Deeper than the Night - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,66
the thick leather straps. "Please, let me go!"
"I think not." Barrett grinned at her. "We have ways of making you talk," he said, and then he laughed. "I've always wanted to say that."
Going to the door, he hollered for someone named Kelsey. Moments later, the man who had broken the window of the Porsche appeared.
"Prepare an injection of sodium pentobarbital."
With a nod, Kelsey went to do as bidden.
Kara stared at Barrett,hating him. Fearing him because he would soon have the power to make her betray Alex. She tried to erase his name, his memory, from her mind, but she knew it was impossible.
And then Kelsey was back, handing a needle to Barrett, and Barrett was inserting the needle in her vein, telling her to count backward from a hundred.
Knowing it was useless to resist, she did as she was told, and all the while, she prayed that Alex would understand and forgive her.
Mind reeling from what he'd heard, Dale Barrett leaned back against the wall, his arms dangling at his sides, as he stared at Kara Crawford.
Alexander Claybourne was from outer space.
It was incredible, preposterous, totally impossible.
And yet it had to be the truth. He had questioned Kara for over an hour, and always her answers had been the same. Claybourne was an alien. He had given Kara his blood, and it had wrought some sort of mysterious change that had, temporarily at least, endowed her blood with miraculous curative powers. She had claimed that he was sensitive to sunlight, that he drew strength from the moon.
It was inconceivable, and yet he knew it was true. It was the only answer that made sense.
Barrett wiped the perspiration from his brow, his mind whirling with unanswered questions.
Would the alien's blood effect the same change when mixed with other human blood types, or did the blood have to be A positive, like Crawford's, or did it have to be mixed with Crawford's specifically?
Was it necessary to mix human blood with the alien blood to achieve the desired result, or did the alien blood alone possess the same healing power?
And what about longevity? Crawford had said the alien was over two hundred years old. Would a transfusion ofalien blood increase a mortal life span, as well?
Questions, so many questions, and the alien held all the answers.
Barrett smiled as he pushed away from the wall. Finding Claybourne shouldn't be too hard, not when he had the perfect bait for the trap.
He had always dreamed of saving lives, but this . . .
He closed his eyes, his mind reeling with possibilities. And every one of them was wreathed in dollar signs.
Chapter Nineteen
Alexander prowled the city, searching for Kara. He looked up Barrett's home address and went there, but the house was dark, and he sensed no human presence inside.
He went to the hospital in Grenvale, but they had no record of her there, and he had no sense of her presence in the building.
Where was she?
Knowing it was dangerous, he droveup and down the city streets, his eyes burning from the light of the rising sun until, with a cry of rage and frustration, he headed for home.
He was trembling with pain and an overpowering sense of weakness by the time he reached the shelter of the house.
Locking the door behind him, he staggered into the den and sank down on the floor. Eyes closed, he took several deep breaths, wondering if he would ever overcome the ill effects of the earth's sun, if he would ever be able to walk in the light of day without experiencing pain and weakness.
Gradually, the pain lost its intensity and he opened his eyes, staring at the painting over the fireplace. He had often imagined that he was the man in the painting, that, just once, he could stand atop a mountain and bask in the warmth of the rising sun.
With an effort, he gained his feet, then climbed the stairs to the bedroom. He needed sleep, needed to replenish his energy, his strength, before nightfall.
Stretching out on the bed, he opened his mind, searching for Kara. Call me, he begged. Whisper my , name, tell me where you are, and I'll come for you.
But no answer came to him.
Feeling helpless and alone, he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep, knowing that, for the moment, there was nothing else he could do.
Barrett stood at Kara's bedside, his hands fisted on his hips. "I want you to call him. Now."