Prey of Desire by J. C. Gatlin Read Free Book Online Page B

the table, her dog lying at
her feet.
    Zeus
whimpered and looked away. She smiled fondly at him then unfolded the newspaper
she had started to read this morning, glancing at the bold headline describing
the Congressman’s murder. The ringing phone broke her concentration. Sighing,
she looked at Zeus.
    The phone
rang again.
    Huffing,
Zeus leapt up to his feet and trotted out the room.
    “I know!
I know. It’s not your fault.” Returning to the living room, she reached for the
receiver. “Hello?”
    There was
no answer. Only breathing.
    “Is
someone there?”
    A quiet,
masculine voice rippled across the line. He read the poem to her, “ If You
Forget Me. ” Static crackled again, then the line
went silent.
    “Ross…?”       
    He didn’t
answer.
    “Ross,”
she whispered again. She picked up the poetry book. Flipping through the pages,
she found the poem he just recited. “If You Forget Me,” Kim continued. “That’s
Pablo Neruda. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.”
    Static
crackled again.
    “Did you
give me that book?” she asked.
    The line
clicked and a dial tone blared through the receiver. He was gone.
    Five
weeks and fifteen hours.  She
wanted to scream. Kim hung up the receiver, took a deep breath, calmed herself. She picked it back up. Dialed
caller return. Waited.
    The phone
rang.
    It rang
again, then a recorded voice stated, “ Sorry. That number has been blocked.”
    Frustrated,
she hung up the phone. If Ross was reaching out to her , she thought, maybe
she could run down to his job at the garage. Maybe he wanted her to. Again,
she didn’t want to look desperate, and decided to wait until Friday. She could
play his game.
    Kim
glanced around the room, considering for a moment calling Mallory, then
remembered her friend's dinner engagement with Addison and that shrink.

 
     

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    6
    Element
of Surprise

 
    Tuesday,
January 11, 2000 
    10:32 AM

 
    With no
classes till early afternoon, Kim slept late the next morning. She was finally
woken when Mallory, standing on her front porch, rang the doorbell. Calming
Zeus, she opened the door and let her neighbor inside.
    “You
promised me lunch,” Mallory said, pushing past Kim and entering the living
room.
    “I don't
think so,” Kim closed and tied her robe. The poetry book still sat on the old
recliner next to the scrapbook. The invitation to Greico's lay beside the phone.
    “Yes, you
did.” Mallory twirled around, facing her. Zeus whined, vying for her attention,
and she pet him on top his head. She glanced at Kim. “You know, for skipping
out on Addison's birthday celebration last night.”
    Kim shut
the front door. “You mean at Greico's Italian
Restaurant.”
    “Of course. He
turned fifty.” Mallory laughed, flipping her red hair. Zeus cocked his head,
watching her. “Now get dressed. Gunz is treating us.”
    “The baseball player?” Kim looked confused. “He's still in town?”
    “For a whole week.” Mallory explained as if the answer was obvious. She turned and made her way up
the spiral staircase to the bedroom loft. Zeus followed her. “His team is
playing in some kind of game for sick children. I think they have cancer or
something.”
    “But what about Addison?” Kim ran upstairs after her.
    “Oh, he's
fine. He doesn't have any kids.”
    “Your
date,” Kim clarified. “How was your date?”
    “Fine. I mean,
the movie was good.” Mallory opened the closet doors and ran a hand along the
line of clothes. She scrutinized all the navy and tan skirts, blouses and
slacks crammed into the four-by-two cubby the landlord jokingly referred to as
a closet. “Maybe not as good as the one with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere ... Have you seen the one where she runs out of her own
wedding wearing that white gown and riding a horse?”
    “Wait.”
Kim started, but hesitated. She watched Mallory select a blouse and flip it off
the hanger.
    Shaking
her head, Kim's mind raced,