Generation 18 (Spook Squad 2)

“And Joshua and Josephine—they were twins?”

The old woman smiled, her eyes distant, lost in the years. “And the liveliest of all my charges. I guess that’s why you managed to survive at all.”

She rubbed her arms. “Survive? Then many didn’t?”

“Oh no. So many bonny babes were lost.” Mary hesitated, sniffing back a tear. “That’s why I left, you know. I couldn’t stand to see all the dead children.”

“And Hopeworth let you leave?” From what she’d learned about the place, she’d have thought no one would be let loose until they had exhausted their usefulness.

“They had no choice. The project was destroyed.” Her gaze met Sam’s, blue eyes shining with tears. “Until you walked into the room, I thought both you and Joshua were dead.”

Allars had mentioned that the Penumbra Project had been destroyed by fire. Coincidence? Somehow, she doubted it. Joe Black had sent her to Silhouettes, with the warning that she would find the first stepping-stone to her past. Silhouettes had led her to Mary. Was the old woman that stone? Or was she so lost in the past that she was confusing reality with fantasy?

“How old were Joshua and Josephine when you last saw them? Children change a lot as they grow up, Mary, so how would you recognize Josephine if she did walk in the door?”

“Children change, yes, but not the Hopeworth kiddies. They always looked the same, no matter what the age. They just filled out, gained muscle and length.” Her gaze rose. “And you all had the same color hair. There’s no mistaking that color, you know.”

General Lloyd had said much the same thing. And if Mary was right, and she was one of Hopeworth’s children, then her features, like theirs, hadn’t altered all that much in the thirty years she’d been alive. It was a somewhat chilling thought.

“What was the name of the project you worked in, Mary?”

“I…I can’t remember.” She rubbed her forehead with gnarled fingers. Tears ran silently down her weather-worn cheeks. “It hurts if I try to remember.”

Behind them, the door opened. A nurse stepped into the room. “Enough questions, Agent Ryan. Mary’s heart rate just leapt alarmingly. We can’t afford to let you stay any longer.”

Sam silently cursed, then rose. “I’ll come back another time.”

Mary caught her hand, squeezing it gently. “Please do. I don’t get very many visitors nowadays.” She hesitated and frowned, looking around the room in sudden confusion. “This isn’t my home. Why am I here?”

The nurse motioned Sam to the door, then she squatted down in front of the old woman, gently taking her hand.

“Mary, you were sick, dear. You came here to get better, remember?”

The door swung shut on the nurse’s soft words. Sam stood in the corridor and took a deep breath. It was hard to decide whether she’d found a clue to her past or simply more confusion.

What she needed was something to eat—maybe food would help her think more clearly. Then she’d better call Gabriel. She glanced at her wristcom, but at that moment, pain hit her, hammering into her brain. She gasped, felt her shoulder hit the wall, then slid to the floor, holding her head and fighting the wave of nausea and darkness washing through her body.

Footsteps came running. Hands touched her shoulders. “Agent Ryan, are you all right?”

As quickly as it had come, the pain left, leaving her with only a vague sense that something was wrong. She took several deep breaths and nodded. “Yeah. Sorry about that. The sudden movement must have set off my headache again.”

The reception nurse frowned. “If the headaches are as bad as that, you need to go see a doctor.”

“I am.” She struggled to her feet. If these damn headaches were an indication of what she had to look forward to every month, she was regretting her wish to fully develop as a woman. It was certainly a case of watch what you wish for, because it might come true.

“Maybe you’d better sit down for a while,” the nurse suggested, touching Sam’s arm in concern.

But Sam shrugged the touch away. “I’m fine, really. I just haven’t had breakfast yet, and I do have an appointment with a doctor at eleven.” She glanced at her watch. It was nine-thirty now. Time enough to get something to eat before she headed into the city.

“Maybe you’d better not drive until you do eat. Just in case that headache comes back.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll walk down to the shops first. Thanks for your help.”

The woman shrugged. “No problem.”

Sam headed out to the main street and quickly dialed Gabriel’s number. No answer. She frowned. Last time there was no answer, something had been wrong.

Something was wrong this time, too.