"She fought him," Kendra said. "And when she found out he was too strong for her, she threw that pan out the window to try to attract attention." She looked at Lynch. "He kicked her, Lynch. And he kept on kicking her. Look at those boot prints on her shirt."

"Easy."

"Easy? She could die. And it's my fault."

"For giving her your house key? How would you know that-"

"No, for getting involved, for dragging her into this-" The EMTs were coming through the front door. "I'm going to ride to the hospital with her. Find out who did this, Lynch. He's not going to get off scot-free."

He nodded grimly. "I'll ask questions and check the video cameras. I'll catch you later at the hospital."

She nodded as she stood up and let Olivia be surrounded by the medical team. "I'll be there."

He hesitated. "Will you be all right? Would you like me to come with you?"

"No, I want you to find out the name of the man who shoved his boot into Olivia's ribs. That's all I need from you."

He looked down at Olivia's slim, crumpled body. They were preparing to lift her onto the gurney, but she was still deeply unconscious. "I'll call you later." He turned and left the condo.

He thinks Olivia is going to die, Kendra thought dully. He thinks I'm going to need someone when my best friend pa.s.ses.

But it wasn't going to happen. She wouldn't let Olivia be killed by a random attack by a beast who would do this to her. She'd keep her alive and with her by sheer will.

And by prayer.

Olivia had been cheated of so much all her life, but she had fought back and reclaimed as much as she could. Surely, G.o.d wouldn't take away her chance to make that life even richer.

"You're coming with us?" one of the EMTs asked over his shoulder as they carried Olivia out of the kitchen toward the front door. "We're taking her to St. Anthony's. It's closest, and we've got to get her there right away."

Because he, too, probably thought there was a good chance that Olivia was going to die. They were wrong, they had to be wrong.

"I'm coming." She jumped to her feet. "Let's get out of here."

St. Anthony's Hospital "How is she?" Her mother breezed into the hospital waiting room with her usual bold confidence, but her expression showed grave concern as she studied Kendra's face. "Not good. How bad?"

"I don't know. She's still in surgery. Severe concussion. One broken rib pierced her lung, and she has kidney damage. Internal bleeding. They won't know if there's anything else until they get in and start trying to put her back together."

"That's more than enough." Deanna sat down in the chair next to her. "My G.o.d. Olivia. You always think things like this happen to other people, not to women like Olivia. Have you called her father?"

"Not yet. I thought I'd wait until she was out of surgery. He's in Stockholm at some conference. He can't do anything with an ocean between them."

"I'd want to know if it was you. I'd be on the phone with your doctors and make sure that they were doing what I wanted them to do."

"We have a different kind of relationship. Olivia's mother died when she was only six, in the accident that blinded Olivia. Her father has always been overprotective and resents the fact that Olivia won't live with him and let him take care of her."

"It doesn't change the fact that he loves her. I remember when you were kids, he'd pick her up after the two of you had been playing together. He adored her."

"But he couldn't let her go." She leaned wearily back in her chair. "So she had to break with him. It hurt her."

"It's not easy to let go of a child. Particularly one with ... problems."

"You mean blind as a bat," Kendra said ruefully. "But you managed. You let me be as free as I could be. Then you made sure that I had that operation."

"I'm remarkable. What can I say?" She reached out and covered Kendra's hand on the arm of the chair. "And I had a remarkable daughter." She squeezed her hand, then released it. "But I think I'll be the one to call Olivia's father. We share a problem and a search for a solution."

"Whatever." She was too tense and raw to argue. If her mother had made up her mind, she would prove an irresistible force, and Kendra wasn't up to struggling against her at the moment. Something else suddenly occurred to her. "How did you know about Olivia?"

"Not from you," her mother said tartly. "I would have thought you'd have called me. I care about Olivia, too. She was in and out of my house from the time she was eight years old."

"I wasn't thinking."

"No, you were only feeling. It didn't occur to you that I'd want to be there for you?"

"Mom, drop it, okay?" She repeated, "How did you know?"

"Lynch told me."

Kendra's eyes widened. "Lynch?"

"He drove by the campus. I was teaching a night cla.s.s, and he came in and introduced himself." She tilted her head. "He's ... very unusual. Very different from Jeff. I'm not sure I approve of him, but he's interesting."

"That's for sure," Kendra said dryly. "And you don't have to approve of him. I don't approve of him either, but he's excellent at what he does. So he told you about Olivia's injury?"

"Yes, then he whisked me out of the cla.s.s, canceled my coffee date with Todd, and drove me here."

"Whisked? Canceled? And you permitted it? That's not like you, Mom."

"I didn't think so either. It just kind of happened-and then it seemed very reasonable in retrospect. That's why I'm not sure I approve of him. Was I manipulated?"

"Probably. You'll have to decide that for yourself. Lynch has that reputation. Where is he?"

"He dropped me off at the front entrance. He said he had something to do for you."

"Yes, the video cameras at the condo." But he had decided that picking up her mother and bringing her to the hospital had first priority. He'd wanted her to have someone she loved with her during this time of pain.

And she was suddenly pa.s.sionately grateful to Lynch for bringing her mother to her. There were only two people in the world that she loved, and one of them was in that operating room fighting for her life. The other one was sitting there in silent support, ready to wade in and fight any battle Kendra had to wage. It didn't stop the pain or the worry but it made her feel less alone.

She reached out and grasped her mother's hand tightly. "I'm glad you came, Mom. I should have called you myself."

"Yes, you should. I'm glad you're willing to confess to a fault that I admit I was responsible for fostering. I wanted desperately to make you independent ... even from me." She added brusquely, "But you can stop it now. I believe you've learned the lesson. A little leaning is not a bad thing and can make the one leaned upon feel a sense of value."

She smiled shakily. "I'll try to moderate."

Her mother looked away from her. "But one lesson I wish you'd take to heart. I love Olivia, but I love you more. I don't want you to end up in surgery or the cemetery because some cheap criminal decides your life has no worth. You are a unique human being, and you must not let men like Lynch put you in a position where you're at risk. I've worked far too hard for that." She smiled. "Of course, I can't claim that I'm solely responsible for that uniqueness. You did have a little to do with it. However, I definitely have a stake in the final result."

As usual, she was not willing to give Kendra's father even a little credit. Kendra's lips twisted. "But one of the things you taught me was that no result is final. The more you learn, the more the result alters. What starts out to be one thing can become something else entirely as you uncover new information." She squeezed her hand again. "That's why you taught me that I had to keep on learning, that I could never stop."

"I do wish you'd stop throwing my past lessons at me. You're making me most uncomfortable. I deserve to change my mind if I want to pursue another path. Look at all the politicians who do it." She grimaced. "No, never mind. I refuse to compare myself to a politician. I believe I'll just be quiet and think about Olivia and try a Buddhist meditation technique that one of my students taught me."

"Todd?"

"Heavens, no. Todd is much more physical than cerebral." She leaned back and closed her eyes. "It's going to be fine, Kendra. Those doctors are very good, and we'll supply the spiritual support. Olivia will have it all. Now relax and think wonderful thoughts."

Relax? Not likely. Maybe she should try her mother's meditation technique.

Or think about the childhood magic that she and Olivia had woven in that darkness that had bound them together. Surely that would be both meditation and prayer.

Start at the beginning, eight years old, the day when she had met Olivia at the school for the blind. Let it flow, let the memories come alive.

She closed her eyes.

Woodward Academy for the Physically Impaired Oceanside, California The surf was wild that day.

Kendra could hear it crash on the rocks below her. She was alone there behind the rocks, but she could hear the other students who were picknicking out on the cliff talking and laughing and playing games. She heard Miss Woodward warning them to stay away from the high safety fence near the cliff edge. Not that the warning was needed when they were all afraid and always obeyed the rules. Miss Woodward was busy at the moment but she would notice that Kendra wasn't with the other students soon, and she'd have to leave and go back to them. Mama had told Kendra that she wanted her to try to be friends with people at the new school, and she would do as her mother asked. She didn't want to tell her that things always seemed to go wrong when she talked to anyone, but Mama and she usually ended up alone anyway. Maybe this school would be different from those last two schools. And, if it wasn't, at least Kendra liked the fact that the school was located near the ocean, and the sounds and scents were always changing and interesting. Even now, she heard the seagulls coming close to the sh.o.r.e to eat the bread crumbs the other kids were throwing to them.

Kendra automatically cataloged each sound, identified it, then closed them all out to concentrate on another sense.

She lifted her head and felt the warmth of the sun on her cheeks.

Not that she really knew what the sun looked like. Some things were hard for Mama to tell her about. Though she did try, she always tried. She would sit down every night after cla.s.s and ask Kendra questions about what she didn't understand.

But even when Kendra had asked her about the sun and how a round ball high in the sky could feel warm on her skin, she had not understood her answer.

And Mama had known that she hadn't understood, and Kendra could feel her sadness. She had wanted to hug her and tell her that it didn't matter, but everything mattered to Mama.

"Hi, I'm Olivia. You're the new girl, Kendra, aren't you?" One of the students had come around the huge boulder, and she plopped down on the ground beside Kendra. "Would you like to share my peanut b.u.t.ter and jelly? I heard Miss Woodward tell another teacher that she couldn't get you to eat lunch. She said it was because you were..." She stopped to remember the word. "Difficult. Though that's a funny thing to call not liking chicken salad. I don't like it either. That's why my daddy makes me a sandwich every morning. I'm almost eight. How old are you?"

She wished the girl would go away. She didn't want to listen to her. She wanted to listen to the surf and the wind. She had heard a new sound beyond that crashing surf. A dolphin? Mama had taken her to the aquarium and let her listen to the sea creatures. Kendra was almost sure it was a dolphin. "I'm already eight, and I don't want your sandwich."

"It's grape jelly. That's specially good." Kendra could hear the sounds of the girl settling more comfortably against the boulder. "You climbed over the safety fence to get here, didn't you? I don't think Miss Woodward would like it that you're this close to the edge of the cliff. We're not allowed to go behind these big rocks."

"You climbed over it, too, or you wouldn't be here."

"I was curious. I heard you climb the fence, and I wanted to know where you were going."

"Heard? You didn't see me?"

"No, I heard you go past me, and I knew this place was here." She paused. "I can't see anymore. I'm blind, like you. But Miss Woodward is right, I can hear that we're close to the edge, and you might fall over."

"I wouldn't fall over," she said impatiently. "You might be that stupid, but I wouldn't. I'm five steps away from the edge here and three steps away from where it narrows near where you came around the boulder."

"How do you know?"

"I paced it. Mama says I always have to know where I am and what to expect. I liked the sound of the sea, and I wanted to get closer."

"But you weren't scared?"

"Because it was new to me? Don't be silly. I'd be scared all the time. Everything is new at first."

Silence. "I've never been on the real edge of the cliff. I've thought about what it would feel like but ... Will you show me?"

"Do it yourself. Five steps."

Olivia didn't move.

"Scaredy-cat." Kendra jumped up and held out her hand. "Take my hand."

"I'm not scared ... much." Olivia got to her feet and reached out until she grasped Kendra's hand. "I just don't like ... new stuff."

"Then why do you want to get close to the edge? Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Little steps," Kendra said as she pulled her toward the cliff edge. "One, two, three, four-stop."

"You said five steps."

"The last one takes you off the edge. Want to feel? Put the sole of your shoe down against the cliff wall. Go ahead, I'll hold your hand."

"I don't think-" She took a deep breath, and her foot probed the edge, extending out off the cliff. "Hold tight." Then she jerked her foot back and stood beside Kendra. "It's not so scary." She added immediately, "Yes, it is. But I like it. It feels ... different." She started to turn away. "But I'm ready to-"

"Stop!" Kendra's hand tightened. "You're all turned around. Step straight back."

Olivia froze and took a step back. "I'm ready to eat my sandwich now. Let's go sit down."

Kendra led her back to the boulder and let go of her hand. "You're back where you started." She dropped down where she'd been before. "You can either sit down or go back around the rocks to Miss Woodward and everyone else. You should probably go back."

"No." Olivia sat down beside her. "Well, do you want half my sandwich or not?"

Kendra didn't want the food, but she suddenly knew she didn't want Olivia to go away, either. It wasn't often that she felt this way with anyone but Mama. She had liked the feeling of taking care of this girl who was nothing like her. It had made the loneliness go away for a little while. "Yes, please." She slowly held out her hand, but Olivia was already touching her arm, then her hand. An instant later, a moist and slightly sandy piece of bread was thrust into her palm. "Thank you."

"Tell your mom to make your lunch tomorrow. Then we'll trade half and half," she said. "How long have you been blind?"

"Since I was born."

"I don't know how that would feel. It must be strange not to have ever seen anything." She was silent. "I was in a car accident two years ago, and after that, they told me I'd never see again. I hate it."

"Do you? I can't see, but everyone else seems to be pretty dumb about what's going on around them. So I don't know whether I hate being blind or not. I suppose I should. It makes Mama so sad."

"You should hate it," Olivia said firmly. "It's much better the other way."

"How can I..." She shook her head. "I won't hate anything just because you tell me I should. Why don't you just go away?"

"I don't want to go away." Olivia was silent. "Though they'll probably come looking for us and make us go inside in a few minutes. I think the sun's gone behind the clouds, and it feels ... wet. We're going to have a storm."

Kendra could also feel that dampness that usually preceded the storm. "It won't be right away. We have at least thirty minutes."

"You sure?"