Read Online The Gifted Ones: A Reader by Maria Elizabeth Romana - Free Book Online Page B

raised an eyebrow, but then continued, “No problem, my friend. It is a disturbing message. I understand. As I was saying, it does indeed appear that we have what you would call a leak. There were only a handful of us who could have known your stopover points—the three of you, me, a couple of Council members, Angel, Elodie, and the pilots.”
    Grace spoke up, “Well, Angel and Elodie slept half the time, so I don’t think it was them.” She looked at Joe. “What about the flight crew? Or the ground crew? How well do you know those people?”
    Joe shook his head. “They’re all above reproach. Ditto the Council members. There’s no one in this organization I don’t trust with my life.” He paused, then gave Grace a small smile. “Or yours.”
    Granny piped up, “Grace, did you or Elodie talk to anyone on the ground? Maybe in the restroom? Did you buy anything…even a coffee? It could have been the most innocent—”
    “No! We didn’t even get off the plane.”
    “She’s right, Gran. I was the only one who left the cabin. I did all the talking. It’s got to be something else. Someone’s tapping into our communications. Gotta be.” Joe looked up at the screen again. “Rishi, I know you’ve been all over this, but will you review the transmissions for me one more time? Check everything that passed through those frequencies for the last twenty-four hours.”
    Rishi gave Joe a mock salute. “I will do it, my friend. You know I am thorough, but there is always another stone to overturn.” He looked up in his head a moment. “Come to think of it, there is this incredible new tech that Visnu has been playing with…” A certain sparkle came to Rishi’s eye. “I will call you later, friends.” He made eye contact with Grace and added, “You will be there still, won’t you, lovely lady?”
    Grace forced a smile. “Oh yeah, I’ll be here. Got nowhere else to go.”
    “Dee-lightful! I look forward to it then.” Rishi punched a button, and the screen went black.
    Grace glared at Joe as he attempted to stifle a smirk. Before he could open his mouth, she raised a finger at him. “Don’t!”
    “Sorry, Gracie, but the guy’s had a crush on you since you were like, seventeen.”
    She made a wry face. “Don’t remind me.” Joe was right. Back then, when all of this was new and dazzling and a world filled with wonder, Grace was flattered that some crazy computer prodigy from half a world away was apparently smitten with her. The bloom fell off the rose the day her sister learned that her fiancé was a Gifted One.
    “All right, you two, back on task.” Granny snapped her fingers, demanding their attention like a school teacher chiding her class.
    Grace nodded silently, and Joe responded, “Look, Granny, I think you’ve overreacted a bit. We don’t know that there’s really a problem. Maybe Rishi’s wrong. Maybe his info’s off, or he’s misinterpreting the chatter. Let’s let him take another look and get back to us. We’re not going to solve this one right now, and I know three young ladies who are tired and hungry.” Joe looked at Grace. “Let’s figure out where you and Ellie are going to sleep tonight, and then maybe we can come up with a creative way to tell Ellie she really has no idea who she is.”
     
    # # #
     
    Ellie turned her head sideways, trying to make sense of a rather abstract painting on the wall of a large room that Willow had referred to as the studio. The room really didn’t look like it belonged in an old farmhouse. The exterior wall was almost floor-to-ceiling windows, and at least half the ceiling had been replaced with glass to allow maximum natural light inside. There were fifteen or twenty easels set up in various locations around the room, and numerous tables and stands, each covered with papers, paints, pencils, chalks, and assorted half-finished sculptures or pottery. It looked a lot like the art room at Ellie’s school.
    Ellie had been working her way