The Awakening

'Yes, way, Mort. Check it out.' Luther flipped to a certain page. 'I know she doesn't look like Gaby, but haven't you seen that exact expression on her?'

'Actually…' Mort drew the novel around and closer. 'Yeah. I have.'

Going out on a limb, hoping he could trust Mort, Luther ventured, 'Do you think it's possible that Gaby emulates the character?'

Mort's jaw went slack.

'Maybe,' Luther continued, 'given her unconventional upbringing, she didn't have anyone to look up to, so she chose a fictional character.'

'A kick-ass invincible character.'

'Exactly.'

'Geez. I don't know.' Going back to the novel, Mort turned a page, then another. Eyes wide, he gazed up at Luther with crestfallen chagrin. 'Anything's possible, I suppose.'

'It would explain a lot.'

Falling back in his seat, Mort slumped. 'Yeah, it would.' He rubbed at his eyes. 'Only thing is, I've never seen Gaby read the series. I've never seen her read anything, really.'

'That doesn't mean she hasn't.'

'No. She's so damn private.'

'So secretive,' Luther prompted. 'Here's what I want you to do.'

'Do?' New alarm drew Mort back upright at the table.

'Relax. It's nothing to unnerve you.' Luther cleared the table between them and leaned forward to engage Mort's confidence. 'I want you to keep an eye on her, that's all. Especially when the next novel comes out. After you've read it, watch for similarities between the characters and things Gaby says happen in her life and how she reacts. If you notice anything, let me know.'

'Oh.' Relieved, Mort composed himself. 'Yeah, I can do that.'

'Great.' Luther glanced at his watch. Gaby had been gone only fifteen minutes, but that put her past the time he'd set. He should leave. Just walk out the door and not come back.

But he knew he couldn't.

Some innate incorruptibility beneath Gaby's ballsy, indomitable exterior compelled Luther to keep chipping away at her defenses.

He finished off his coffee and stood. 'I have to go, Mort.'

'Go?' Mort rose too. 'But where? I thought—'

'I'm going to go find her.'

'Oh.' Mort followed him to the door. 'She won't like that.'

Luther grinned. 'Yeah, I know.'

'But you're going to anyway?'

'That's right.' He dug a business card from his pocket. 'Do me a favor. If she shows back up before I've returned, give me a call on my cell. But don't tell Gaby.'

'If I told her, she wouldn't let me call you.'

'Right.' Luther clapped him on the shoulder. 'Thanks for everything, Mort. You've been a big help.'

Morty glowed beneath the praise. 'Glad I could lend a hand.' He leaned out the door as Luther went down the steps. 'Luther?'

Luther turned back. 'Yeah?'

'Gaby is a good girl and she has a really enormous heart. It doesn't always show, but it's there.' He tapped the business card against his thigh. 'To tell you the truth, she's the best person I've ever met.'

'I know,' Luther said, and oddly enough, he meant it. Then, as much to himself as to Mort, he added, 'She's also the saddest. But I plan to change that.'

Morty nodded. 'Good luck, Luther. I have a feeling you're going to need it.'

Chapter Fifteen

The girl whined and sniveled, drawing forth a modicum of sympathy—but not nearly enough to thwart plans already in the works. The doctor tightened latex-covered fingers in her hair. Surgical gloves came in handy for hiding fingerprints, and adding extra traction to a grip.

'Don't you understand? Gaby Cody has to go before she ruins everything. And you're going to help me. Crying about it won't change anything.'

Between meager, gasping breaths, the girl pleaded, 'Please…'

The laugh came without humor. 'You're beseeching me for pity?' The fist tightened, snapping off hairs, pulling at the scalp so that whimpers turned to hysterical squeals.

But here, deep in the woods, no one would know.

No one would come.

No one would care.

'Stupid child. Your wishes mean nothing to me. There are grander purposes at play here beyond your pathetic life.'

'Oh God—'

A harsh slap cut off the prayer. 'Enough.'

As a red-welted handprint rose, the girl gulped down her noisy pathos.

Uncaring if she understood or not, the doctor verbalized concerns. 'Attempts to get rid of the cop haven't worked—because of Gaby, Instead of the officer keeping Gaby safe, it was the other way around.'

The doctor paced—and dragged the girl along with each step.

'I need you to ensure that neither Gaby nor the cop will breach my dedicated plans. They can't trespass where I work. They can't hinder my sacred experiments.' Stopping, the doctor drew the girl up. 'They absolutely cannot meddle with scientific medicine.'

After Gaby had damn near blundered onto a disposal in the woods, further experiments had been halted. It didn't matter that the disposal had been necessary and right. Anyone could see that the cancer had run amok and decimated all functioning brain cells.

But a woman like Gaby Cody wouldn't see it that way.

She wouldn't understand that the host body had become too unpredictable, too loud and unstable.

Someone like Gaby, a simple woman instead of a brilliant doctor, would never accept that it was best—even humane—to remove all life from the skeletal remains that had once been a person.

Remembering infuriated the doctor to a dangerous degree. Both fists tangled in the girl's hair, wrenching her head back, sending hot salty tears to leak down her bloodless cheeks.

'No more interference can be tolerated.'

Wracking tremors coursed through the girl. 'Okay,' she whispered. 'Please. I'll do whatcha want. I swear I will.'

'Of course. I believe you.' The grip softened. Fingers brushed the girl's pallid skin, moved over her quivering lips, swollen and damp. She was plump and round, with so much lush flesh to feed, to breed… In other circumstances, she'd have made a great addition to the experiments. 'Hush now. Hush.'

Sobbing, she didn't fight the doctor's embrace, and obediently put her head atop a comforting shoulder when guided to do so. 'You're destined for great things, child. You'll be assisting in an exalted scientific breakthrough against diseases, a puissant force in the scheme of future life and death.'

But first, Gaby Cody had to go.

'Now, listen carefully to what I want you to do. If you do everything exactly right, I might let you live.'

The girl collapsed to her knees, nodding, sniveling.

'If you falter, if you in any way break from my instruction, I'll make you regret it more than you can even imagine.'

Gaby watched the byplay in the car with interest. The guy had his eyes closed and his head back—and his