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"All this, to kidnap one child?"

McBride rubbed the bridge of his nose "We suspected you Russians were hiding soht, but he had no idea of the breadth of as hidden

"We will use this child," he continued, "to start our own prograreater detail what you’ve done to the child Despite our repeated inquiries, your group has not been forthco back key data from the start"

And they had--not just data, but also future plans

Yuri asked out loud, "What about Sasha’s e With your cooperation"

Yuri shook his head "Never"

"I was afraid you’d say that"

A flick of McBride’s eye drew Yuri’s attention over his shoulder

Mapplethorpe held a gun in his hand

He fired at point-blank range

9:45 PM

Gray was not one to stoo ton, irradiated and on death’s door

Gray ed an ache behind his temples "Elizabeth, all this has to soinal research"

Painter nodded "But the question is how? If we knewnot in your father’s records"

The question hung in the air

Elizabeth glanced down to her lap Her hands were clutched tightly together She seeers, stretching them a bit

She mumbled dully "I don’t know These last years…eren’t talking y He wanted me to follow in his…" She shook her head "Neverof hot coffee, and passed it to her She accepted it with a nod She didn’t drink it, just held it between her pal them

"Your father must not have been too unhappy with your career choice," Gray offered "He obtained that research position for you with the museum in Greece"

She shook her head "His assistance wasn’t as altruistic as it sounds My father had always been interested in the Delphic Oracle Such prophetic women tied into his studies about intuition and instinct My father ca inherent in these woenetic coical abnorot me that position in Delphi only so I could help with his research"

"But what sort of research was he doing exactly?" Gray said, encouraging her "Anything you know hed "I can tell you what started lanced between them "Do either of you know of the earliest experi intuition?"

They shook their heads

"It was a horrible experiment, but it y A couple decades ago, the Russians separated a mother cat from her kittens They then took the litter down in a subns, the Russian submariners killed one of her kittens At the exact moment this happened, the istered severe pain The cat becaitated and confused They repeated it with the other kittens over the next few days Each tih separated by distance, the mother seemed to sense the death of her kittens"

"A form of maternal instinct," Gray said

Elizabeth nodded "Or intuition Either way, to ical connection He focused his research to seek a neurological basis for this strange phenomenon Eventually he tea siis and mystics of that country"

"What abilities?" Painter asked