Empath's Angel - M J Marlow (easy readers .TXT) 📗

“It’s nice to see you.” “I wish it were under better circumstances, child,” Daniel replied; frowning at how pale Emilia was. He looked over at Vanessa. “Doctor Stanford, I think we should take this conversation to your office.” “Why?” Emilia asked. She looked over at her aunt, shaken. “You can’t protect me, Vanessa. It’s my fault.” “It’s not your fault, dear,” Vanessa replied. She got to her feet. “You did nothing you need to be punished for.” She rose to her feetand indicated to Daniel that they should leave. Once they were out of the apartment, she frowned at him. “You could have had me paged, Lieutenant.” They went into her officeand she sat down behind her desk. She pressed a button under the drawer. “You just wanted to see that she was all right, didn’t you?” “You can’t blame me, Doctor,” Daniel said stiffly. “We haven’t heard a word from her since she was brought here two months ago. Emilia is very important to her friends…” “As she is to her family, Lieutenant,” Vanessa broke in. “You can be assured that she is receiving the best of care here. I would never do anything to hurt my niece.” “Niece?” “Yes, Lieutenant Simon,” Vanessa nodded,and dropped the coldly efficient demeanor for a moment. “I am Emilia’s aunt, VanessaAndrews Stanford.” She looked at him sternly. “But you are not here to take her family history, Lieutenant. Shall we discuss Dr. Randall’s accident?” “Was it an accident, Dr. Stanford?” Daniel asked her simply. He flipped open his notebookand pulled out the pen. “This is a sanitarium.” “I assure you, Lieutenant,” Vanessa smiled at him, amused. “It was an accident. Doctor Randall raped my niece.” She heard his swift intake of breathand nodded. “When it was over, he threatened to put her into an isolation cell, where he could ‘punish’ her at his leisure.” She did not control her emotions. She let Daniel see her anger, her grief. “Emilia was terrified. She struck out at himand he lost his footingand fell.” “I’ll need to speak to Emilia,” Daniel told her as he finished taking down her statement. “Later,” he said as he saw her dark look. “She’s been through enough.” “You are a good man, Lieutenant Simon,” Vanessa smiled briefly. “She is going to have a lot to deal with now. The assault caused her to miscarry,” she explained to the man. “Emilia lost her child.” “Damn!” Daniel cursed,and he closed the book. “It’s a good thing the man’s dead,” he continued coldly, “or he might have suffered an ‘accident’ at my hands.” “That might have been preferable,” Vanessa nodded. She got to her feet. “Emilia is convinced she should be punished for what happened. It’s going to take a while for her to realize that it was not her fault.” “Shouldn’t she be in the hospital?” Daniel asked the woman. “I am not letting the child out of my sight again,” Vanessa snapped. The anger vanishedand a cool smile appeared on her face. “I need to get back to her, Lieutenant.” Daniel watched her go, wondering why he felt a chill go up his spine. He had a very uncomfortable feeling that Emilia’s miscarriageand Doctor Randall’s accident were connected. He had Sammyand the head orderly collect the other employeesand began the interviews. Everyone’s story was the same. Not one of the people had heard a thing. Nor had any of them any knowledge that Ethan was going to harm Emilia. If they had, more than one staff member said, they would have stopped the man themselves. He got the impression that Emilia was very dear to all of themand it relieved his mind of some of the guilt for his part in putting her in this place. * Emilia was eating breakfast a month later when Samuel came for a visit. She set the spoon down beside the bowland waited for him to tell her what he wanted. He sat down next to herand cupped her cheek in his hand. She sat perfectly still, fighting the shiver that ran through her at his touch. His regret over the loss of his grandchild hit her mindand she began to cry. She could feel how awkward this made him, but he kept his arms around her until she calmed down. Samuel finally let her goand sat watching her. The sunlight striking her made her glowand he was struck by how much a part of the sunlight she was. She could burn a man if he wasn’t wary. He put the paper he’d been carrying in his coat pocket on the tableand showed her the headlines. “It would appear your father was hiding from us all, darling,” he said as he saw her reading the story about her father, “so he could commit unspeakable acts on helpless people.” “That’s not true!” Emilia cried in dismay. “He would never do such things willingly!” “Your father was a bio-chemist, Emilia,” Samuel told her. “The people who abducted him the year after you were born forced him to create all manner of drugs for them.” He laid his hand on her shoulder. “He never spoke of his past with you?” “I didn’t even know he was a doctor,” Emilia bit her lip to keep from crying, “until Stephen told me.” She looked at him in dismay. “He couldn’t have done these things of his own free will, Samuel. Not my father!” “That is what the trial will decide, Emilia,” Samuel replied. “All I know for sure is what Dominik told me just before he disappeared.” He sat downand told her what had happened, with only minor embellishments. “He had been approached several times by an organization that wanted him to work on drug research for them. He didn’t take their offer because, as he said at the time, the money was too good.” He ran his hand through his thick silver hairand sighed. “I should have called the authorities when you all vanished, but I thought he was just trying to put some distance between themand his family.” “They found us, didn’t they?” Emilia guessed from the expression on the man’s face. When he didn’t answer, she grabbed his arm, frantic to know the truth. “They took my father away from us, didn’t they?” “Yes,” Samuel nodded; the memory still appeared to be painful to him. “Your mother placed you in the orphanageand went to find him. Her car spun out of control on an icy roadand she didn’t survive the crash.” He cupped her chin in his hand, his eyes kind. “You have had a very sad life for one so young.” “I can’t lose him again, Samuel,” Emilia cried out in dismay. “You have to help him.” “I’ll see what I can do for him, child, ” Samuel agreed. “It’s time for you to come home with me.” “You’re really going to make me marry Zachary?” Emilia cried softly. “Zachary is very eager,” Samuel smiled happily. He got upand went to the door. “Isaac,” he said to the orderly. “Have Doctor Stanford prepare the release forms. Emilia is ready to return home with me.” Vanessa came to the room a few moments laterand handed him the release forms. She kissed Emilia on the forehead, smiling. She wished she could keep Emilia with her, but Samuel had moved too fast.And there was really no reason she could cite that he would believe. Vanessa handed a suitcase to Samueland he opened it. Inside was some clothing for Emilia to wear on their trip. Emilia went into the bathroomand dressed, returning in time to see Samueland Vanessa kissing. She hadn’t realized that her auntand Stephen’s father were that close. Her promise to do what he wanted suddenly seemed the wrong move. “Come along, Emilia,” Samuel said as he held his hand out to her, “Say thank you to your aunt for all her loving care over the past three months.” “Thank you, Vanessa,” Emilia repeated, her mind not on anything but her father. “I’ve learned a great deal while I was in your care. I won’t forget.” “It was my pleasure, darling,” Vanessa replied. “Having you here was like having Karen back.” She kissed Emilia on the cheek. “Come see me any time.” “Come along, darling,” Samuel said to Emilia. He took her out of the sanitariumand they got in the back of the waiting limousine. “We are going to be staying at your penthouse in New York. You’ll enjoy your time there.” He saw her paleand gripped her hand. “Are you all right, child?” “Just a little tired,” Emilia told him. She turned her head away from him so he wouldn’t see the tears that had sprung into her eyes. She had to believe he wasn’t being intentionally cruel by choosing the exact destination sheand Stephen had been planning to go to next. “Will it take long?” “Not long at all,” Samuel told her. His hand moved up to stroke her hair. “Close your eyes now, child. Try to relax.” Emilia did as he suggestedand was asleep in seconds. Samuel let her sleep. He began to lay plans for the next generation of Winslows. It grieved him that she had lost her child; if Randall hadn’t had the ‘accident,’ Samuel would have killed the man himself. He should have given her to Zachary from the first. His younger son would never have betrayed him as Stephen had. They got to the airfieldand he took her aboard, laying her on the bed in the back cabinand letting her sleep. * Dominik stopped pacing in the prison waiting room he had been taken to after the lab was raidedand looked at Daniel as if the man had suddenly sprouted another head. He couldn’t believe he had just heard what the man had said. Not coming out of his lipsand not as a result of a letter that had just arrived from the sanitarium. It was definitely written in Emilia’s hand, but it made no sense. He took it from the manand read it himself, shaking his head as he refused to believe what it was saying. “He’s brainwashed her,” he said angrily. “There is no way that Emilia could honestly believe such a thing.” He looked at the letter again. “I am going with Professor Winslow,” he read her words aloud. “It is where I belong.” He shook his head as if to clear it of static. “It can’t be what she really wants.” “We have no way of confirming it at the moment,” Adam said from where he stood in the corner. “Samueland Emilia left the sanitarium two hours agoand headed northeast.” “He’s taking her to the penthouse in New York,” Dominik frowned. “Using her grief to keep her under his control.” “You’ve known this man for years, Don,” Daniel reminded him. “Are you saying you weren’t aware of his cruelty?” “He was harsh,” Dominik replied, “but I always thought that was just his nature. He didn’t start getting cruel until heand I fought over Karen.” His fists clenched in anger. “He was obsessed with finding a way to possess her,and I loved her too much to allow that to happen.” “He’s using Emilia to replace Karen,” Adam snarled. “He couldn’t have her so he’s taken your daughter.” He looked at Dominik. “What do you know about this place in New York?” “We own the building, remember?” Dominik reminded his brother. “The blueprints will be in the files.” “I’ll have Felicia do some research,” Adam nodded. “We have to find a way to get Emilia out of there.” A few hours later, they had their plan. The penthouse took up an entire floor of the building it was in. Checking with the realtors, they found that the units below itand above it were available. Adam pulled his weightand had the realtor ‘lend’ them to his organization for the next month. His father was going to freak out when he saw the expense report, but Adam didn’t care. Emilia was