Omega Dog by Tim Stevens Read Free Book Online

keep their important contacts on their cell phones or tablet computers these days? Venn didn’t have a whole lot of people he kept in contact with, so he didn’t know.
    He opened the Filofax and flipped through it. Names, addresses, numbers, none of which meant anything to him.
    Venn glanced around the chaotic room, wondering where to start, wondering what the hell he was even looking for.
    Then the phone on the desk began to ring.

Chapter 10
    ––––––––
    B eth swam up through foggy layers of sleep and blinked blearily at the digital clock on the nightstand.
    11:15.
    Panicking, she sat up, her heart leaping into her chest. She’d overslept, she was late for her shift, she’d get fired...
    Then she realized two things. She wasn’t on duty for another three days, having just pulled a long shift.
    And the clock said 11:15 PM, not AM.
    She stared around her. She was on the bed in her apartment, fully clothed, having cast off only her coat. The room was in semi-darkness, only the sulfur of the streetlamp outside filtering through.
    Then she remembered.
    She’d staggered up the stairs to her apartment, determined even in her exhausted state not to give in and take the elevator – Beth was a fitness fanatic, and had long ago decided that urban living wasn’t going to render her lazy – and had stumbled in through the door. Her mind was still churning over recent events. The news of Luisa’s death, and following on from that the discovery that somebody else she’d known, Lawrence B. Siddon, had also died.
    But as soon as Beth saw her bed through the open bedroom door, all other thoughts evaporated. She flopped down on the quilt, just for a minute, just to rest her feet. Afterward, she’d fix some supper, take a shower...
    And of course, she’d crashed out, and now it was five hours later.
    Damn.
    Like most doctors, Beth had the ability to snatch sleep wherever and whenever the opportunity presented itself. But like most human beings, she needed some regularity to her sleep pattern every once in a while, to avoid going crazy. Her intention had been to keep herself awake until at least nine PM, after which she could have a full, unbroken night’s slumber.
    Now, even if she did go back to sleep, she’d probably wake in the early hours, and be all out of synch again.
    After a few minutes with her head on the pillow, Beth decided it was useless, and that she might as well stay up now till she started feeling sleepy again. Grumpily, she got up, stretched, working some of the stiffness out of her neck and limbs, and made her way to the kitchenette. Caffeine was the last thing she needed right now, so she made herself a cup of herbal tea and sat at the counter, sipping, letting her thoughts drift.
    And then she remembered why she’d woken up. Remembered the thought that had been nagging at her, not quite in her dreams, but from some deep part of her mind even while she slept.
    Luisa’s parents were coming to town tomorrow, and she’d need to be there with them in their time of grief.
    But she’d already promised the Prof she’d meet him to go over the preliminary data from the study they were working on together.
    The data could wait. They could work on it any time, maybe even the day after, if the Prof was available. But Luisa’s mom and dad would need her tomorrow.
    Beth would have to tell the Prof she needed to take a raincheck.
    She looked at the clock on the wall. It was eleven thirty. At a late hour like this, most people would send a text message if they needed to cancel a meeting the following day. But although the Prof had a cell phone, he didn’t use it much. Didn’t even have it switched on, most of the time.
    Besides, at this hour he’d still be up working. No question about it. Beth didn’t think he normally got to bed before 2 AM, most nights.
    Beth took out her cell phone and dialed the Prof’s home number. At the other end, the phone started to ring.
    As she waited, Beth glanced around