by C. J. Lyons
As soon as he was free, Andre stood, grabbed Jenna’s hand, and they sprinted across the clearing to the cliff.
Lights from the other officers shone through the thick bramble of branches and dead trees that had been bulldozed over the edge to make room for the loggers’ equipment. Ridges of granite jutted up through the dead wood, creating a nightmare of desolation.
The manhunt had now turned into a search and rescue. Officers’ voices overlapped on the radio as they scrambled down and called out their findings. There was no way to climb down the steep granite cliff from the top, not without ropes and technical gear. Jenna and Andre prowled along the edge back into the trees until they found a shallow path that led down.
“I’ve got the ATV and Caine,” a voice came over the radio. “He’s KIA.”
“You certain?” Oshiro asked.
“Definite. ATV crushed him. He’s gone.”
“The girl, find the girl,” Liz ordered, her voice cracking through the night.
The path Jenna and Andre found was slick with mud and steeper than it had first appeared. As they scrambled down it, tripping over hidden tree roots and sliding in the mud, the voices on the radio kept coming.
“Wait. Shine the light—yes, pink, I see a pink coat.”
“Can you reach the girl?”
Andre stopped, gripping Jenna’s hand as they listened. The night felt heavy as the silence lengthened.
“She’ll be all right,” she told him, surprising herself by how much she wanted that to be true. “It’s Morgan. She’s like a cat with nine lives.”
He said nothing, merely pulled her to him and hugged her hard.
“I’ve got her. She’s—oh my God. The trees tore right through her. She’s impaled on a branch.”
“Is she alive?”
“She’s cold, so cold. Like a block of ice. But…how the hell…she held on. Somehow the kid hung on. I have the detonator, deactivating it.” His voice faded for a long moment, then returned. “I have a pulse. It’s faint, but it’s there. She’s alive.”
Chapter 30
WHEN YOU FALL so fast and hard, all you can do is learn to fly.
The words kept coming, swift as swallows, elegant as eagles soaring on the wind, gentle as a breeze, harsh and hammering as a hurricane.
Morgan had no idea whose voice she heard as the black swallowed her whole. It wasn’t hers. Definitely not Clint’s. But it belonged to a man—or maybe men. Sometimes the words sang through her in Micah’s sweet tenor, others they hummed with Nick’s baritone, or guffawed and echoed in Andre’s bass.
Everything she’d been told about who and what she was and who and what she could ever be had come from one man: her father. But now as she floated, blind, deaf, and dumb, her world a blank slate, she heard stories about herself, about a girl who definitely was no saint but who maybe could learn how not to be a sinner. Tales of strength and bravery. Warm wishes from people who cherished her, who had hopes and dreams for her future even when she had none of her own.
Maybe even a hint of love. Not merely the heartache of romance but also the heartsong of family.
Even Jenna’s voice joined the chorus. Along with Lucy’s.
Yet, still she fell. Hard and fast, hurtling through a void where time and space did not exist. Until, just as she was certain she was about to hit bottom, shatter into a million anonymous pieces, falling faster and faster and faster…and...she remembered.
She remembered. Who she was. Why she had chosen to fling herself into the void in the first place. What was waiting for her, if only she would stop falling and start flying.
So she did.
A beeping pulse as regular as the flap of a bird’s wings guided her back. Someone or something was trying to tell her body when it should breathe, shoving air into her chest, but no one could tell Morgan what to do, that much she definitely remembered about herself. She coughed and sputtered and fought back, breathing when she damned well pleased, thank you very much.
She couldn’t see anything. Weird, viscous jelly filled her eyes, making them sticky and blurring her vision. Her throat scratched as an invisible force yanked a tube out, and suddenly she felt free, in control—at least of her breathing. She coughed and sputtered and inhaled crisp air that blew at her and tickled her nose.
She tried to sit up, but her arms were tied down, which made her panic and flail and hit and gnash until a man’s arms wrapped around her and a gentle voice whispered in her ear, “It’s all right. I’m here. It’s all right. You’re back. You’re safe. Everyone’s safe. Go to sleep now. Rest.”
She wasn’t sure who the voice belonged to—there were so many voices in her head, swirling like a flock of starlings—but somehow she knew he spoke the truth. She relaxed in his arms and for once in her life Morgan Ames did as she was told. She fell asleep.
In her dreams she flew, almost reaching the sun, but never so far that she couldn’t make it back to earth and the people who were now her family. She was no sheep or fish or Norm…she dreamed of being a bird…but even in her restless slumber she knew the truth.
She was Morgan Ames. A girl who was sometimes a predator, sometimes a protector, but never the prey.
Morgan Ames. A girl with a bloodstained past but a blank canvas for a future.
Morgan Ames. The girl who might have given up killing for a living but who wasn’t ready—not yet, at least—to give up on living.
<><><>
Thanks for joining Morgan on her adventures! Want exclusive content, news of special deals, and chances to win? Sign up for my Thrillers with Heart newsletter HERE
Meet Morgan, everyone’s favorite teenaged psychopath...returning with NEW Renegade Justice stories in 2017!
Want to be the first to read them? Sign up for CJ’s Thrillers with Heart newsletter: http://cjlyons.net/signup
Join CJ as she returns to her medical thriller roots with the Fatal Insomnia trilogy:
Catch up with Lucy today!
Can two lost souls save each other? Meet Hart & Drake:
Love a touch of romance with your thrillers? Check out these action packed stories:
By buying this book, you've helped to change the world! A portion of the proceeds will go to my BUY A BOOK, MAKE A DIFFERENCE program which funds scholarships for police officers to receive forensic training as well as helping worthy charitable causes. Learn more at http://cjlyons.net/buy-a-book-make-a-difference
How else can you help?
Review it. Tell other readers why you liked this book by reviewing it at your favorite book site. Your thoughts are so important to me!
Read another one of my books. To find info on more of my Thrillers with Heart, go here: http://www.cjlyons.net
About CJ:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-nine books, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart.
CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday).
Learn more about CJ's work at www.cjlyons.net
Want more of CJ's Thrillers with Heart? Check out her complete list of books at CJLyons.net:
Fatal Insomnia Medical Thrillers:
FAREWELL TO DREAMS
A RAGING DAWN
THE SLEEPLESS STARS
Lucy Guardino Thrillers:
SNAKE SKIN
BLOOD STAINED
KILL ZONE
AFTER SHOCK
HARD FALL
BAD BREAK
LAST LIGHT
DEVIL SMOKE
OPEN GRAVE, coming February, 2017
Renegade Justice Series (featuring Morgan Ames):
FIGHT DIRTY
RAW EDGES, coming October 2016
ANGELS WEEP, coming 2017
Hart and Drake Romantic Suspense Series:
NERVES OF STEEL
/>
SLEIGHT OF HAND
FACE TO FACE
EYE OF THE STORM
Shadow Ops, Romantic Thrillers:
CHASING SHADOWS
LOST IN SHADOWS
EDGE OF SHADOWS
BORROWED TIME, a Romantic Thriller
LUCIDITY, a Ghost of a Love Story
Caitlyn Tierney FBI Thrillers:
BLIND FAITH
BLACK SHEEP
HOLLOW BONES
Angels of Mercy, Medical Suspense Series:
LIFELINES
WARNING SIGNS
URGENT CARE
CRITICAL CONDITION
AJ Palladino Suspense Series (co-written with Erin Brockovich):
ROCK BOTTOM
HOT WATER
Keywords: fatal insomnia, serial killer, fatal disease insomnia restless medical mortality incurable mutation genetic paranormal psychic telepathy, police detective female protagonist woman sleuth, dark disturbing edgy moody noir hard-boiled mystery thriller suspense, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, Lisa Gardner, Sandra Brown, Allison Brennan, Susan Wiggs, Tami Hoag, James Patterson, Heather Graham, David Morrell, Tess Gerritsen, Alex Kava, Catherine Coulter, romance, romantic suspense, romantic thriller, thriller, thriller with heart, FBI, FBI thriller, Pittsburgh, police procedural, mystery, suspense, hard boiled, women sleuths, serial killer, kidnapping, special ops, special forces, terrorists, espionage, action adventure, Lucy Guardino, Cassandra Hart, Drake, Shadow Ops, Hart and Drake, action-adventure, CJ Lyons, bestseller, female FBI agent, medical thriller, medical suspense, medical romance, vigilante, sociopath, psychopath, homicide detective, detective, murder, ER, emergency room, emergency, emergency doctor, emergency physician, genetic lethal serial killer paranormal psychic telepathy police detective female protagonist woman sleuth dark disturbing edgy moody noir hard-boiled mystery thriller suspense medical sociopath psychopath lethal dying death romance romantic love story disease supernatural homicide murder ER emergency room doctor physician conspiracy bestseller thrillers with heart, female Pittsburgh FBI government agent police procedural thriller, cold case serial killer, dark disturbing edgy moody noir, homicide cold case detective mystery suspense psychological thriller, hard boiled women sleuths, kidnapping terrorists espionage amnesia action adventure, Lucy Guardino action-adventure CJ Lyons bestseller, vigilante sociopath psychopath homicide detective murder
