Part 5 (1/2)

Don't let it suffer. You don't need it.

All the animals in the bas.e.m.e.nt had been brought in by local kennels; Leah had a standing arrangement that once an animal had an incurable disease, she'd take them from the kennel and make their last days comfortable. If the animal was young enough, she'd Cure it and then find a home for it. Otherwise, she'd keep it around as long as possible, in case a situation arose like this evening.

But she'd never let an animal suffer needlessly.

Crying even harder than before, she prepared a second syringe.

Tal Nova took Leonard Marsh's private elevator up from the garage so no one would see him. Later, he'd use the computer in his office to erase himself from the security tapes. The healed dog cowered at the end of its leash, staying as far from Tal as possible.

Maybe he remembers what I did to him. I know I'd never forget someone who gave me that kind of beating.

In Tal's pocket were two flash drives, one of them containing the video Del McCormick had taken. Before paying him, he'd made sure Del had deleted the file from the pad.

The elevator took him right to Marsh's office, where Marsh was waiting for him.

”Show me what you've got,” he said to Tal.

Tal nodded and put the first drive into the computer. ”This is the dog before Del brought it to DeGarmo's clinic,” Tal narrated. On the extra-wide screen, the dog's brutal injuries looked even more grotesque than they had in real life. The camera zoomed in on each leg, showing in graphic detail the jagged bones protruding through the skin and fur.

”Jesus Christ,” whispered Marsh. In the light of the computer monitor, his skin looked greener and paler than it had in the afternoon.

Tal removed the memory stick and put in the second one containing the video shot by Del McCormick. The two men watched in silence as Leah DeGarmo, her face taut with shock and horror, rushed the dog away and shut the door.

When the view switched to the room where the dog was walking on unmarked, perfectly healed legs, Marsh gasped and leaned forward, but didn't say anything.

The video ended with Del following the now-happy dog's progress out to the car.

Marsh slapped a hand on his desk as Tal removed the drive from the video player.

”G.o.ddammit! Why didn't he stay in the room with her?”

Tal placed the two memory sticks on the desk. ”She wouldn't let him. My guess is she's done this before and doesn't want anyone else to know what she can do. If Del had insisted on staying, she probably would have operated on the dog the normal way, maybe even let it die, rather than expose herself.”

”But this doesn't prove anything.” Marsh's voice was angry and bitter. ”That could have been another dog.”

”That's why I brought the dog back,” Tal said. ”You can see for yourself.” He lifted the dog onto a chair and took a pair of heavy metal-cutting scissors from his pocket. Holding the dog still with one ma.s.sive hand, he snipped the casts away from both legs.

”See? She shaved the legs so if the bandages slipped a little it would look like she'd treated the wounds. That's why she told Del that by the time the fur grew back, the dog's legs would be better.”

”I still don't have actual proof of her doing the healing,” Marsh insisted.

Tal settled himself into his usual chair across from his boss and popped a stick of gum in his mouth. The sharp bite of the cinnamon burned away the stale taste of too much coffee.

”Pardon me for saying so, but you don't need it.”

”What?”

”You're not trying to convince anyone else. This isn't a story for the newspapers or a way to get funding for research. It's just for you. We know she can do it, so why not just bring her in?”

Marsh stared at him with wide eyes, and for a moment Tal thought the old man might be getting ready to launch into one of his increasingly frequent tirades. Then his pale lips widened into a smile and he started laughing.

”And that's why I hired you. You have a knack for seeing right to the heart of something and not worrying about the extraneous details. So, how do you propose we get her here?”

”We just grab her. Nice and simple.”

”No, no. Nothing illegal. I want her to help me of her own free will. Otherwise, there's no guarantee it will work.”

Tal rubbed his hand across his smooth-shaven scalp, a habit he had whenever he was concentrating. ”There's always money.”

”Perfect! I'm sure running that clinic is expensive. Tell her I've got a business proposition for her, that I'd like to donate some money to fund an expansion or purchase new equipment. A philanthropic gesture. Arrange a time for her to come here and meet with me. Then, once she's here, we lay out the specifics of the deal.”

Tal stood up. ”I'll take care of it right away.”

”Excellent.” Marsh picked up the chips and stared at them as if he could see the video on the opalescent plastic. ”These are the only copies?”

”Of course.”

”Good. And there's one more thing,” he added as Tal started for the exit.

”Yes?”

”The dog.” He waved a hand at the mutt, which was now curled up on the floor. ”Have one of our labs do a complete autopsy on it. Before I let this woman touch me, I want to make sure there's nothing...different...about that animal.”

With a brief nod, Tal grabbed the dog's leash and led it out of the office.

At his own desk, Tal arranged to personally bring the dog to one of Marsh Enterprises' pharmaceutical research centers in New Jersey, one that already performed extensive animal testing.

Only after he was home for the night and locked in a room he knew was completely secure did he remove his own copy of the video from a secret pocket in his jacket and watch it on a laptop that wasn't connected to the Internet.

Like Marsh said, I have a knack for seeing to the heart of the matter.

Chapter Nine.

Emilio Suarez waited until the lights went off in Tal Nova's brownstone before starting his truck and driving down the block. He pulled into the next empty spot he found-no easy task on Riverside Drive-and turned on the overhead light.

He'd had a busy night so far, and it wasn't over. He'd been watching the DeGarmo broad like Tal ordered, and he'd made careful notes about who visited the office.

So he'd had a perfect view of the guy who'd brought in the dog after regular visiting hours. The guy'd been carrying the howling mutt in his arms when he entered the clinic, and two hours later it had come out walking on its own, even if it was bandaged. Knowing what the lady vet could do with her hands, he thought it might be a good idea to follow the dog owner and maybe s.n.a.t.c.h the dog for Tal Nova. It could be the proof he needed to show the vet could really heal things.

So it was something of a shock to find out the guy was delivering the friggin' mutt right to Nova himself.

That's when Emilio decided to follow Tal. A little bit of information about what was going on could end up bringing him a lot of money, either by blackmailing the big man and his billionaire boss or by bringing it to the other party he knew would have an interest in DeGarmo and her powers.