Already Gone (A Laura Frost FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1) by Blake Pierce (notion reading list .txt) 📗

shecould feel it running icy fingers down her spine. The girl—there was somethingwrong with the girl. There was something wrong with her future. The darknesswasn’t over.

Laura could feel it as real as if theentire room had been plunged into darkness. There was more night to come.

But, exhausted as she was, there was novision. Only the feeling of a chill running through every one of her bones,plunging her into icy water. It was a…darkness around this girl.

Laura had no idea what that meant. Shewas safe now, for today. She could see that clearly.

But not for long. Somehow, inexplicably,a darkness was still before her.

The girl was still in danger.

CHAPTER FOUR

Laura hugged her arms across her chest,tapping the empty polystyrene cup against her upper arm. Instead of thehospital’s sickly overhead lighting and the faint smell of antiseptic, all shecould think about was the feeling of darkness that had rolled over her when she’dheld Amy. The fear that even now was still making her heart race.

“You want another coffee?” Nate asked,making her look around. Laura hadn’t even realized he was there. There wasstill a little dust in his dark coiled hair, buzzed neatly across the top ofhis forehead.

“Probably best not to,” Laura said,giving him a wry look. She was already wired, energy thrumming under her skin.It didn’t sit well against the bone-weary exhaustion she otherwise felt, or theheadache still pounding away so strongly in her temple she couldn’t seestraight.

“I would agree,” Nate laughed. Lauracouldn’t find it in herself to laugh back.

The hall of the ward behind them wasbuzzing with activity, as was the small waiting area just a few steps away.Other feds were milling around, both the personnel from the scene and those whohad been brought in to assist after the fact. They were all waiting for news,and for the call to leave. This investigation was just about wrapped up; theywouldn’t all be needed to stay and interrogate the kidnapper or search thegrounds of the farmhouse. The local cops could handle that.

“She’s going to be all right, you know,”Nate said.

Laura looked at him. “What?”

“Amy. You saved her life,” Nate said,nodding his head forward at the window they were standing in front of. Theblinds were drawn across it. Behind it, they both knew, the girl was beingchecked over by the doctor.

“Yeah,” Laura said, trying to soundconvincing. “I know.”

She hadn’t been able to shake the chillthat had fallen over her at the farmhouse. She knew that something was wrong,but until she had a clear vision that actually told her something, she didn’tknow what to do. What could she do? There was no clue in her mind as to thenature of the darkness that awaited the little girl.

Perhaps there was a medical emergencyabout to happen. Something untreated, undetected, that would risk her life. Ifso, there was nothing Laura could do that the doctors wouldn’t be able to. Ormaybe the kidnappers had planned a raid on the hospital, if there was more thanone accomplice, and she was about to be put in jeopardy once again. Maybe theywere going to target her father, the governor, directly this time, and Amywould be caught in the crossfire. But there was not much Laura could do aboutthat either, since she didn’t know what quarter it would come from or if thatthreat was even real.

Or maybe it was something else entirely,something she couldn’t even think of, and that was where the problem lay. Whenher visions—or in this case, feelings—were so vague, she had no direction to goin.

Only continual frustration, and thehorrible feeling that something bad was going to happen that she couldn’t stop.

And that was even if she was right. She hadbeen so exhausted, so stressed out. The fear over this little girl’s life, justlike her own Lacey’s, had been so strong. What if it had only been her ownworry and fear creating a sensation that wasn’t really there? That wouldexplain everything, and allow her to at last relax. But she couldn’t relax. Notwhile there was any chance that the girl was not out of harm’s way.

She needed to get close to Amy again—tosee her and touch her. That was the only way she could get another vision totrigger, the only way she could hope for more details.

“Agent Frost!” the familiar voice calledfrom behind her, prompting Laura to turn away from the blank window. “And AgentLavoie. Congratulations, both of you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Laura dipped her headin acknowledgment of the special agent in charge’s words. He wasn’t a man shehad worked with before; multiple agents had been pulled in from the field forthis urgent case, and she didn’t know most of them. He was balding and hadobviously begun to put on weight since being promoted to a lessfieldwork-oriented position.

“How did you do it?” he asked, leaningin conspiratorially close even as he kept his voice raised. Laura caught awhiff of stale cigarette smoke wafting from his tailored black suit. “Did hegive you a little hint before we took him away?”

“No,” Laura said, then cast her eyesdown to the pale beige tiles of the hospital floor. “He just said the girl wasgoing to die before we got to her. We thought it best to check the farmhouseout, and we found her by chance.”

“Hmm,” their boss said, looking themboth over with a too-wide smile. His teeth were yellow and brown, stained fromyears of smoking. “That’s good. Because keeping evidence to yourself just soyou can get the glory of the case—well, that’s the kind of thing I don’t liketo see at all.”

Laura looked up sharply. “No, sir,” sheagreed. “Neither do I.”

Although, she thought, it wasn’t asthough she had a leg to stand on. Sure, she hadn’t been given a clue by thekidnapper and kept that to herself. But she had been given a pretty big clue bythe universe, or whatever it was that controlled her visions. And that, shecertainly hadn’t shared with anyone.

He must have seen the doubt in her face,the small tinge of guilt. His faced twisted just a little, until his smile wasno longer a smile but a sneer. Then he turned and swept over to