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Mr. Dailey looked up and went very still. She sensed Vadim at her shoulder, emanating a sense of cold menace that would probably make Dailey wet his pants.

“Morosov isn’t quite human, so don’t think to appeal to his better side. He doesn’t have one. He could probably kill you without even touching you.”

Her adversary stepped back, his gaze still fixated on Vadim, who appeared to be making a low growling sound.

“Now if you will all sit down, I’ll explain exactly what is going to happen next.”

She waited until the three family members were seated and looking obediently up at her.

“Can you keep them calm for me, Morosov?”

“I’m already on it.”

She took a deep, centering breath and focused on the turmoil of the three minds in front of her. Vadim’s power blended smoothly with hers, and she began to extract the memories of the conversation, of the family’s anger and disbelief, of their sense of horror… Other images—Brad as a sunny-natured little boy, a baby, a sullen teen—jostled with the ones she sought. She pushed those gently away and focused on only what needed to be removed.

After a quick check to see that she had everything, she opened her eyes and studied the vacant faces of the family. Usually she needed skin-to-skin contact to make the necessary connection, but with Vadim’s help she could do without it.

“When you wake up, you will understand that Brad was an extremely unhappy individual who was afraid of letting you down by disclosing his lack of interest in a medical career. You will know that on his last night of life he unknowingly took some as-yet-unidentified new street drug and suffered a series of hallucinations that made him believe his face was not his own. Despite the hospital’s best efforts, Brad was unable to recover from the effects of taking this substance and killed himself.”

Mrs. Dailey’s mouth quivered and a single tear ran down her cheek.

“You will feel shock and anger and grief over his death. You will insist on an investigation, which the hospital will offer you. It will become clear to you that no member of the hospital staff or the SBLE were responsible for your son’s death.”

She looked across at Feehan, who nodded, and then at Vadim.

“Good enough, Ms. Walsh.”

She held out both of her hands, palms facing out, and gave a final push of power to set the new memories in place. The usual twinge of nausea and unsteadiness made her sway on her feet. Vadim was immediately at her side and led her to a chair.

“We can take it from here, can’t we, Mr. Feehan?”

“Indeed we can. I wonder where Ms. Phelps has gotten to?” Feehan joined Vadim in front of the Dailey family, who were gradually coming out of their trances and staring up at the two men.

“Do you have any more questions for me, Mrs. Dailey?” Vadim asked.

“No, I…I don’t think so, not at this moment.” She wiped away the tear on her cheek. “It’s just so sudden and unexpected.”

“I understand.” Vadim turned to her husband. “Mr. Dailey?”

“I’m not happy about this at all. My son was a fine, upstanding individual who never took drugs!” He stood up and brushed at the creases in his pants.

“You’re probably right, sir. We don’t know the circumstances. It is of course possible that another individual gave your son something illegal without either his knowledge or his consent.”

“Exactly!” Mr. Dailey looked over at his father for a long moment, and the older man nodded. “We will be demanding a full investigation into this matter.”

“As you should, sir.” Vadim agreed. “I don’t think the hospital should offer you anything less than a full public hearing.”

The ex-senator cleared his throat. “A private hearing. My family has suffered enough.”

“I’m sure they’ll do whatever you want, Senator.” Vadim handed over his card. “If you have any further questions or information for us, please call me or Mr. Feehan, and we will do our best to help.”

“Thank you.” Mr. Dailey took the card and studied it. “May we see Brad now? We’d like to say our last goodbyes.”

Ella and Feehan stared at each other. Feehan cleared his throat.

“As to that?—”

Vadim stepped forward. “It’s not a problem. Mr. Feehan, I know you’re expected at another appointment. I’ll take the Daileys to see the body.”