Free Chosen (Second Sight) by Hazel Hunter

line. As though it were better to have it over sooner rather than later, she quickly inhaled, extended an index finger and touched the frame.
    Mac watched as the beautiful, amber eyes unfocused, the pupils dilated, and Isabelle stared blankly into space. Her lips parted ever so slightly and her chest rose and fell faster as she breathed through her mouth. As he watched, Mac realized he’d never been able to observe her so closely. Though it’d only been several seconds, he found himself wanting her to blink. Her eyes had been open for too long.
    The broken glass of the frame began to rattle. Just as he looked down, it collapsed backward under the pressure of her touch. The reading was over and Isabelle took her hand back, clutching it to her chest.
    “Mac?” she breathed, looking past him.
    He waved a hand in front of her face which didn’t faze her.  
    “Right here,” he said quietly.  
    Her eyes turned directly toward him and finally she blinked.
    “Kayla didn’t throw it away,” she said, still breathing a little hard.  
    “Who did?”
    “Some man I didn’t recognize,” she said. “He only held it briefly.”
    “Did you see how or why Kayla left?”
    Isabelle’s unseeing gaze shifted down and away as though she were watching something on the floor. She shook her head.
    “No,” she said quietly, her eyes moving back in his direction. “For all I know, Kayla simply left it there and someone found it and threw it away.” Isabelle blinked several times and actually focused on the frame, finally seeing again. “But I just don’t think she’d do that. When I read her, there was real grief there. She missed Daniel terribly. He was the father of her child, after all.”
    “I agree,” he said, as Isabelle put her glove back on. “But not because I know her. In general, people are not inclined to throw away photos. In fact, they almost never do.”
    “Really?” she said, standing the frame up again and the photo upright in front of it.
    “It’s one of the reasons businesses will pay extra money for a photo business card,” he said.  
    She stared hard at the image and Mac watched her eyes dart between Kayla and Daniel as a little frown tugged at the corners of her mouth.
    We need to talk , Mac thought. And not about Kayla and Daniel.
    “So she didn’t leave it,” Isabelle said. “And she didn’t throw it away. But then, why was it there? Where is Kayla?”
    “She’s probably still at the commune,” Mac said.
    Isabelle finally looked at him.
    “What makes you say that?” she asked.
    As always, Isabelle’s physical nearness had its effect. He might have looked into those eyes forever. Or taken her in his arms and kissed her. Or held her close and tried to understand what had happened when he’d talked about moving in.
    But she was waiting for an answer.
    “The simples scenario wins,” he said. “First, she’s in no condition to travel. Second, cults don’t survive by having their members leave. Third, this particular cult seems to be fond of children–and maybe not just Geoffrey’s.”
    “Saving the world, one child at a time,” she said lowly.
    “Not only that,” Mac said. “But based on the membership information the Bureau gathered, when men join, it’s usually with their wives or girlfriends and they’re either pregnant or get pregnant soon thereafter.”
    “You’re kidding,” she said.
    “Kayla is a prime example.”
    Isabelle paused for a second and glanced at the picture frame.
    “I guess she is,” she whispered.
    Based on the Bureau’s demographic, he and Isabelle needed to get their story straight. Though Mac had had enough of talking about the commune, they needed to be ready.
    “Are we hoping for a boy or a girl?” Mac said.  
    Her eyes snapped back to his face.
    “Are we …” she said, searching his eyes.
    “Hoping for a boy or girl,” he said.
    “I don’t…know,” she whispered.
    “Tomorrow,” he said. “We need to be prepared. They’ll