Gifts and Consequences by Daniel Coleman Read Free Book Online Page A

I’m sorry.”
    “I’m fine,” she said, tucking her fingers into her armpit.  
    “Okay, stand clear.  Closing in three, two, one…” 
    Lisa managed a laugh.  Two minutes into the date, she was already having the time of her life. 
    He backed his car out of the lot and onto the street.  “So why are you all dressed up?”
    Lisa considered before answering.  Not meeting his occasional gaze she said, “I had a date that I thought was important.  But a better offer came along.”  Her cheeks flared red and her stomach sank as she considered how close she had been.
    Just when she thought there was no way the night could get any better they pulled into the arena parking lot.  A tall boy was furiously kicking the flat tires of a red Mustang and shouting words that she had only ever heard from Buck.  The dark orange hair was unmistakable.
    She knew it wasn’t nice to feel happy about another person’s bad luck, but just for tonight she decided to give herself a little flexibility.
    Back in her apartment, the cursor blinked where she had added a single word to her diary.
     
    Saturday, May 7, 2011 – NOT My Last Diary Entry
     
     
    #####
     
    Four hundred miles away, Marcus leaned on his desk and took a few seconds to catch his breath.  I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this.
    Through GPS trackers, hidden microphones in Lisa’s apartment and Charlie’s car, and a surveillance van in the parking lot of the concert, they’d seen the whole show.  Even Lisa’s computer entries were monitored.
    “Reality TV has never shown anything to match that,” Jonathan raved, standing from the chair where he’d witnessed the evening.  “Charlie is a rock star.  That boy’s a hero!”
    Sweat soaked the armpits of Marcus’s baby blue shirt.  “That was too close, Jonathan.  You can’t toy with people’s lives like you did with that girl.”
    “Actually I can,” answered Jonathan.  “Besides, the deeper the despair, the sweeter the rescue.  You can’t argue with that.  Every ounce of life that girl experiences from here on will be sweeter because she has literally tasted the iron chill of death.”
    “And how could you live with yourself if Charlie had been a minute later?  Is that a story you could have told Susan?”
    Jonathan and the four techs froze, but Jonathan recovered quickly.  “But he didn’t show up one minute later.  Or one second later.  He didn’t miss one more traffic light on the way to her house, or stop to tie his shoe on the way to her door, or even change his mind and decide to scalp the tickets.”
    With the exception of Susan’s illness, life was a series of successes for Jonathan.  He was the anti-Lisa Knapp.  “You are not God,” said Marcus.  “Act like Him all you want, it won’t bring Susan back.”
    The techs still hadn’t moved, and now diverted their eyes.
    “Careful, Marcus,” said Jonathan.  “That’s crossing the line.”
    Maybe he’s right and I should just shut up and do my job.  Changing the subject, Marcus said, “What do you want us to do with the O’Hara kid’s wallet and cell service?”
     “Tell Oscar to drop the wallet outside a homeless shelter and give the kid his cell service back.  Not that it will do him any good, unless he saved all the pieces of his phone.”
    “Jonathan, take a look at this.”  It was Will, who sat in front of his dual monitors five workstations away. 
    I don’t think that’s a sweater.  It’s more of a cardigan , thought Jonathan looking over Will’s shoulder.  A newspaper story was displayed on his monitor about a baby in Warren, Michigan who had died after falling out of a second-story window. 
    “Watch Dexter closely,” said Jonathan.  “This will be do or die time.  Get it?  He works in a cemetery.”  No one laughed.
    Jonathan rubbed his tired eyes.  “We hit a couple home runs tonight,” he said to Marcus as he walked to the elevator.  “Let one of the techs take