Licensed to Thrill 1 by Diane Capri

Author:Diane Capri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AugustBooks
Published: 2015-06-15T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Margrave, Georgia

November 3

12:45 a.m.

She was submerged in deep slow-wave sleep, like a dolphin, maintaining only enough consciousness to remain wary of predators. She bobbed gently, down and up, each soft bounce tugging her higher until at one apex her eyelids fluttered. An orange glow inches from her nose showed 12:45 a.m. She’d been asleep three hours.

But now she was awake.

Because: there was hushed shouting in the house. Echolocation placed two women safely distant. One older, one younger, both angry. She recognized Roscoe’s voice.

Roscoe’s guest room was cozy. The temperature was perfect. Quilted goose down enveloped in fine cotton created a warm cocoon. She snuggled deeper, drifted lightly on sleep’s surface, still aware. She sighed.

Return to nirvana demanded a glass of water and a pee. She listened, heard no silenced screaming, concluded quick stealth was now possible. Where was the bathroom? Down the hall, she remembered, near the kitchen.

Vision limited through eyelids too heavy to lift, she moved toward the door, turned left, and shuffled along the carpet. A computer screen’s soft night-light glow guided her progress. There were warm aromas she couldn’t identify. Wood smoke, maybe? And something sweeter.

She reached the archway and stepped into cold open space. She recalled the kitchen on the left, a den on the right, the guest bath straight ahead.

Then the whole room lit up. Instant blindness. Kim’s forearm flew up to shield her eyes. A tall, slender blonde girl had opened the refrigerator door. That was the light. The girl was holding a bottle of beer. She turned, saw Kim, and cocked her wrist, ready to throw the bottle.

“Who are you?” she asked. “And what are you doing in my house?”

The girl was very pretty. She was dressed in ragged jeans and a sloppy sweater and heavy mud-covered boots. She was backlit by the refrigerator. She was a foot taller and thirty pounds heavier than Kim, and she looked very capable. Kim figured the bottle would hit her dead center in the head, if the kid got around to throwing it.

Then from the shadows on Kim’s right, Roscoe said, “Cut the drama, Jack. Does she look like a home invader? Bare feet? Red silk pajamas?”

The girl didn’t stand down even a smidge.

Only one choice.

Kim prepared to run rather than hurt the girl.

Roscoe said, “Kim, this is my daughter Jacqueline, known to all as Jack for short, which as you can see, she isn’t.”

Jack? Kim felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Reacher’s kid?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.