"You might as well know. She was burned beyond recognition. The body still hasn't been officially identified. When the firemen found her, she had a shard of glass through her throat. They thought she must have fallen on something, but I fear it's entirely possible she could have done it to herself." Was that story true, or a bald-faced lie? Ally wondered. Were they still hiding her someplace? But why was he here? He certainly hadn't come to discuss the kitchen design job for his Gramercy Park mansion. That was now long ago and far away. "Alexa," he said moving toward her, "please don't be frightened but there's something I have to find out." He reached out with his left hand and seized her wrist. She only saw the glint of the penknife in his right hand for an instant before he slashed it across her palm. "What!" she screamed and yanked her hand away. Knickers gave a loud yelp and then howled mournfully. Only then did she notice that there'd been just a momentary flash of pain. "It's okay," Bartlett said reaching to soothe Knickers. "Just a superficial scratch. Now watch it. I want to know if Karl had time to finish the procedure." My God. She didn't have to watch. She could already feel it beginning to heal. "What's . . . what's going on? Is this--?" "He had hopefully completed the Beta on you just before Kristy's mother showed up. But did it work the way it was supposed to? We didn't know. Until now." "My God. I knew I was feeling--" "You received just the right amount of telomerase injections," Bartlett interjected, "to induce the Beta without any side effects. It was the 'Goldilocks dosage' Karl had been trying to calculate, just enough that only aged or damaged cells are replaced, while healthy tissue is not altered." She now realized that was why she'd been having bouts of incredible energy. "We're the only ones," he went on. "Just us. You and me. We've been given this gift, Alexa. And now we have the responsibility that goes along with it." He glanced down at her hand. "By the way, how's that cut doing?" "What are you getting at?" It was definitely healing. A wave of thunder boomed over the river, sending Knickers scurrying to Ally's side. "What I'm getting at is that you and I are now two very special people. We both are living proof of what the Beta can achieve. The question is, what are we going to do about it?" She was still stunned. "This is a lot to absorb. I'll have to think--" "I've already thought about this and I believe it must be kept secret at all cost. At least for now." "But why? It's a miracle that--" "That must be handled prudently. I need your cooperation with that." She was having extreme difficulty getting her mind around what he was talking about. "I don't really know what's going on. I think I'd better see some doctors. And Stone is finishing his book about . . . I've got to tell him--"