The Gemini Virus (34 page)

“You think they’ll even be open?”

“We’ll see.”

It rang six times, then seven, then eight … By ten, Andi felt the sting of tears again.
Damn
.

She went to put the phone back in its cradle, when she heard a garbled voice … or at least thought she did.
My imagination playing with me?

“Hello?”

“Yes,” someone said in heavily accented English. “Golden Garden, may I help you?”

Andi didn’t say anything immediately; she permitted herself a moment to enjoy the sound of it. It was something familiar, something that was
still there.
Did the owners leave town and just recently return, too? She didn’t know, and right now she didn’t care. A magnificent warmth had just exploded in her belly and was now spreading elsewhere.

“Hello?” the man repeated. “Can I help you?”

“Sure. I’m sorry, hold on a second, please.”

The tears streamed out now; she could no longer hold them back. As they drew glossy lines down her cheeks, she covered the mouthpiece and said to Dennis, “They’re
there
.”

He smiled. “Well, let’s get something, baby.”

“Okay … what should we get?”

He considered it for a second. Then, with a mischievous gleam in his eye, he said, “How about our
usual
?”

She nodded and smiled back at this man she loved with all her heart.

“That sounds perfect.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wil Mara is the award-winning novelist of the disaster thriller
Wave,
as well as many other titles for a variety of audiences. Visit his website at
www.wilmara.com
.

Also by Wil Mara with Tom Doherty Associates

Wave

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE GEMINI VIRUS

Copyright © 2012 by Wil Mara

All rights reserved.

Cover art by Drive Communications

A Forge Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Forge
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Mara, Wil.

Gemini virus / Wil Mara.—1st ed.

      p. cm.

“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

ISBN 978-0-7653-2431-3 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4299-8761-5 (e-book)

  1.  Virus diseases—Fiction.   I.  Title.

PS3613.A725G46 2012

813'.6—dc23

2012019938

e-ISBN 9781429987615

First Edition: October 2012