The Lazarus Moment by J Robert Kennedy Read Free Book Online Page A

on the small of her back. “Ooh, I can’t wait until she’s out of me.”
    Everyone
else rose, hugs and kisses exchanged, several volunteering to stay behind and
help clean up. Normally Pam would be first in line, but this was her day, and
besides, she had a stop to make before heading home. Escaping the chatter, she
struggled into her SUV then made the quick hop over to Cecilia’s house,
surprised to find the car still in the driveway.
    That’s
odd.
    She
climbed out and rang the doorbell.
    Nothing.
    She rang
it again and knocked.
    Again
nothing.
    She
pulled out her cellphone and dialed Cecilia’s cell.
    She
could hear the distinctive Sencha ringtone of her friend’s iPhone.
    She’s
here!
    She had
to be. Cecilia never let her cellphone out of her sight, especially when
Cameron was away—she never wanted to risk missing a call.
    Something’s
wrong.
    She rang
the doorbell several more times, hammering on the door, dialing both phone
numbers again.
    And
still nothing.
    She
dialed 9-1-1.
     
     

 
     
    Fairfax Towers, Falls Church, Virginia
     
    “She hates me.”
    “She
doesn’t hate you. It’s all in your head.” Chris Leroux smiled at his girlfriend
Sherrie White, giving her a quick hug, Sherrie not too receptive, her arms just
dangling at her sides like limp noodles. “Listen, if you don’t want to come,
you don’t have to.”
    “Then
she’ll hate me even more.”
    “You’ve
got quite the imagination.”
    “You
don’t see it because she’s your mother. She thinks I’m stealing her little boy
away from her.”
    He
pulled back slightly, looking down at her. “Well, you kinda are. You’re the
first girlfriend I’ve ever had so she’s not used to it.”
    “Well, I
barely remember what it’s like to have a mother and yours is kinda freaking me
out.”
    Leroux
sighed. “Maybe you shouldn’t come.”
    Sherrie
shook her head, finally returning the hug. “No, I’ll go. It’s only three days,
and when’s the next time we’re going to get a chance to visit them?”
    “It’s so
nice not having a security team watching us twenty-four-seven. I finally feel
like I’ve got my life back.”
    “Yeah,
well don’t be so sure. I’m stunned the Director agreed to pull the detail so
soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still got one on you.”
    Leroux
frowned, thinking about it. Since they had managed to turn the tables on The Assembly,
he had felt completely safe. In his mind, they wouldn’t dare do anything now
that they knew who some of them were, and the threat he had been living under,
and by extension Sherrie, was gone. Perhaps it was naïve, and he was certain
the expression on Director Morrison’s face was implying just that, but he had
agreed.
    Perhaps
a little too readily.
    “Maybe
you’re right.” He shrugged. “I don’t care. If I don’t know they’re there, then
I’m not going to worry about it. All I know is that for the first time in over
two years I left dishes in the sink without worrying about being judged when
they did their security sweep.
    Sherrie
grinned. “You didn’t just leave dishes in the sink, you left them all over the
counters and pretty much every surface that wasn’t covered by pizza boxes.”
    “Hey, I
cleaned it up when you got back.”
    She
patted his cheek. “Yes you did, dear, but you lived in it for a week.” He
flushed slightly as she let him go, heading for the bedroom, her hips wagging
back and forth. “Coming?”
    “Huh?”
    “Well,
we’re going to your folks’ place for three days. Do you remember what happened last
time? Or didn’t, should I say?”
    He
looked up slightly, remembering their first and only visit together, the big
introduction visit. His mom had been a little surprised when Sherrie had put
her bag in his room.
    “Oh, I
made up the guest bedroom for you, dear.”
    “Umm,
oh, okay.”
    And the
awkward weekend had begun, his father quickly putting an end to the bedroom
assignments when he heard about them at dinner.