“Cassie?” Travis asked.
She nodded. “m glad he brought her to say good-bye.” She wrinkled her nose. “At least he won’t order a rocket launcher to take out the helicopter while she’s around.”
“He wouldn’t do that. I’m the only one he’s having a problem with.”
“You might be able to solve it sometime. Who knows, you may be able to tap one of your sources and give him a tidbit of valuable information.”
“Possibly.”
“And Cassie is going to prove a shock to him when he finds out she’s brought back the same kind of psychic baggage I did. He may need help with her.”
“ We’re not sure she has. You haven’t been able to bond with her since she woke, have you?”
“Once.” She paused. “And I found she’d already picked up some very interesting info when she was in the tunnel. Now that she’s out, her ability may grow like wildfire.”
“What kind of info?”
“When you were unconscious, she said, ‘If I stay out, he has to stay out too.’ ” She looked him in the eye. “Now, what do you think she meant by that?”
He stiffened. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“I thought a lot about it last night.”
“I’m sorry to have kept you awake.”
“Perhaps we should ask Dr. Dedrick.”
“That’s one solution.”
“Except, dammit, there’s no Dr. Dedrick, is there? You made him up. What would you have done if I’d called your bluff when you offered to lend me your book?”
“I didn’t think it was likely. You were too involved in Jessica’s problems.” He shrugged. “And I wanted to help you.”
“I should have guessed. You were so blasted understanding about what was happening to me. Your information sources weren’t the same as Galen’s. You knew about the attack on Vasaro but not about Deschamps. And you were able to help Cassie when she was rejecting everyone else. We just assumed it was because you’d saved her at Vasaro, but there was something else too, wasn’t there?”
“I don’t know. I’m not an expert on how it works. It could have been for either reason.”
“No wonder you were so interested in Cassie. You identified with her. You were struck on the head and unconscious in that hospital for months after your father died. Where were you during that time, Travis? A tunnel, a cave, a forest?”
“No, a boat, a very strong, well-built cruiser with the speed of light that could run away from anything or anyone.”
“Monsters?”
“I had my share of them. But I had an impetus that sprung me free of the trauma. I’d seen my father murdered, and hatred is a very powerful goad.” He looked away from her. “Then the dreams started. And a little later I’d occasionally see . . . things. I never joined with anyone like you did with Cassie. Evidently, it doesn’t work the same with everyone. In the first year, I realized what a tiger I had by the tail. I couldn’t see something when I wanted to see it. I felt like it owned me.”
“Did you tell Jan?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t tell Jan or anyone else. I just bottled it up inside. Sometimes I could stop what I saw. Sometimes I couldn’t. Sometimes I didn’t want to stop it. I thought I deserved a little profit from all the hell I was going through. When I was old enough, I went searching for answers and I found a few, but we belong to a very exclusive club. Which was why I was so fascinated when I found out about Cassie . . . and you. It’s almost enough to make you believe in fate.”
“It wasn’t fate that made you step in and involve yourself with Cassie.”
“No, it started out as curiosity and then I got pulled in.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me? Why couldn’t you share it with me?”
“At first, we weren’t exactly friends. No, that’s not the reason. It’s . . . difficult for me to talk about it. I’ve become accustomed to handling it by myself.” He grimaced. “Okay, you said once that maybe I was in a tunnel just like Cassie. You didn’t know how close you came. Maybe you were right. Maybe I haven’t learned to deal with it in a sane, healthy way. I just did the best I could.”
“Were you ever going to confide in me?”
“Sure. Maybe. I hope so. It wouldn’t have been easy for me. I’m not like you. You’re open and you reach out to everything and everybody.” He met her gaze. “If you needed me to do it, I would have told you. I’ll give you anything that you need from me.”