Terror Rising: Book 0 – The Insurgence by Roger Hayden Read Free Book Online Page B

clear your head of
everything and get some rest,” he said, rubbing her leg.
    “ I know,” she said. Her voice was
hoarse, and she was afraid she had awakened the girls earlier with
all the crying. Doug assured her that she hadn’t. “Dawson…” she
said. “He was just a kid. Younger than me.” She smiled a little
while thinking about him. “He had a bit of a crush on me, but
nothing serious of course.”
    Doug looked at her with one brow raised.
“Really?”
    She pushed his arm away, smiling more. “It
was nothing. He was a good person.”
    Doug stared ahead sadly. “I’m sorry. I
really am.”
    Angela rocked her head back and stared at
the ceiling as her blonde hair spread out over the pillow. “I don’t
know how I’m going to go back there tomorrow.”
    “ Take the day off and recover,” Doug
said. “I’m sure they’d understand.”
    She took his left hand and laced her fingers
around it. “I can’t. There’s an investigation. Martinez is sure
there’s something bigger going on.”
    “ So it was terrorism?” Doug
asked.
    Her eyes looked down. “That’s what it seems
like.”
    Doug rose from the bed and leaned toward
her, kissing her forehead. “Just rest. Please. You’ll feel better
in the morning.”
    He got up and went to the nightstand on his
side, switching off the lamp. Their spacious room went dark, and
Angela felt unnerved by the sudden silence. Doug lay in bed next to
her, and she wanted nothing more than to be cradled in his arms.
She turned on her side and lay against him as he rubbed her back
slowly, caressing her to sleep.

    The phone call jolted Angela awake, sounding
like an angry alarm clock. Doug lay sleeping on his side next to
her. She reached for her cell phone on the nightstand, ready to
throw it across the room until she saw the number. It was
Martinez.
    “ Hello?” she said in a tired voice
after swiping the screen.
    “ Angela,
I’m sorry to wake you . ” He
sounded upset. He had rarely called her by her first
name.
    “ What time is it?” she asked, rubbing
her head. The clock on her phone had been a sleepy-eyed
blur.
    “ A little after two.
Again, I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to you.”
    She held the phone for a moment, not sure
what to say, and she was still so tired, she wasn’t sure she was
fully awake. “So talk,” she said.
    “ Not here. Not like this.
Can you meet me somewhere?”
    She glanced at Doug, unsure how to respond.
Soundly sleeping, his chest rose and fell with the subtle sound of
his breathing.
    “ What is this about, sir?” she
asked.
    “ Please. You’re the only
one I can trust. There’s a little diner on Orange, Roxy’s. They’re
open twenty-four hours. Ten, twenty minutes. It’s all I
ask.”
    Strange as his request was, she couldn’t say
no. Her interest had been piqued. Doug would be against it, but her
partner needed her. That was all there was to it.
    “ Okay. I’ll be there.”
    “ Great. I’m leaving now.
Meet you there.”
    And then he hung up.
     
     
    Secret Meeting
     
    Angela nudged Doug and told him she had to
meet with Captain Martinez.
    “Are you out of your mind?” he asked,
immediately angered.
    “This investigation could have serious
implications for my career. I have to go,” she said, already
getting dressed.
    “Don’t do this,” he said, his voice rising.
“Whatever you need to talk about can wait until morning.”
    “No, it can’t,” she responded, with a look
of conviction in her eyes.
    Doug shook his head and lay back down. She
apologized and left the room as quickly as she could, promising him
that she’d be back in less than an hour.
     
    Angela drove along the quiet, empty streets
of her neighborhood, feeling alert and refreshed, even with only a
few hours rest. The diner wasn’t far, and for that she was
grateful. Whatever the urgency, Angela had to admit that she was
intrigued despite the lack of details over the phone. What was
Martinez up to? That was the main question on