Firestorm by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online

they'd cured her. “I agree that Travis got me out of there. About everything else, we'll have to agree to disagree.”
    He was silent a moment. “I always wondered . . . Do you blame me too?”
    “I did for the first couple weeks I was in that place. I felt betrayed. Then I realized that you'd gone along with him because you loved me, and love is too rare for me to jettison it because you made a mistake.”
    “It wasn't a mistake. You're healthy and normal now. You have to admit that.”
    “Perfectly normal.” As normal as she'd ever be. “Now, can we drop it and just paint Laura's gazebo? I came here because I wanted to be with my family, not to get a lecture.”
    He nodded and turned away. “Sorry. It's just that Dad's such a great guy. I think you're missing out.”
    She watched him cross the lawn toward the house. It was natural that Jason would think she was being deprived. He had spent those two years she was in a coma after her mother's death with their father, and Kerry's withdrawal from the world had only brought father and son closer. Then, after she'd regained consciousness, she'd spent time in rehab. Jason was ten years older than Kerry and had been heavily influenced by that time with his father. Later, both Jason and Kerry had been sent to private schools but spent vacations at Aunt Marguerite's place in Macon. She only vaguely remembered the few times her father had come to see them during those years. He'd been charming, charismatic, and amusing when Jason was around. When it was just her father and her, he'd been stilted and uneasy.
    Her fault? Maybe. She remembered staring at him as if he were some kind of rare species of mammal. She couldn't be natural with him. Then, when she'd started having the nightmares and then the visions, he'd sent her to Milledgeville, and that had destroyed any possibility of intimacy.
    She turned back and started to paint the banister again.
    It didn't matter. She had Jason and Laura and all her friends at the fire station. She didn't need a father figure in her life. Certainly not one like Ron Murphy. Let him work out his own guilt feelings about Kerry and her mother and that hideous night in Boston.
             
    K erry was laughing, joking, and looked more relaxed than Silver had ever seen her. Her brother was standing at the barbecue pit grilling hamburgers, and Laura Murphy, very pregnant, was sitting in a chair at the picnic table, staring with satisfaction at her gazebo.
    Silver lowered the binoculars. Was it time to go knock on the door and talk to Kerry? She was calm and almost content. The trauma of the last few days had faded. He should probably take advantage of the moment and step into the picture again.
    No, give her tonight.
    Once he drew her into the nightmare in which he was living, she wouldn't have any more tension-free periods for the foreseeable future.
             
    T he President.” Melissa handed Michael Travis the phone and mouthed silently. “Not pleased.”
    He wasn't surprised. Andreas had been growing increasingly impatient for the last three days. “Hello, Mr. President. I was planning to call you and update you this evening.”
    “Update me now,” Andreas said curtly. “What the hell is happening? Why is Silver spinning his wheels? Doesn't he realize the urgency?”
    “He realizes. He's trying to ease her into the offer gently.”
    “While he's trying to be diplomatic I'm having to deal with the carnage this nut is creating. Tim Pappas's car ran off the road into a tree last night. It exploded and he burned to death before anyone could get him out.”
    “Shit.”
    “Exactly. I told Pappas he'd be safe. I don't like to be made a liar. And I hate having a decent man die because we can't find Trask.”
    “Silver will find him. There's no one with more motivation.”
    “That's the only reason I'm trusting him.” Andreas paused. “This woman is really necessary?”
    “Her or someone like her. And I've never run across