The Nightmare Thief
Page 33
“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.
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Acknowledgments
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.
About the Author
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.
Also by Meg Gardiner
JO BECKETT NOVELS
The Dirty Secrets Club
The Memory Collector
The Liar’s Lullaby
EVAN DELANEY NOVELS
China Lake
Mission Canyon
Jericho Point
Crosscut
Kill Chain