Miracle Cure by Harlan Coben Read Free Book Online Page A

know how I arrived here tonight, Cassandra?"
    She barely glanced in his direction.
    "No, Randall. Why don't you tell me?"
    "By private helicopter," he said proudly.
    "I just bought the bird. Seats eight. I have my own full-time pilot, co-pilot, and stewardess."
    "Stewardess?" Cassandra repeated.
    "On a helicopter?"
    Randall Crane nodded.
    "We traveled from the roof of my highrise on 47th Street to here in under an hour." "I'm very im, Randall."
    The older man beamed.
    "Do you want to take a ride in it" You won't believe how fast it goes."
    She had bedded Randall Crane more than three years ago, and he lasted about as long as a fifteen-year-old boy on his first time out. The man had barely got his pants off.
    "You should learn to slow down, Randall," she said with a wicked smile.
    "Speed is not always a good thing, you know."
    Watching Randall's face turn red, Cassandra spotted Michael in the back corner, standing in a corner with that nothing doctor friend of his.
    Michael looked so damn handsome in his tux, the only man at the party who would dare to wear a purple flowered bowtie and matching cumber bund rather than the standard black. But that was Michael. He was always a little off center. Cassandra had not seen him for nearly six months, but he still looked fantastic.
    It was strange really. Over the years Cassandra had stole nj all of Sara's boyfriends, starting with her first high school beau, Eddie Myles. Cassandra had orchestrated the seduction so that Sara would be sure to walk in on them.
    Which she did.
    Sara's eyes widened when she saw her boyfriend's pants lowered to his ankles, Cassandra kneeling in front of him. Her face had crumbled into anguish. But Eddie was only the first.
    It became a game to Cassandra. A new challenge. Every time Sara risked trusting someone, her sister would pounce on him. With each seduction Sara's wounds bled anew. Insecurity began to nestle into her psyche. Sara became more self-conscious about her health problems. Her confidence withered away. Sarcasm became her defense. Cassandra watched her sister distance herself from the outside world. She dedicated herself to her studies, staying alone in her room, blasting that awful heavy metal music.
    Eventually, there were no boys left for Cassandra to chase away.
    But Sara had been playing possum. Somehow the sly bitch had landed the best of men.
    Michael, the bastard. The gorgeous, wonderful bastard.
    Cassandra stepped forward.
    "Excuse me a moment, gentlemen."
    The men parted to allow her to pass. Cassandra could not take her eyes off Michael. Six months had passed since they had last saw each other.
    And a lot of things might have changed in six months.
    Cassandra moved toward Michael.
    Sitting in the back of a studio limousine, Sara could not keep still.
    She tried to unwind from the excitement of the show, but the constant flow of adrenalin would not allow it. She rocked back and forth in the plush leather seat, her mind whirling with anticipation. She had moved from Blue Oyster Cult into the more contemporary sounds of Depeche Mode, but she still wasn't slowing down. Midway through
    "Blasphemous Rumors," the limousine driver raised the soundproof window between them.
    Good.
    Soon she would see Michael. Corny to say, but the best part of days like these was reliving each detail with her husband.
    Wincing, Sara snapped off her brace and rubbed her foot. Leg | braces had improved dramatically over the years, from the days | when she wore a heavy metal one that gripped like a power-vise to the modern fiberglass kind that felt more snug than compressing. Still, the brace was cumbersome and her leg throbbed painfully when she wore it a long time. She massaged her foot and lower leg with knowing hands. The blood began to circulate again.
    Born two months premature, Sara had been a sickly child from the start.
    Infections settled into her lungs, causing pneumonia and a childhood of health complications. The difficult birth had also permanently