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sensible attitude toward a life that started out bad and had taken too damned long to get comfortable. He needed Luke’s love and friendship. And there weren’t any lengths he wouldn’t go to, to protect those things he needed.
    Including disposing of an inconvenience like Rachel Connery. He’d done it before and he had no qualms about doing it again. An ugly necessity. Luke had never been able to make peace with the ugly side of reality, and it was up to Calvin to look out for him. He protected his own, and he knew a threat when he saw one. He just wondered if Luke had lost that particular ability.
    Rachel Connery was a threat all right, he thought, as he led her across the compound beneath the bright New Mexico sun an hour later. “How long have you known Luke? How did you happen to meet?” she asked in a light, innocent voice that didn’t fool him for a minute.
    He was tempted to tell her, just to see her reaction. Pretty little rich girl with her safe life, she wouldn’t know a thing about …
    “Long enough,” he said.
    “You’re not like the others.”
    He looked at her. “I’m not the only freak here,” he said. “You stay here long enough and you’ll run into people even stranger than I am.”
    She didn’t instantly deny he was a freak, which raised her a small notch in his grudging esteem. Calvin knew who and what he was, and polite, politically correct responses didn’t make it any better.
    “I meant you aren’t sweet and saintly like the others,” she said. “Everyone else seems like something out of a
Brady Bunch
rerun.”
    “I wouldn’t know,” he said. “When I was growing up there wasn’t much time for television.” He pulled open the heavy carved door of the restoration center and started down the hallway, knowing she’d follow. “Gretchen’s the caregiver in charge—you just do what she tells you and you’ll be fine. But remember to keep away from Angel.”
    “Angel?”
    “Most of the patients are safe enough. They’re suffering from various forms of sickness, and with enough healing they’ll be better. But Angel’s beyond our help. She’s delusional, and dangerous. She’ll be leaving here tomorrow, but in the meantime don’t go anywhere near her room. It’s kept locked, so you shouldn’t have any problem.”
    “Is she really a danger?”
    “To herself, and to everyone else.” He glanced at her. She was taking it all in, rising to the bait like a starving guppie. “She thinks there’s a conspiracy going on. That Luke’s just using everybody, stealing their money, and then murdering anyone who gets in his way. Particularly the old ones who didn’t have that long to live. She thinks he helps them along. Imagine that?”
    “Imagine,” Rachel echoed faintly.
    “She’ll try to wheedle her way around you. Don’t listen to her. It’s all a pack of lies.” He rapped on a heavy door with a high, barred window. “Isn’t it, Angel?”
    “Go to hell.” Angel’s voice floated through the barred window, sharp and level.
    “See what I mean?” Calvin said. “She sounds as sane as you or me. But don’t believe it.” He raised his voice, pitching it toward the locked door. “I’m leaving a new helper, Angel. Her name’s Rachel, and she’ll get you anything you need. Just don’t goplaying your tricks, trying to fill her head full of your lies. You hear me?”
    Her response was succinct and obscene, and Calvin laughed. “I’ll come back for you just before five,” he said. “That’s when you start your training with Luke.”
    “Whoopee,” Rachel muttered, glancing toward the locked door.
    “Don’t even think about it,” he warned her. “She’s dangerous.”
    “I’m not interested in endangering myself,” Rachel said with great dignity.
    Sure you’re not
, he thought. He only hoped he’d done a good enough job priming her curiosity. If Rachel Connery proved true to form, he could count on Angel to take care of the rest. And he could meet