An Angel for Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

things never work in some places. They’re all full of it. Wenna, you’re on a different carrier—try your phone.”
    â€œOkay, Dad, let me just see where I dropped mypurse,” she said. She had dropped it inside, hadn’t she? Maybe not.
    â€œI think it’s outside,” she said.
    â€œMorwenna Alysse MacDougal!” her father said. “What have I taught you about—”
    â€œHurt guy on the sofa, Dad,” Morwenna said. “You always told me that human life was worth more than anything I could possibly own, remember?”
    He scowled at her. She hurried outside. She had dropped her purse somewhere out there. It took her a few minutes, but she found it and walked back in the house, pulling her cell phone from it as she did so.
    â€œWhat number do you want me calling?” she asked.
    Mike MacDougal looked at their uninvited guest. “Nine-one-one, of course.”
    She dialed. She looked at the phone—it, too, said that she was out of range. “Sorry,” she told him.
    â€œWell, what the hell is going on?” Mike demanded. “We always have decent satellite coverage up here.”
    â€œDad, calm down—it might be the storm,” Shayne told his father.
    â€œTry your phone, Shayne,” Mike insisted.
    Shayne sighed. He was standing again; he’d patched up Gabe Lange’s head nicely, and there was color returning to the man’s cheeks. He did look well enough to sit up. He might be entrenched on the couch with her blanket warming him, but she did think then that he must be wet and freezing beneath the covers.
    â€œNo bars, Dad. No coverage. It’s one hell of a storm brewing up,” Shayne said.
    Mike snapped his fingers. “Let me see if I can get them out here online!”
    He headed for the computer in his office, just down the hall from the stairway.
    â€œThank you,” Gabe told Shayne. “Thank you for patching me up—a stranger on your doorstep.”
    â€œHippocratic oath,” Shayne said, grinning. “We’re not supposed to trip over the injured and ignore them.”
    â€œIf I hadn’t fallen where I had…if you all hadn’t seen me…” Gabe said.
    Mike came storming back in from the office. “The goddamn cable is down!” he said irritably.
    â€œMike! It’s Christmas. For the love of God —watch your language!” Stacy said. “Mom, Dad, please, both of you!” Morwenna murmured.
    â€œDad, you don’t need the cops anyway—he is a cop,” Shayne said.
    â€œLikely story!” Mike said.
    â€œMike!” Stacy gasped.
    â€œDad!” Shayne and Morwenna said in unison.
    They didn’t deter their father at all. He turned on Gabe Lange. “I have a shotgun in this house, and I know how to use it. I’m a district attorney in Philadelphia, young man, and I know my way around crooks. And if you’re a cop, where’s your gun? Eh? Where’s your uniform?”
    â€œMy gun was lost quickly—I try never to use firearms. Innocent people get hurt as often as the bad guys, so it seems. But, yeah, I carry a weapon. Now it’s gone, somewhere in a bush halfway upthe mountainside,” Gabe said. “Look, sir, I’m not here to hurt anyone, I swear it!”
    â€œAnd so the devil swears!” Mike muttered, and walked away.
    â€œSorry, the lawyer side of my husband is always angry. But he’s a really good man,” Stacy told Gabe Lange. Then, she suddenly thrust her hand forward. “I’m Stacy, my husband is Mike. Your real live doctor is Shayne, and this is our daughter, Morwenna. She’s an artist and advertising exec. She took business as well as art. Don’t you think that was incredibly smart? She is able to use her talent and keep a job, and—”
    â€œMom!” Morwenna said, interrupting her quickly. She glared at her mother, meaning, Let’s not just air the family