Face the Fire Page 0,116

had, he reached through that narrow chink and pulled out more. Pulled out enough to have him pushing to his feet.

"Remington? You went to see Remington?"

"Yes." She sipped her coffee, gathered her thoughts while the emotions in the room bulleted and careened around her.

"Oh, that's fine. That's just fine!" At the explosion from Ripley, Mia looked over at her coolly. "You're the one who's always haranguing me about being cautious, controlled. About being prepared."

"That's right. And I was. I wasn't careless or foolish."

"And I am?"

Mia lifted her shoulders in an elegant little shrug. "I'd use the word reckless, which you tend to be. Going to see him was a calculated risk, one that needed to be taken."

"You had the nerve to ream us last night for not coming clean about Lulu, then you keep this to yourself."

"Hardly," Mia said smoothly. "I'm telling you what I did, and what happened. Freely."

"You shouldn't have gone alone." Nell's voice was quiet, and all the more effective for it. "You had no right to go alone."

"I disagree. Remington's feelings toward you would have prevented any possible discussion. Ripley's temper would have very likely forced a confrontation then and there. Of the three of us, I'm most able to deal with him, and I have more need at this point to do so."

"There are four of us," Sam reminded everyone.

"There are fucking six of us." He'd said nothing to this point, but now Zack got to his feet. "You're going to start remembering there are six of us," Zack ordered Mia. "I don't care if you can shoot lightning out of your goddamn fingertips. There are six of us in this."

"Zack."

"Be quiet," he snapped at Nell and had her gaping at him.

"You think because there're two of us in this room who can't whistle up the wind or pull down the moon or whatever the hell you call it, we're just going to sit on our hands. I've got as much at stake as you do, Mia. And I'm still the sheriff on Three Sisters."

"I come from them, the same as you do." Mac drew Mia's considering gaze to him. "I don't have what you have, but I've spent most of my life studying it. Cutting us out this way is not only insulting, it's arrogant."

"Just one more way to prove you don't need anyone else."

She made herself look directly at Sam. "That wasn't my intention. I'm sorry if that was the result. I'm sorry," she repeated, lifting her hands to encompass everyone in the room. "I wouldn't have gone to see him if I hadn't been certain I could deal with him. At that time and under those circumstances."

"Never wrong, are you?" Sam shot out.

"Oh, I've been wrong." Because the coffee lay bitter on her tongue, she set the cup aside. "But I wasn't wrong about this. He couldn't harm me." She shut off the memory of claws and cold. "Remington is being used, and his hate, his madness, is a powerful tool. There was a chance I could reach him, that with his cooperation I could close him off, shut down that source of energy. He's a conduit," she said, looking to Mac for verification. "Shut off the valve, so to speak, and the power weakens."

"It's a valid theory."

"Screw theories. What happened?" Ripley demanded.

"He's too far gone. He believes the lies, the promises. And he's damned himself. But that's a weakness, that hunger to bring pain and misery. The singularity of that purpose is innately flawed. In the end it'll destroy itself. But I think we can, and should, move that process along. After what happened yesterday, we must move it along. I won't take any chances with Lulu, and as long as it can't get to me, it will try for her."

"I think you're right about that," Mac put in. "Your feelings for her would be seen as a weakness. An Achilles' heel."

"Then we act sooner - because it's not a weakness. It's another weapon."

"A preemptive strike?" Sam suggested.

"In a manner of speaking," Mia nodded. "An offensive move rather than defensive. I've been thinking about it for some time. I know, without doubt now, that his power builds over time. There was more when I faced off with it yesterday. Why should we wait until September, give him that much more time to gather strength against us? With you and Ripley and Nell, we have the four elements represented. We have new life, a new circle inside the old - three children