The Nightmare Thief (43 page)

Jo hesitated. “Something a friend said to me. That when you can’t change a situation, and can’t get out of it, you have to go forward. Call it a hard fact of life.”

Evan looked, all at once, like she’d turned to smooth stone. Her eyes were hot, confused, and longing, all at the same time.

“He told you that, didn’t he?” she said.

Jo held poised. She sensed that Evan was on the lip of something—a change, a breakthrough, a crash. Light. She waited, and Evan said it.

“Jesse.”

“He’s the one.”

Evan flushed, and her eyes shimmered. Jo lowered her voice to a murmur.

“Jesse told me about your father’s disappearance, and—the rest. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t … I want …”

Jo thought about shaking her hand, then pulled her into a hug. She said, “Waiting’s no good. Jesse’s out there.”

Evan held still, tightly knotted. After a moment she inhaled and stepped back. Her eyes gleamed. “Right.”

Gabe got out of the 4Runner and walked around to open the passenger door for Jo. She smiled once more at her friends and got in.

Gabe got behind the wheel and pulled out carefully. They drove quietly for a block. His mind was elsewhere. Jo suspected he was evaluating what she had said to Evan about the calculated gamble.

She turned to him. “I saw my chance and took it. I knew the chopper was coming.”

“I know you did.”

“I’m sorry that I worried you.”

“Don’t apologize.”

She felt, all at once, a swell of emotion. Everything swept over her: relief, happiness to be going home, sadness at the loss of innocent lives, elation that Gabe was alive and unharmed and there with her. Her vision swam.

He pulled over. “Jo.”

She raised a hand. “It’s okay. Rogue emotional wave. I’m fine.”

He unhooked his seat belt and pulled her against him. “Let’s not think about everything right now. I know you’re okay. It’s just that … the risks you take—”

She felt a cold thread of worry. “Don’t tell me you’re breaking up with me.”

“What? No. Christ, no.”

She looked up. “Then what?”

“You scare me sometimes. So kick my butt. Keep me onside. Sometimes I’m stupid.”

“What are you saying?” she said.

“That I know I can trust you. You’re not reckless. But you are going to live at high pitch, and go to the wall. I just have to roll with it.”

She shook her head, baffled. “You’re losing me.”

“That’s what I don’t want to do. I want to keep you. I want you to be with me. Always. I want Sophie to have a good role model. Jo, stay with me. Move in. Let’s make a life. Crazy as it is. Let’s keep each other alive. When I’m with you I
am
alive. I don’t want to lose that.”

She leaned back. “Wow.”

“I talk about my emotions once every five years, and when I do, I empty the clip.” He looked at her. “Think about it.”

“You bet I will.”

She pulled him to her and kissed him. He put his hands to her face. She tightened her arm around him and held on. He was smiling. The phone rang. He kissed her again.

The phone continued to ring. She ignored it until he said, “Answer it.”

Reluctantly she sat back, brushed her hair from her eyes, and answered.

A woman said, “Dr. Beckett? It’s the Quest Network.”

Her lipstick had smeared Gabe’s mouth. She wiped it off. She was smiling.

“Excuse me?” she said.

“We’re calling about Edge Adventures.”

Jo hesitated. “Quest—the television channel?”

“We’re developing the premise into a television show. We’d like to talk to you about being a consultant.”

“No.”

“There’s enormous interest in the concept.”

Jo pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it. “No.”

The woman kept talking as if Jo hadn’t spoken. “It’s a hot property. And you’re the hottest property of all.”

“Hot? You bet I am.”

“All right … there’s also the possibility that we can discuss hosting the show.”

“Really?
Dr. Jo’s Disaster Camp
?”

“Well, we’d have to negotiate the title.”

“In that case, listen closely.” She waited. The woman listened. “
No
. As in never.”

“But Dr. Beckett—”

Jo hung up and tossed the phone in the backseat. She pointed at the road. Gabe put the truck in gear.

 

For their advice, support, and encouragement, my thanks go to Ben Sevier at Dutton and Patrick Janson-Smith at Blue Door. An author couldn’t ask for better editors, and I’m privileged to work with them. Thanks as well to everyone at my U.S. and UK publishers, including Jessica Horvath, Stephanie Kelly, and Jamie McDonald at Dutton, and Laura Deacon at Blue Door. My gratitude also goes to my agents, Sheila Crowley and Deborah Schneider. I’m lucky to have them on my team. And for their knowledge and advice on subjects ranging from emergency medicine to auto mechanics, I am indebted to Sara Gardiner, M.D.; John Plombon, Ph.D.; and Dan Kotwasinski. Thanks as well to my first readers: Mary Albanese, Adrienne Dines, Kelly Gerrard, Susan Graunke, Kathy Montgomery, Betsy Speer, and David Wolfe. And, as ever, for everything, thanks go to my husband, Paul Shreve.

MEG GARDINER is the author of three previous Jo Beckett thrillers
,
as well as five novels in the Evan Delaney series, including the Edgar Award–winning
China Lake
. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, she now lives in London.

JO BECKETT NOVELS
The Dirty Secrets Club
The Memory Collector
The Liar’s Lullaby

 

EVAN DELANEY NOVELS