Текст книги "Firestorm "

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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EPILOGUE

OAKBROOK

ELEVEN MONTHS LATER

It's about time you got here.” George's face lit with a smile as he opened wide the front door. “I was about to bail. Brad's been as mean as a lion with a thorn in his paw.”

“So what's new?” She stood there smiling at him. “Brace yourself. I'm going to do something that will offend your sensibilities.” She took a step closer and gave him a quick hug.

He sighed. “Some people never learn to strike the correct balance.”

“I didn't say good-bye. So I said hello. That's the correct balance. I wasn't sure you'd still be here, George.”

“Why not? I never leave a job unfinished. It's terribly untidy.”

“I thought you considered this job finished.”

He shook his head. “But I think it may be heading in that direction. How is our Carmela?”

“Fine. She and Rosa are both in school and doing well. I don't know what I would have done without them. There's nothing like teenagers to keep you from dwelling on the past. They always live in the present.”

“That's what Silver intended when he sent them to you.”

“I know.” She looked past him at the library door.

He was there. She could feel him.

And soon she would see him, touch him.

“I believe I'm de trop,” George said. “Did you bring luggage?”

“Just Sam.” She was already on her way down the hall. “Would you get him out of the car?”

“My pleasure. I haven't been trampled or slurped in months.”

She paused outside the library door. Stupid to be this scared. She knew what waited for her in that room.

She opened the door.

“Good God, it took you long enough.” Silver scowled as he turned away from the window. “If I wasn't as patient as Job, you'd be in big trouble.”

She started to laugh. “Patient? You? Are you trying to tell me that you haven't been nudging me for the last three weeks?”

He was silent a moment. “Maybe a little. But you could have shut me out anytime.”

“Yes, I could. And I should have done it. You've got to learn to let me make my own decisions. You're lucky I'd made up my mind before that.”

He went still. “About what?”

“That I shouldn't let you intimidate me, that I can hold my own with you, and that there's no reason why I shouldn't take what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

She smiled at him. “You tell me.” She started across the room toward him. Jesus, she loved him. She loved every rough edge, every protective barrier, and that vulnerability he'd never show to anyone but her. “Come in and see for yourself.”

He looked at her, and a slow smile lit his face. “Don't mind if I do.”

Linked.

BOOKS BY IRIS JOHANSEN

FIRESTORM

FATAL TIDE

DEAD AIM

NO ONE TO TRUST

BODY OF LIES

FINAL TARGET

THE SEARCH

THE KILLING GAME

THE FACE OF DECEPTION

AND THEN YOU DIE

LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT

THE UGLY DUCKLING

LION'S BRIDE

DARK RIDER

MIDNIGHT WARRIOR

THE BELOVED SCOUNDREL

THE MAGNIFICENT ROGUE

THE TIGER PRINCE

LAST BRIDGE HOME

THE GOLDEN BARBARIAN

REAP THE WIND

STORM WINDS

THE WIND DANCER

FIRESTORM

A Bantam Book / April 2004

Published by

Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2004 by Johansen Publishing LLLP

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a

trademark of Random House, Inc.

Visit our website at www.bantamdell.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johansen, Iris.

Firestorm / Iris Johansen.

p.                  cm.

1. Arson investigation—Fiction.                  2. Women detectives—Fiction.

3. Serial murders—Fiction.                  4. Psychopaths—Fiction.                  I. Title.

PS3560.O275F57 2004

813'.54—dc22

2003063681

Published simultaneously in Canada

eISBN: 978-0-553-89878-1

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