Ultimate Thriller Box Set by Goldberg Lee; Nicholson Scott; Konrath J.A.; Black J. Carson; Crouch Blake

Author:Goldberg, Lee; Nicholson, Scott; Konrath, J.A.; Black, J. Carson; Crouch, Blake
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Ultimate Thiller Press
Published: 2012-01-29T04:30:00+00:00

26

Jay Ramsey had almost managed to pull his plate onto his lap when it slipped out of his hands and crashed to the flagstones.

“You see?” Freddy said primly as he picked up the pieces of bone china. “You’ve been out here too long.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“This was your mother’s favorite pattern. You know when you start dropping things—“

“Freddy, enough.”

“Fine, if that’s what you want." Freddy whisked around them, clearing plates and brushing away crumbs from the tablecloth.

Jay had invited Laura to breakfast. She was happy to get out here early, anxious as she was to get Jay on the Internet and see him work the magic Galaz had promised her, but here they sat. She kept thinking about Alison Burns lying on the bed in the abandoned motel room. And Jessica Parris, posed like a doll in the City Park band shell.

She had to admit, it was pleasant here—lush plants and deep shade. Misters on the porch roof cooled the terrace. Across the lane stood the high hedge lining the tennis court where Jay Ramsey used to play. Laura, a kid, a horse groom, walking by, hoping she’d catch his eye.

Now she had his full attention. Strange how wants and hopes changed over the years.

Freddy was back from the kitchen. He nodded at the thermometer tacked to the pepper tree near the pool. “It’s eighty-seven degrees. You’ve been out here well over an hour.”

“I’m fine.”

“You won’t be so cocky if your bladder lets go in front of company.”

Jay saw Laura’s discomfort and grinned. “Freddy’s afraid I’ll get overheated. That can lead to dysreflexia, which—“

“Could send his blood pressure sky-high,” Freddy said.

Jay leaned toward Laura, his voice conspiratorial.

“You know what you have to do if you start to get overheated? Piss your pants.” He laughed. “When quads get overheated, sometimes their bladders can back up. You don’t want that to happen, so you have a little accident. Relieves the pressure. You have to train yourself to do it—it’s amazing how stubborn the mind can be, all that potty training you have to overcome.”

Freddy took his stack of still-intact dishes and retreated into the house with a martyr’s sigh.

Jay said, “The minute I saw you on the news, I knew I had to meet you. Maybe because we never did.” Saw her confusion and added, “Never met.”

The Ramseys had been clear from the beginning: They didn’t want any visitors. “I understood that. Your parents were looking out for—”

“She was never going to let that happen,” Jay said. “Even though you saved my life, she didn’t want a relationship." He sipped his mimosa. “That’s why she paid you off.”

Told to her this way, it made her angry all over again.

“You should see your face. I don’t blame you for being mad. I would be livid. Especially when she took the horse back. A couple of years down the line, when she saw just how much my condition changed my life—her life—she wasn’t so thankful anymore.”

He shifted in his chair, yawned. Laura wondered if the yawning helped him in some way.

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