of him by the time I made an appearance, but his ID was Raoul Falbon. I sent a picture on my cell phone to Venable, that friend of Grady's at CIA headquarters, and he just got back to me. Falbon is for hire to the highest bidder, but he works extensively for Molino."

"Disposed of him?" Megan asked.

"I killed the bastard," Renata said bluntly. "What do you think? That I'd give him a tap and have him come after me again tomorrow? That wouldn't have been smart."

"No, it wouldn't," Grady agreed. "And now Molino will have to send someone else. It will give us a little time."

"Give me a little time," she corrected. "Thanks to you, I'll need it now."

"We didn't lead Molino to you," Megan said. "There was no way he could know the name of the person we're searching for. I didn't know myself until a few days ago."

"Then he found out from the same source."

Megan shook her head. "No way."

"Don't tell me that. You don't know what he'd do to get what he wants."

"Believe me, I do." She stared her in the eye. "I've been there."

"Bullshit. You've been safely tucked away in Georgia all these years. You don't know anything."

"How do you know that?" She remembered something else. "And how did you know what I looked like?"

"It's in the Ledger."

"What?"

"Photos. Reports. Your mother was found and documented when she was in her teens. After that we were able to keep track of both of you until you slipped away when you were fifteen. It took a long time, but Edmund was finally able to trace you when you were in your second year in medical school."

"Edmund..."

"Edmund Gillem." She was silent a moment. "He's not alive any longer."

Renata's voice was steady, but there was such a wealth of pain in those words that it shook Megan. She wanted to reach out in comfort but it would have been like comforting a wolverine. "No, he died in that trailer in Rome. He was very brave."

"He was a fool. I told him to run." She drew a deep, shaky breath. "Like I'm going to do."

"Too many people have run from Molino."

"Do you think I don't want to stay and take my chances to get that son of a bitch? I can't. Not now."

"Because you have the Ledger," Grady said. "I didn't say that."

"No, that's true," Megan said. "But Edmund said it."

Renata went still. "You're lying. Edmund would never have told anyone. He would have died first."

Megan nodded. "You're right; he did die to keep anyone from knowing you had it." She added quietly, "And as he died, he prayed for you, Renata."

Renata stared at her for a long moment. "Oh, shit." She whirled on her heel. "Come on, let's walk, Megan."

"I take it Grady and I aren't invited?" Harley said. "Stay on the path so that we can keep you in view." Renata didn't answer and Megan had to hurry to catch up with her.

Renata's hands were jammed into her pockets and she was looking straight ahead. She didn't speak for a few minutes and when she did, her voice was no longer steady. "You're a Listener?"

Yes.

"In the Ledger it said you probably would become one, but we weren't sure." She was blinking quickly to keep back tears. "Edmund bet me that you'd develop the talent in the next few years." She swallowed. "I told him he was crazy and that if you hadn't shown signs by now it was going to skip a generation."

"I wish it had."

She nodded jerkily. "But then you wouldn't be able to tell me about Edmund, would you? When was it?"

"Three days ago. In his trailer outside Paris." Renata was silent again. "Was it... bad for him?"

She wouldn't lie to her. "Horrible."

"My God," She stopped on the path and closed her eyes. "I knew it. But I had to hear it."

"He was very brave and he was determined that no one else be hurt by Molino."

"He was such a fool. He'd agreed that even if there was even a hint of someone coming after him that he'd go on the run. But he didn't do it. When he came to see me three months ago, he said that it was just a feeling and it wasn't as if he could see the future. He laughed about it."

"But he felt uneasy enough to give you the Ledger." Yes.

"Will you give it to me? I promise I'll keep it from Molino."

She stared at her in astonishment. "Hell, no. Edmund died for that Ledger and he gave it to me for safekeeping. I'll never give it up." Her voice was vibrating with determination and passion. "Who do you think you are? You don't know anything."

"I'm trying to learn, Renata. Teach me."

"I don't have time. Just stay away from me. You're bad news."

"I can't stay away from you. I have to get Molino and he wants the Ledger. Grady says that Molino always stays in hiding and we have to draw him out. The Ledger may be the only way we can stop him."

"Then you'd better find another way. I won't risk the Ledger."

"It won't be a risk. We'd never let it—"

"No," Renata said curtly. "Back off."

Megan shook her head. "Okay, don't give us the Ledger. But don't run away from us. We'll protect you. God knows, we don't want anything to happen to you too."

Renata's lips twisted. "Because you're afraid then you'll never find the Ledger."

Anger suddenly flared in Megan. "Damn you. Is it too much for you to believe that I don't want you dead? Edmund must have cared about you. He prayed for you. He made me care about you. They tortured him, they did terrible things to him, and then killed him. I won't let anything else be taken from him. He wanted you to live and by God, you're going to live. If you run, I'll follow. If you hide, I'll find you."

Renata was staring at her in surprise. "I didn't mean that—Well, maybe I did." She lifted her chin defiantly. "But I have reason to doubt you. You're a stranger to me."

"Except what you read in the Ledger."

"That was bare bones. Edmund couldn't get a detailed profile on everyone. There are too many."

"Then I'll fill in the blanks. Because you've got to know me. You've got to trust me." She started walking again. "I won't let it be any other way. I don't want you to panic and dart away from me if there's any lingering suspicion. What do you know about Neal Grady?"

"I know he's been trying to find members of the family for a long time. He was CIA and he has a talent. Edmund thought it might be a good idea to approach him before he located any of us. He said that he thought he could talk to Grady. He liked what he'd found out about him."

"But he didn't do it."

She shrugged. "We're careful. We don't do anything on impulse. Edmund was going to give it another six months before he made a move."