The Setup by Marie Ferrarella

Author:Marie Ferrarella
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

THE MOMENT THEY WERE OUTSIDE the gallery, Sylvie realized that what they were experiencing was more than just a minor inconvenience. There were no lights at all in the street.

Thoughts of disasters immediately sprang to mind.

Without thinking, Sylvie grasped Jefferson’s hand, holding on tightly, the unconscious fear she was struggling to hold at bay radiating through her fingers.

She’d been in New York City when the Twin Towers fell. Although she was all the way across town at the time, the memory of that day was still vividly imprinted in her mind. Over time, she’d managed to bury it beneath so many others, but it was quick to surface at the slightest provocation.

Fear strummed across her nerves, refusing to dissipate. She turned toward Jefferson. “Do you think this could be—?”

She didn’t have to finish. He could hear it in her voice, see it in her eyes. “Probably not” was the best he could offer her. He wouldn’t just glibly assure her that this blackout was not part of something bigger. But the odds, he liked to believe, were against that. “Why don’t you call home?” Jefferson advised. “It might make you feel better.”

She didn’t ordinarily need reassurance. She usually had no trouble keeping a positive outlook, but for some reason, the darkness had taken away her confidence. She didn’t like feeling this way.

Sylvie had her cell phone out and was pressing buttons before Jefferson had completed his suggestion.

It took three rings before anyone answered. The seconds seemed to stretch out forever. Sylvie could feel impatience mounting within her.

As soon as the ringing stopped, she said, “Hello, Mama?”

“You sound breathless, Sylvie. Is your date chasing after you, or are you chasing him?”

Not her mother, she thought. Anne Marchand’s tongue was not nearly as tart. “Grand-mère, is everything all right over there?”

“Other than the fact that your mother is boring me to death with her poor skills at the chessboard, I would say that everything is all right.” A hint of curiosity slipped into the older woman’s voice. “Why do you ask?”

“Sylvie, what’s wrong?” It was her mother on the phone now. Sylvie surmised that Anne must have taken the receiver from her grandmother, who could be heard grumbling in French in the background.

“Nothing’s really wrong, Mama.” She didn’t want her to worry unnecessarily. Ever since Anne’s heart attack, Sylvie had felt very protective of her mother. As she talked, she began to twist a lock of her hair, a habit she’d had since she was a girl. “We’ve just had a power failure here at the gallery where Maddy’s having her performance event and I wanted to make sure you and Grand-mère and Daisy Rose weren’t sitting in the dark, too.”

“The lights flickered here earlier, but everything seems to be fine now,” Anne assured her. Then she drew her breath in sharply.

“What?” Sylvie demanded. “What is it?” Jefferson was looking at her quizzically. “Did the lights go out?”

“No, but I just realized this blackout should have hit the hotel. We have power here, but the hotel is a few miles away.

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