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“Listen,” he said. “Listen closely because I don’t know if I can get this out right even once.”
She nodded, biting her lips so that they folded into her mouth.
“Whatever this is, it has never gone away…I’m talking for me. Okay? Just for me. It runs like one of those tantric chords they talk about, this hum that operates out of the spectrum of human hearing—”
“Always the musician. I love that about you—your music.”
“What I’m talking about, it’s not music, exactly. It pulsates. Quavers. But it never stops. Never ceases. It’s just there. Now, then, just there.” He swallowed dryly. “For a long time I let it, let you, haunt me. Own me. Then I realized it was more a tone than a handcuff. So I harmonize with it. I vamp off it. I’ve learned…to love it—” she went tight with that word “—without actually ever hearing it. It’s just…there. Like air. Water. Elemental. I don’t allow it to get in my way, to stop my life. I just let it hum down there, wherever it is. Hum and resonate and sing to me.”
She squinted her eyes tightly. He felt he should leave without another word.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked.
“Trying to lock that in. To memorize it. Store it, so that I can recall it whenever I want. Whenever I need, which is more often than it should be.”
“I ramble when I’m nervous.”
“But you’re never nervous,” she said, opening her eyes again. “I wish you’d be nervous more often.”
“I’m glad for you and John,” he said.
“Shut up, Lou. Shut up and let me hear it, too.”
They sat there in silence for another fifteen minutes. The girl made squeaks, asked her mommy for some juice. Daphne got up to fetch it, and Boldt stood with her.
He made for the door. Turned back. She had the box of juice out of the refrigerator. Was punching a straw through the top.
She wore a smile of satisfaction as she headed back to the balcony.
Boldt turned the handle, and let himself out.
Humming as he went.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Kathleen Antrim is a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner newspaper, author of the political thriller Capital Offense, a correspondent for NewsMax magazine, and a political commentator appearing on radio and television. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including the prestigious Rupert Hughes Award. Her short story “Torn” was included in Pronto! Writings from Rome, an anthology of work by such authors as Dorothy Allison, John Saul, Elizabeth Engstrom and Terry Brooks. She divides her time between working in California and on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Her Web site is www.kathleenantrim.com.
Gary Braver is the bestselling author of seven critically acclaimed thrillers including Elixir, Gray Matter and Flashback, which Publishers Weekly called “an exceptional medical thriller.” An award-wi
Formerly a private investigator in Chicago and New Orleans, Sean Chercover has written for film, television and print. He’s held a motley assortment of other jobs over the years, including video editor, scuba diver, nightclub magician, encyclopedia salesman, waiter, car-jockey, truck driver. His debut Big City, Bad Blood was one of the most acclaimed novels of the year, appearing on numerous top-ten lists. Sean, his wife and their son live with a clever dog and an unusual cat. They reside in Chicago and Toronto and several undisclosed locations. You can learn more at www.chercover.com.
Blake Crouch is the author of Desert Places and Locked Doors. He currently lives in Durango, Colorado. Blake has additional short fiction forthcoming in 2009 from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Uncaged, an anthology of crime fiction from Bleak House Books. His next novel, Abandon, which takes place in a ghost town high in the mountains of Colorado, will be published by St. Martin’s Press, also in 2009. For more information, please visit his Web site at www.blakecrouch.com.
A former journalist, folksinger and attorney, Jeffery Deaver has appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. The author of twenty-three novels and two collections of short stories, he’s been awarded the Steel Dagger and Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association, is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader’s Award for Best Short Story of the Year and is a wi
Robert Ferrigno burst onto the crime scene in 1990 with The Horse Latitudes, which Time Magazine called “The most memorable fiction debut of the season.” Almost two decades later, Ferrigno still makes critics gush and readers lose sleep. His breakthrough thriller Prayers for the Assassin began a trilogy of international bestsellers that took current events from the war on terror and twisted them into an alternate reality that was provocative, compelling and u
Joe Hartlaub has been an entertainment attorney specializing in the areas of musical and literary intellectual property rights, a book and music reviewer and critic, and most recently an author and actor. Joe will make his acting debut in the film LA-308, to be released in 2009. He lives with his wife, Lisa, and four children in central Ohio.
Award-wi
Harry Hunsicker claims to have been raised by wolves in the rain forests of central Dallas, near the headwaters of Turtle Creek. He is an active member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, the Private Eye Writers of America and the Writers League of Texas. Still River, his debut novel featuring investigator Lee Henry Oswald, was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First Novel. The series about the Dallas P.I. continues with The Next Time You Die and Crosshairs. For more information visit www.harryhunsicker.com.
One of the most prolific and admired writers working today, Lisa Jackson writes contemporary romantic suspense novels and medieval romantic suspense novels that regularly place high on the New York Times, USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, with her recent novel, Fatal Burn, climbing to number one on the New York Times list. Born and raised in Oregon, Lisa calls the Northwest home and continues her love affair off the coast and the Columbia River region. Surrounded by family, including sister and writer Nancy Bush, she spends most of her time writing, babysitting dogs of various and sundry breeds and walking through the surf. Her books Wicked Game, written with Nancy Bush, Malice and Chosen To Die will all be published in 2009. Lisa may be reached via www.lisajackson.com.