Charity’s head jerked back, surprised at his accusation. “No. He wouldn’t do that. He knew you wouldn’t hurt me—or at least his visions did. If we follow them, they protect us. Just like they protected us at the Sedalia marketplace. His vision told me tocarry matches. Something good will come of the two of us being together. I don’t know what, but something.”
Such blind devotion to her father, such innocence.
Enzo knew from interview transcripts with other psychics that their visions centered on their core desire in life.
Wait—had she inadvertently revealed what her father’s core desire was?
His hands slowed at their task. Charity was right. He’d grown entirely too cynical and bitter about human nature. Just because all the other psychics wanted power and money didn’t mean a psychic couldn’t want something completely different. “Are you saying that when your father’s psychic powers first developed, his main goal in life was to keep his family safe? That’s what his visions center on?”
Her gaze shot to him, and the blood drained from her face. She hadn’t meant to tell him, and with good reason. When people knew what motivated a psychic, catching them became easier.
Enzo simultaneously felt relief, amazement, and a horrible sense of guilt. Ben wasn’t a danger to the government after all, and Enzo had nearly arrested him, might have even killed him. He let out a long, considering breath. “Well, that changes things.”
“Changes them how?”
“Your father isn’t a worry, but other things are.”
“Other things?”
The best thing to do would be to tell Schmitt what Ben’s core desire was so headquarters knew he wasn’t a threat. As soon as the idea occurred to Enzo, he dismissed it. The government wouldn’t leave Ben alone. If the wrong people found out about Ben’s core desire, he could still endanger the country.
Terrorists could capture his family members and threaten to hurt them unless he gave them passwords, codes, or whateverthey wanted. The visions might show those things to Ben in order to keep his family alive. Charity would be in constant danger.
Enzo scrubbed his hand over his face. “Don’t ever tell anyone else what motivates your father. Don’t even hint at it so they can guess.”
Her face was still pale. “I don’t talk to people about him. You’re the one who can’t tell the government. You promised you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. They’ll hurt me.”
The government had no reason to hurt her, well, unless there was some traitor in the department who had ties to terrorists. Enzo couldn’t completely rule out that scenario.
“I won’t willingly say anything to headquarters.” He leaned his head back against the couch. “Don’t tell me anything else that could help find him. It’s better I didn’t know.”
She nodded, stood up, and took the first aid kit back down the hallway.
When she returned, she picked up her book and sat on the opposite couch. This time as she read, her hands trembled a bit, and she didn’t turn a page for a long time.
Apparently, her mind was no longer on the story.
24
That afternoon, Charity made two cheese sandwiches for a late lunch. Maybe Enzo was right and shewastoo nurturing. Perhaps he’d simply played on her sympathy with the story of Kitra’s and his father’s death. He might have only pretended to have a change of heart about her father. But she didn’t want to keep being his enemy. This was her olive branch.
She handed Enzo the plate. He looked up from the novel he was reading in confusion. “I’m not eating until dinner. We need to conserve food.”
“Actually, my parents keep freeze-dried food under their bed. We’ll be fine.”
He took the plate. “Ah. So you’ve decided not to let me starve in retribution. Does this mean you don’t want to hurt me anymore?”
She sat beside him on the couch. “I don’t know. Maybe Stockholm Syndrome has taken effect.”
“That can’t be it. I would be the one who got that, not you. Also, does this mean you’re willing to play board games now? I’m already tired of reading.”
She took a bite of her sandwich, considering the idea.
He nudged her knee with his. “While we play, you can study my strategy and try to analyze my weak spots.”
“Do you have any of those?”
“Not really, but you can still vicariously take out your aggression on my game piece.”