Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 657(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 438(@300wpm)
Most of the time, the memories that threatened to drown her were those of the monsters, but every so often, it was her own memory of Reagan as he’d been at the very end.
Blood, so much blood, his throat gurgling and hand clutching at her as he gasped for breath.
Allowing Reagan to be sucked into the black hole of the past with the snap of the band, Eleri considered her next steps. With the room secure, she could leave her clothing and other items here—other than the mobile comm, which was always on her wrist, she had nothing worth stealing. But she could as easily unload her overnight bag after she’d taken a first pass at the diner.
Decision made, she left the room, engaged her security system, then crossed over to her vehicle. Once inside, she thought about peeling off her gloves but decided against it. Much as she craved time without that physical shield on her hands, the diner wasn’t far per the search she’d just run. She’d only have to put them back on again, and no doubt people would be watching her as soon as she pulled up.
Small towns loved to watch outsiders.
The cypress trees that lined the drive to the inn threw dappled shadows across her vehicle as she drove out, and without thought, she lowered her window to listen to the silence.
Adam.
He’d caused this crack in the wall between her and the world today, a fracture that might yet take her under.
She snapped the rubber band again…and rolled up the window.
Turning left out of the drive, she found herself looking down the deserted road shadowed by trees to a vehicle parked up ahead. A man in jeans and a short-sleeve white shirt leaned against it. His skin glowed in the sunlight, his silky hair dark and just long enough to flow around his face, and his body far more muscled than it had been ten years ago.
He’d been younger then, his body lankier and not quite finished.
Her pulse accelerated though she’d long ago stopped being nervous with anyone. Js were too often in the minds of the dregs of civilization for their Silence to stay in any way perfect, so the nervousness itself hadn’t disqualified her from her job. Reagan had just taught her to think past it.
Then it had dulled and dulled again, each reconditioning stealing a little more of her soul—if she’d ever had one to begin with. Until at last, she felt nothing at all when she sat across from the most vicious criminals the world had ever seen and waded into the fetid swamp of their minds and memories.
But today, her tongue dried up, her pulse kicked, and she found herself driving slower and slower as she neared the man who had once, long ago, made her wonder if she could have another life, an existence devoid of murder and violence and a relentless march of screams.
Chapter 4
I would argue that Justice Psy hold the highest position of trust of any of the Psy designations or subdesignations that might be called in as expert witnesses.
Js put themselves into dangerous situations day after day when they walk into prisons and other facilities to read the minds of those who have committed crimes beyond the pale. Later, they share those memory impressions with the court and authorized observers.
We see what they see.
With J-Psy, there are no gray areas.
—Editorial in the Boston Law Quarterly (Spring 2067)
Adam had parked before he got to the inn, his intention to shift and fly over to see what he could glean about the stranger who’d pulled him toward her though they were separated by air and sky. Then he’d heard the quiet purr of a vehicle and guessed it to be hers—no other guests at the inn right now.
So he’d got out and waited, just a local who’d paused to take in some air.
The rugged all-terrain SUV turned out of the inn’s drive with the clear intent to pick up speed, but Adam didn’t flinch. He could get out of the way without losing a feather if it came to that. But the driver began to slow some distance out and brought the tough vehicle to a stop three feet from him. The windows were tinted but the windscreen clear.
Her gaze was unreadable as she looked at him…and his rage a hurricane.
Her.
His talons thrust at the tips of his fingers, the raptor inside him ready to rip her to shreds. She’d lost the softness, a sharp thinness to her face that made her look far older than he knew her to be, but it was definitely her. The pretty J with eyes like the desert after the rains who’d made him smile in sheer joy only an hour before she stood unmoving and silent next to the man who had stolen justice from Adam and his family for an unforgivable and premeditated crime.