"I agree." He hesitated. "Look, let's get the old girl moved, and then we can go talk about this some more."
She studied him for a moment, again noting the sudden edge in his voice. "About what, exactly?"
"About ravens. The one seen here, and the people you know who are ravens."
"Why do I get the sudden feeling I'm not going to like the direction of this conversation?"
"Probably because you won't." His expression was suddenly grim. "Remember when I mentioned Kathryn Douglass being murdered?" When she nodded, he said, "Well, it just so happens we found a raven feather in her apartment. I don't think it's a coincidence. I think that either your brother, or the man you've been in psychic contact with, is a murderer."
Eleven
"You think Joshua or Joe is involved in Kathryn Douglass's murder?"
Gabriel nodded. It was just too much of a coincidence that all these ravens were suddenly showing up. He knew it, and Sam knew it. She had to, because there was no surprise in her voice, no anger. No emotion at all, really, except perhaps a hint of weary resignation. As if this was just another shock in a day that had already provided several.
"But why would either of them want to murder her when she had nothing to do with the Penumbra Project?"
Gabriel shrugged. In truth, he had no answer to that question, and certainly no proof that the feather they'd found in Douglass's apartment was linked to either the man from her past or the man in her telepathic journeys. All he had was suspicion and a feeling that his guess was the correct one.
"She was in contact with both Blaine and Lloyd on an operational level. Maybe they were discussing the possibility of reopening the Penumbra project and your brother or psi buddy discovered it. Maybe that's the reason for the warning on the wall."
She studied him for a moment, then said, "You don't believe that."
No, he didn't. While it seemed a perfectly plausible explanation for the warning, it just didn't sit well with his instincts. The warning had stated, Do not revisit Penumbra.
It had not said, Do not revive Penumbra. A small but vital difference. The military couldn't just pick up where they'd left off, because Penumbra, as a project, had been totally destroyed—not just the building and many of the personnel, but all research materials. If the military wanted to revive the project, then for all intents and purposes they'd have to start from scratch.
Unless, of course, they'd discovered that one of their test subjects had actually survived the destruction.
And that, he realized suddenly, was what the explosion at the Phoenix Foundation had been about. Those in control of Penumbra had apparently been under the impression fire was Sam's element to control. They'd intended to use her reaction at the foundation to test whether or not she was who they thought she was—and the med check afterwards would have confirmed it either way.
So, why had they gone ahead with the test when he and Illie had shown up instead?
Had Douglass been confused as to the identity or sex of the test subject? Or was there, as Illie had suggested, deeper reasons for him and Illie being given the test anyway?
And what would they have done if the two of them had died that day?
It was probably something they would never know, since Douglass was now dead. Blaine and Lloyd were not likely to be fonts of information.
He just wished he knew what they thought about that message on the wall. Neither man had given much away, and though he believed Lloyd's comment that he had no idea why that particular message had been left with Douglass's body, Blaine had made no such comment. And Gabriel had a feeling that Blaine not only knew the reason behind it, but supported it.
An odd thing to think when Blaine was supposedly the man who'd been in charge of the project.
But none of those thoughts could be said aloud. Not to Sam, anyway. She had enough to worry about. He didn't need to add the worry of a general who seemed to know entirely too much.
"What I think," he said eventually, "is that someone is still trying to protect you. Whether that person is this unseen brother of yours, or whether it's the man you're psychically connected to, is something only you can answer."
"Why would my brother—the man you've suggested could be Sethanon—want to stop Penumbra when that very project could give him the army he needs to win his war?"
"I don't know. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the feather was found." He hesitated, then added, "But I do think it's time you started asking some hard questions."
Anger flashed in her eyes, reminding him briefly of a burst of lightning. "You think I haven't been?"
"I think you've been delaying certain issues because you're afraid to uncover the truth."
That streak of lightning seemed brighter in her eyes, and this time it was accompanied by a stirring in the air that vaguely reminded him of the crackle of energy that raced through the air just before a thunderstorm.
But before he could comment on it, his viaphone rang. He retrieved it from his pocket and said impatiently, "Assistant Director Stern."