Gardiner, Meg - Phantom Instinct by Gardiner Meg

Gardiner, Meg - Phantom Instinct by Gardiner Meg

Author:Gardiner, Meg [Gardiner, Meg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Suspense
ISBN: 9780698157132
Publisher: Penguin USA
Published: 2014-05-15T04:00:00+00:00


The sun had sunk behind the trees in the west, glaring gold, a firefly sunset through the leaves. Harper stood at Aiden’s living room window, fist pressed to her mouth. On the driveway, he paced, phone to his ear. She heard snatches of his conversation with Erika Sorenstam. She felt as though electric worms were crawling beneath her skin.

Aiden ended his call and came inside. He closed the door softly. “I told her you’d phoned me. That you heard the news report, that you knew the victim back in China Lake and were afraid there’s a connection to Azerov. I said I hadn’t seen you.”

“Did she believe you?”

“At this point, I don’t know. But I don’t think she’s sending SWAT here to arrest you.”

Harper pressed her fingers against her eyes. “Jasmine. Oh, my God.”

She hadn’t seen Jasmine Hay since before going down for the jewelry store robbery. She remembered a thin thirteen-year-old with intimidating physical bravado, who kept a Beanie Baby bear in her school backpack.

Aiden said, “How’s Oscar?”

She looked out the back door. He was sitting at the picnic table, head in his hands. He knew Jasmine better than she did.

“Are you kidding? He’s devastated. And scared. So am I.” She ran her hands over her face. She was close to shivering. “A sledgehammer. Aiden, that’s Zero. It’s the robbery all over again, but a hundred times worse. It’s . . .”

Her stomach coiled. “Excuse me.”

She hurried to the bathroom, hot and nauseated, pressing her hand to the wall to steady herself. Inside, she grabbed the toilet, but nothing came up. She leaned on the sink and splashed water on her face. Her hands were shaking.

In the mirror, she saw Aiden appear in the doorway. He took a towel from the rack and held it out. She accepted it and buried her face in it, hiding hot tears that welled out of abject fear.

“Hey.”

His arm went around her shoulder. She hupped a breath into the towel. He gently took it from her, tossed it aside, and wrapped both arms around her. When he pulled her in, she pressed her face to his chest. She felt completely clenched. Don’t cry. Cry and you’ll weaken. Weaken and you won’t be ready for whatever’s coming.

He held her close. “I gotcha.”

She nodded tightly. She couldn’t even breathe. His arms seemed all that were keeping her from screaming. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt his chest rise and fall. He rocked her, just rocked her.

“You’re not alone,” he said. “You’re not.”

She raised her face. His eyes, weary and bruised, had a look in them like iron. Want, and gratitude, and overwhelming need poured through her. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

He put his cheek against hers and murmured in her ear. “You. Are not. Alone.”

He kissed her neck. She nodded and tightened her arms around him. For a second, she felt safe. She knew that he had her back. He believed her. He was in, all the way.

The wind had risen, black and hissing, and was bearing down on her.



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