The Farther I Fall by Lisa Nicholas Read Free Book Online Page B

no sooner thought it when his cell phone rang. He answered. “Go away, I’m still in bed.”
    â€œGet up, you lazy ass,” Craig said. “We’re going sightseeing.”
    Lucas rolled onto his side and stretched luxuriously. “God, that sounds unbearably boring.”
    â€œLucas, we’re in New York City.”
    â€œDull,” he repeated. “I’ve seen Manhattan before.”
    â€œHave it your way, then.”
    â€œHey.” Lucas shoved himself into a sitting position and reached for the note. “Found a note under my door this morning.”
    â€œFrom anyone in particular?”
    He unfolded the paper again and read it aloud. “It’s probably nothing, but . . .”
    â€œYeah. I’ll tell Gwen when I see her later.”
    â€œGwen?”
    â€œNot my job to deal with it anymore, you know.” Craig sounded amused.
    Lucas groaned and rolled over in the bed. “She’s going to overreact. Can you please explain to her this happens all the time and it’s nothing?”
    â€œShe used to haul soldiers off the battlefield. If you’re not getting blown up, she probably won’t even bat an eyelash.”
    Lucas couldn’t explain why the image of her in desert camo, dirty and helping carry a stretcher with explosions going off around her, made something in his chest hurt. “Just . . . don’t let her get carried away.”
    Craig laughed. “I promise. No armed guards. Sure you don’t want to come with us?”
    â€œHell no. I’m staying in bed until we have to fly out of here.”
    ***
    The breeze in New York Harbor ruffled Gwen’s hair, brisk and damp. It reminded her of home. The Statue of Liberty had been much smaller than she’d been led to believe from the telly and left her feeling mildly disappointed. Still, it was nice to be out during daylight hours, and not on a crazed schedule.
    She startled when Craig leaned on the ferry railing next to her. “You doing okay?”
    â€œTired, but good,” Gwen said. “What’s up?”
    Craig rubbed the back of his neck, showing a sudden interest in the view across the harbor. “Well, I was talking to Lucas this morning, and—”
    â€œOh God, what’s happened now?”
    â€œNo, it’s not a big deal,” Craig said. “He found a note under his door, from an overenthusiastic fan.”
    â€œThat’s not supposed to happen.” Gwen frowned. “Hotel staff is supposed to be keeping our room assignments under wraps.”
    â€œYeah, you try controlling the bellhop with the Twitter account. It gets out sometimes.”
    â€œOkay.” Gwen turned around and leaned back against the railing. “I’ll keep that in mind. So what did it say?”
    Craig sighed. “This one was a little unusual. It wasn’t the typical ‘I love you so much, here’s my number, call me’ sort of thing.”
    â€œThreatening?” Gwen straightened, on alert. The standard security procedures she’d gone over at the start of the tour ticked through her mind. She hadn’t expected to actually need them.
    Craig shook his head. “No, not threatening, exactly. Just . . . creepy. Whoever it is said they’d be watching Lucas.”
    Gwen relaxed, turning back toward the harbor. “And that bothered him? That sounds like something right up his alley.” Craig didn’t laugh. “All right, so what do I do? Should we ask for increased security?”
    â€œNot yet,” Craig said. “We’ll just need to be extra vigilant ourselves.”
    His definition of “extra vigilant” probably didn’t match hers. “What have you done in the past?”
    â€œNotifying the venue staff to watch for people sneaking backstage, keeping an eye out in general for anything unusual,” Craig said. “Making extra sure hotel staff understands to