Killer Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

getting better and better.”
    He nodded and was silent a moment. “He asked me about Jock.”
    She sipped her drink. “Really? You told him about Jock?”
    “Sure. I mentioned him a couple times the last time Dad and I went to the movies.”
    “What did he want to know?”
    He grinned. “He asked what he was doing here at the house all the time. I think he thought there was something mushy going on.”
    “And what did you tell him?”
    “I told him the truth. That Jock was your cousin and he was only in town looking for a job.”
    It was the truth as far as Michael knew. She’d had to concoct a logical story when Jock had shown up. “Lucky for us,” she said. “Jock’s been a great help, hasn’t he? You like him, don’t you?”
    His smile faded as he nodded. “You know, it kind of embarrasses me to have strangers around when I have bad dreams. But I don’t feel like that with Jock. It’s like…he knows.”
    Jock did know. No one could know that torment better. “Maybe he does. Jock is a pretty sensitive guy.” She stood up. “You finished? I’ll wash your cup.”
    “I’ll do it.” He got to his feet and took his cup and her own to the sink. “You made the chocolate. Fair’s fair.”
    But there wasn’t anything fair about what Michael was going through, she thought bitterly. “That’s right. Thanks. Are you ready to go back to bed?”
    “I guess so.”
    She searched his face. “No guessing about it. If you’re not ready, we’ll sit around and talk. Maybe watch a DVD.”
    “I’m ready.” He smiled at her. “You go back to bed. I’ll fasten myself up to the monitor.” He grimaced. “I’ll be glad when I can do without it. I feel like something from a science-fiction movie.”
    She tensed. “It’s necessary, Michael. You can’t do without it. Maybe in a few weeks, we’ll be able to do without the thumb pulse-ox.”
    He nodded and looked away from her as he headed for the door. “I know. I was just talking. I don’t want to do without it yet. It gets pretty scary. ’Night, Mom.”
    “Good night.”
    She watched him walk down the hall. He looked so small and vulnerable in those blue flannel pajamas.
    He was vulnerable.
    Vulnerable to pain and terror and even death.
    Pretty scary?
    Terrifying.
    And he was managing to deal with it and survive. She had told him she was proud of him, but that was an understatement. He fought the confusion, threat of death, and ugliness with a courage that amazed her. Any other boy would have been beaten down, crushed, and completely destroyed by the punishment Michael took.
    Jesus, she hoped the terror didn’t come back tonight.
     
    “You look tired,” Kelly said as he watched Royd stride out of customs at Washington National. “Did I push you a bit?”
    “I pushed myself,” he said curtly. “And, hell yes, I’m tired. I’ve gotten maybe three hours’ sleep in the last two days.”
    He looked it, Kelly thought. Royd’s broad, high-cheekboned face always had an expression of tenseness and alertness, but his dark eyes were strained and glittering restlessly and his mouth was tense. In the worn jeans and khaki shirt he wore, his big, powerful body looked as if it should belong to a lumberjack. “As it played out, they’re not moving as fast as I thought they would,” Kelly said. “You could have taken a little more time.”
    “No, I couldn’t. It was driving me crazy.” Royd asked, “What did you find out about her?”
    “Not much. Everyone at the facility is pulling twelve-hour shifts to get ready for the move and I was only able to get to the current file room once. She’s a sleep therapist and practices at Fentway University Hospital.”
    “Sleep therapist.” His lips tightened. “Oh, yes, that would fit. Do you have an address?”
    Kelly nodded. “She has a house in a suburb of Baltimore. Close to the hospital.”
    “And close to the facility?”
    “Right.” He paused. “You’re definitely going after her?”
    “I told