Untouchable. Stephanie Doyle

But at least Echo confirmed Lilith’s belief that information was a tool that she liked to use. “I meant to say why now? Was there something that happened that triggered this woman to act?”

      Echo lifted her shoulders. “Who knows. Maybe she stumbled upon something. Some thread that led her to Mummy. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that there is only us left. And if you think she won’t be coming after us and Mummy’s gift then you’re wrong.”

      “You think she could find me here?”

      “She found Mummy. She can find anyone. So where are you keeping it?”

      To ask Keeping what? would have been foolish. Lilith didn’t completely understand this woman yet. Maybe hopelessly, she still found herself looking for some commonality between them. But she knew one thing for certain. Her sister was no fool.

      Keen intelligence resonated in the glint of her brown eyes. Just like they had in Jackie’s.

      “It is hidden,” she answered finally.

      Slowly Echo nodded.

      “Excellent idea. Precautions are necessary. Have you read everything?”

      “No. I could only open some of the files. Others were filled with gibberish.

      “Encrypted.”

      Lilith accepted Echo’s statement. “What I did read did not make much sense to me.”

      It wasn’t exactly a lie. For a woman who tried to adhere to Buddhist precepts the acts of depravity those people committed didn’t compute. However, Lilith knew that she was deliberately misleading Echo. It was obvious that Echo couldn’t hide her disdain for the humble place where she’d found her sister. It might be useful to let her believe that Lilith was as simple and uneducated as Echo wanted to believe she was.

      “It is a lot to take in for me, as well. I, too, only had access to part of the data. But tell me more about you. This skin condition you have. Is it terribly annoying?”

      Given the way she reacted when they first met, Lilith had already determined that Echo knew about her condition. Suddenly she felt at a disadvantage. She hadn’t read enough to know what skill Echo or the other sister who had been murdered possessed.

      “It is manageable. Sometimes I can use it to help people.”

      The woman’s lips turned up in what should have been a smile. “Help people. That’s sweet. You’re a softy, aren’t you? I can tell. Help people. That’s priceless.”

      Echo looked away as if she were studying the structure. Analyzing. Calculating. Lilith could practically hear her brain working.

      When she focused her gaze on Lilith once more the smile was gone. “We could do that together. We could take this information and use it somehow to help people.”

      “How?”

      Echo shifted on her bench. “I don’t know exactly how this minute. But we’ll think about it. We’ll discuss it. You’ll show me where you’ve hidden her…computer?”

      “Laptop.”

      “Laptop,” Echo repeated slowly. “We’ll pool the information that we have and we’ll see how we can use it to make this world a better place. Wouldn’t that be fun? Two sisters working together to fight evil and injustice. Our first mission would be to take down Allison Gracelyn and her academy. Finding justice at last for our poor dead mother and sister.”

      Lilith wondered if Echo could hear the insincerity in her voice. “I think it is important that the right thing be done with the information we have been given.”

      “Ditto.”

      No longer able to stay in Echo’s company, Lilith stood and worked to keep her knees from trembling. “I have chores I must see to. Please stay and eat.”