He remembered the series of images of Cara that Lachesis' report had contained. Spaced just about evenly, one image passing per year, he could see how the girl—no, woman—before him had come to be. He could also see it in the data files, the five runaways after he'd left the family's employ, and the last one, four years ago, to the wilds of Europe. She'd honed her independent streak into such a fine instrument that not even her powerful family had dared retrieve her when she ran away for the last time. All the reports revealed Cara Villiers as a young woman who could take care of herself. And yet she was here looking for his help.