Bloodline

He was going to have to make her tell him how.

21 Years Ago

The taxi dropped Serena off in front of a cracker-box house in a neighborhood full of cracker-box houses and pulled away. She’d never felt more alone.

It wasn’t a new sensation, of course. Serena had always been alone. She’d been orphaned at nineteen and had been making her own way ever since, waiting tables at the Broadway Grill, living in her tiny apartment in the low-rent district. On her own. That was how it had always been. The one-night stand that had resulted in the pregnancy had been just that. A one-night stand. A stranger in a bar on a particularly bad night when she’d been too depressed to want to go to bed alone. She didn’t even know his name.

But for the last nine months, she hadn’t felt lonely at all. She’d had her baby daughter growing inside her. She’d talked to her. She’d laughed with her. She’d sung to her and read her stories. Then she’d given birth to her—and someone had stolen her away.

It wasn’t fair.

She’d briefly considered going back to her own apartment. Her own job. Her own life. Until she’d seen the one person who had tried to help her blown to bits in her own car.

Now Serena was scared. She was angry, and she was grieving the loss of her baby, but fear had layered itself over both those emotions. She’d given her name and address, her employer and insurance information, when she’d checked into the hospital. She wasn’t going back home, not until she knew exactly what was going on. It might not be safe.

So she stood in front of the little house staring down at the key chain from the knapsack and wondered briefly if this had been Maureen Keenan’s home. If it was, and if Maureen had been killed because she’d tried to help her, then wouldn’t those dark killers know where she lived? Wouldn’t they be watching?

Serena turned and looked around. There were other houses just like this one lining both sides of the smooth, narrow, perfectly paved road. There were little maple trees spaced at regular intervals along both sides. There was a sidewalk unrolling in front of the houses, not a chip or a crack in it.

A few cars were parked in a few driveways. None along the curb. None with anyone lurking inside. There were swing sets and tricycles in several yards. The place looked for all the world like a cozy, friendly, safe little neighborhood. No faces peered out through parted curtains as far as she could see. Maybe it would be safe to go inside.

Drawing a breath, she went up the perfect little sidewalk to the front door, knocked and awaited an answer that never came. So, with hands that trembled, she slipped the key into the lock, turned it and opened the door.

The house was dark, but it wasn’t empty. She didn’t know why no one had answered the door, but she could feel another’s presence. And along with that feeling, there were the aromas. She smelled something hot and rich, and her stomach growled.

She looked through the darkened room she had entered to the rectangle of light that was an open doorway at the far end. A woman’s form stepped into that opening, no more than a dark silhouette.

“Serena?” the shadow asked softly, but the tone of her voice said she already knew.

“Yes.”

“And where is Maureen?”

Serena got the feeling that the faceless woman already knew what her response to that question would be, as well. “I…got off the bus where she told me. And she was there, in her car, and she waved to me….” She spoke faster than she should have, her tempo increasing as she went on. “I started to cross the street, and then her car, it just—it just—exploded. And she was…she was gone. She was just gone, and I couldn’t—”

Her throat closed too tightly to let her go on, and she tipped her head back, eyes focused on the ceiling as she tried to swallow, tried not to just burst into the hysterical tears she felt pushing at the gates to get through.

She heard the woman’s footsteps coming closer. Felt a hand on her shoulder and lowered her head to see a pair of kind eyes brimming with tears, an attractive face with full lips that trembled and high cheekbones that seemed pale in the insufficient light.

“I’m so sorry,” Serena said, and sniffled hard. “She was your friend, wasn’t she?”

“She was…more than a friend. She was a sister. Not by blood, but…well, hell, you’ll understand soon enough.”

“Why was she killed?” Serena’s stomach clenched, and she tried to quell the sickness writhing inside her. “Was it because she tried to help me?”

“She knew exactly what she was risking, Serena.” The stranger squeezed Serena’s shoulder and spoke these words firmly, as if they were very important. “This…this situation is way bigger than just you or your baby. You bear no responsibility for what happened to Maureen. Even if she had known what the outcome would be, she would have done exactly the same thing.”

Serena lowered her head and let the tears flow. “I’m so confused. I don’t know what’s going on. Where’s my baby? Why would someone take her? Why would they kill an innocent nurse?”

“I know all this is overwhelming to you right now. But I’m going to explain everything, I promise. Just…not here.”

“We have to go?” Serena knew her tone was whiney, and yet she couldn’t help herself. “But I’m so tired.”

“I know. I’ve made you soup and a sandwich to eat on the way. This is a safe house, but we can’t risk that you might have been followed. My car’s in the garage. This way.”

The woman took Serena’s arm and led her to the kitchen, where the stranger picked up a Thermos and a zipper bag with a sandwich and a spoon tucked inside.

“Grab something to drink from the fridge, and then we’ll get out of here,” she instructed.

Serena opened the refrigerator, which was well-stocked, as if someone lived here. Maybe someone did. Or had. She pulled out two bottles of diet cola and closed the fridge again. The woman was opening a door, and beyond it Serena saw the garage and a blue compact car.

“Come on.”

“No.” Serena stood where she was, finding her spine and her courage at last. “No, not until you tell me.”

Nodding, the woman asked, “What would you like to know?”

Serena frowned as her mind raced. “Something. Anything. Where we’re going. Who’s after us. Where my baby is. Even…your freaking name. Tell me something, for God’s sake.”

The woman’s face softened. She was perhaps thirty, Serena thought. Brunette hair in a silky, minklike ponytail. Brown doe’s eyes beneath perfectly arched brows, and skin like a fresh peach, devoid of makeup.

“Terry. My name’s Terry. I’m part of a…a secret society, I guess you’d call it. The Sisterhood of Athena. We…we watch, and almost never interfere. But when things go wrong, we step in to set them right again. Maureen was one of us.”

“You…watch…?”

“Yes.”

“You watch…what?” Serena asked.

Terry pressed her lips tight, as if deciding which words to allow passage. “Your baby was—is—special, Serena. She was born with a very rare antigen in her blood.”

Serena remembered the file she had read. There had been something about an antigen. “Belladonna,” she said, trying out the word for the first time.

“Yes. Belladonna. People who are born with the Belladonna antigen have…special qualities. It’s complicated, and it’s something you need to hear about, but later, when we have more time, and when we’re sure we’re safe. But for now, all you need to know is that babies and young children with the antigen have been disappearing at an alarming rate for the past five years. And in most cases, their parents have been killed.”

Serena felt her eyes widen, her heart skip. “Murdered?”

Terry nodded once. “Usually it looks like an accident. Car wrecks. Plane crashes. Carbon monoxide leaks. House fires. Deadly falls from dangerous cliffs. Drownings. But it’s happened too many times for it to be coincidence. So we’ve placed some of our members in various places—hospitals, doctor’s offices, child protective agencies—undercover, just to watch and wait. And when someone mentions the antigen, we try to get to the mother and the baby before it’s too late. Maureen wanted to get to you before they took your baby, but the best she could do was get to you before they arranged some accident that would take your life.”

Serena watched Terry’s face while she spoke. The things the woman was saying didn’t make a lot of sense, but she believed them. Maureen had believed them. She’d died because of them. How could Serena doubt?

“So where are you taking me?”

Terry put her hand on Serena’s shoulder. “Someplace safe.”

“Is it far? I mean, I can’t go far. I need to find my baby.”

Terry lowered her eyes, and her voice softened by degrees. “If you choose to stay with us, we’ll help you search for your baby, Serena. We have more resources, more connections—a much better chance than you would ever have alone. But it would mean giving up everything you’ve known before. Joining the Sisterhood means being reborn. You’ll have a new family, a new life. Your past will be lost to you forever.”