If I Should Die by Allison Brennan Read Free Book Online Page B

to it. I don’t want you making yourself sick.”
    He ran his fingers down her cheek. “I’m fine, Lucy. Just sore. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
    “Maybe not first thing—the coroner and a search-and-rescue team will be here tomorrow morning. To retrieve the body from the mine. Can you wait to go to town until I get back from there?”
    “I’m coming with you.”
    “Not back down in the mine!”
    “Tonight, I feel like shit. But tomorrow, it’s back to work.” He paused, seeing the worry in her eyes. “What about you? Sure, my body took a licking, but that dead woman really shook you up.”
    “I think she was murdered,” Lucy said. “Her body was posed. She was fully clothed, but something was wrong. If I hadn’t suddenly lost my nerve and run away, I might have noticed what struck me as off.” Lucy stared at a blank wall, but Sean knew she was picturing the morbid scene.
    “You’re cold.”
    She shook her head.
    “Then why are you shaking?” He pulled her down to lie at his side. The tension in her body was from more than the gruesome memory.
    He rubbed her back until she finally relaxed. When she closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, he breathed easier. “What happened down there?” he asked quietly.
    Lucy didn’t immediately answer, but Sean knew she wasn’t asleep. Her heart was beating too fast, and her hand absently rubbed his chest.
    “If we hadn’t found you, you would have died.” Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence. “For a split second, I saw you instead of the woman. Lying in that alcove.”
    “But you did find me. And I’m not completely helpless.” She didn’t respond to his reassurance, and he kissed the top of her head. “Princess, I understand.”
    Lucy had been scared of losing him and she didn’t like being scared. She didn’t know how to interpret or respond to the complex emotions about their relationship. It was as if admitting she loved him would jinx it, or put one or both of them in physical jeopardy.
    Sean understood all this about her, even though she had never voiced her fears. They lived dangerous lives, and that wouldn’t change. Sean would no more tell Lucy to dump the thought of becoming an FBI agent and take a nice, safe teaching job than she would demand he quit Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid and sell computers.
    And even if they did take an easier road? Sean suspected trouble and danger would follow them—or they’d seek it out. Lucy could not turn away from someone in need, nor could Sean ignore someone being bullied.
    Lucy’s deep compassion for others was one of the many reasons Sean had fallen in love with her.
    Her breathing evened out as her body relaxed. “I love you, Luce,” he whispered and closed his eyes.

SIX
    All the years I spent learning how to control my reactions, and in less than ten minutes Reverend Carl Browne had me enraged .
    “What the fuck were you thinking!” I shouted, my voice echoing in the large open space .
    We sat in a church pew in the chapel, just him and me, though now I rose in fury, standing in the aisle. If I didn’t get this anger out of my system, I’d kill him, and that would be disastrous .
    I simply couldn’t believe the pathetic reasons Carl gave for his decision to torch the Hendrickson place. It all boiled down to panic .
    “You were scared,” I continued. “You freaked out. If you were anyone else, you’d already be dead.”
    He bristled. “Remember who you’re talking to, little girl.”
    “Just because you were my father’s closest friend doesn’t give you a free pass to be an idiot,” I said .
    He reddened, his hair looking even whiter. Twelve years ago Carl might have been called distinguished; now he just looked old .
    This day had exhausted me. I’d spent twelve hours checking and double-checking on every cog in my operation. Amazingly, everything was running perfectly smooth, except for the issue with the Hendricksons. But I had figured out how to handle