Blood Trails Read Online Free PDF Page B

phone. She’d promised to call Bud as soon as she got to the hotel, and she needed to keep her promise or he would worry. Just as she began to punch in the numbers, she dropped the phone. It hit the carpet with a muffled thump. When Holly reached to pick it up, she noticed that her hands were shaking. She sat down on the bed and once again started to make the call, but the numbers suddenly blurred before her eyes. Angry that her emotions were so out of control, she swiped at the tears and retried the numbers. Halfway through, she hit a wrong digit.
    “Dammit.”
    She tossed back her head and took a deep breath, but it turned into a sob. She shoved her hands through her hair in a short, angry motion, then swiped the tears from her face as she jumped to her feet and began to pace.
    “What’s wrong with me? Am I having a breakdown? Is there something in my subconscious warning me I made a mistake in coming back?”
    There was a full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, and when she caught her own reflection she was shocked by what she saw. It was the same heart-shaped face she’d looked at all her life, the same thick auburn hair, the same green eyes.
    But her skin was pale, her eyes wide, as if in shock. There was a muscle jerking at the corner of her mouth, and she felt like throwing up. She laid the flat of her hand against the mirror…hand-to-hand with a stranger, both of them mute.
    Then, suddenly, Holly wasn’t looking in a mirror, she was looking down into a darkened cellar. A man’s face appeared abruptly at the bottom of the stairs, like a ghost that had failed to completely materialize.
    “If you tell, I’ll make you sorry.”
    Her cell phone rang, and the image disappeared. Holly shuddered. Had that been a memory, or something out of a waking nightmare born of stress and despair? She stumbled back toward the bed and grabbed it like a dying man reaching for Jesus.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey, sugar, you’re there. I was beginning to worry.”
    Holly crawled up onto the bed, holding the phone close to her ear as she struggled to regain her composure.
    “Hi, Bud. I was just about to call you. My flight was good. I’ve only been in the room a few minutes.”
    “Are you okay?”
    She shoved a shaky hand through her hair. “Yes, yes, I’m fine, just tired. You know what traveling is like.”
    “So what time is it there?”
    She glanced at her watch, which she’d turned ahead when they’d landed. “It’s just after six.”
    “Okay, you’re just an hour ahead there. You girls are giving me hell, trying to keep up with so many different time zones. You’re going to make me gray before my time.”
    Holly ignored the fact that she was nauseous and made herself laugh.
    “That’s what Daddy always said.”
    There was a moment of silence, then Bud answered, but in an odd tone of voice.
    “Only I’m not your daddy.”
    Holly’s stomach knotted. “No, of course you’re not, but don’t blame us if we compare you. You were my father’s shadow. It stands to reason some of him would rub off onto you.”
    She heard what sounded like a sigh, then a chuckle.
    “I can’t deny that,” Bud said. “So what are your plans?”
    “Sleep. I think I need to sleep. Then I want to look around for a day or so. I keep thinking I should remember something, and I figure the more I can remember, the better I’ll feel about going to the police.”
    “Don’t forget to eat,” Bud said. “And be careful. Most of all, be careful.”
    “I will. Love you,” she said.
    Another awkward pause, and then she heard, “I love you, too,” before the line went dead.
    Her unrequited feelings for Bud were old news. She didn’t have time to feel sorry for herself with so much left to do. Even though her heart told her a different story, Bud was just Bud—an almost brother, the ranch foreman and now part owner of the Triple S, and she was on a quest for her truth.
    She went down to dinner, choosing a place in the restaurant