The Mist Read Online Free PDF

spaniel.
    With her would-be attacker's spare knife in one hand, Keira stood back as a large black dog bounded into the circle and onto the prostrate axis stone next to her, directly in the Irishman's line of sight. He nervously eyed the hound. A knife to the throat didn't impress him, but a snarling black dog appearing out of nowhere obviously did.
    Keira addressed the thug calmly. "Tell this woman what she wants to know. It'll ease the dog. He senses the danger you pose to us."
    The man licked his lips. "I don't like dogs."
    "Then answer me," Lizzie said. "Who's next?"
    He hesitated a half beat. "The daughter of the FBI director."
    "Abigail," Keira breathed, her blue eyes steady but filled with fear as she looked at Lizzie. "Abigail Browning. She's a homicide detective in Boston."
    Lizzie knew all about Abigail Browning, John March's widowed daughter, but kept her attention focused on the Irishman. "What's the plan?" The rain had subsided to a misting drizzle, but she could feel mud and water soaking into her hiking pants. "Tell me."
    "I can't. I'll be killed."
    The dog gave a menacing growl and leaned forward on the ancient stone, lowering his head as if at any moment he might pounce on the man below.
    "There's a bomb," the Irishman whispered, shutting his eyes, then quickly opening them again. He obviously didn't dare lose sight of the black dog.
    "Where?" Lizzie asked.
    "Back porch."
    "It's a triple-decker. Whose back porch?"
    Keira gasped, but Lizzie couldn't take the time to explain how she knew that Abigail Browning lived on the first-floor of a Jamaica Plain triple-decker she co-owned with two other Boston Police Department detectives, including Bob O'Reilly, Keira's uncle.
    Their attacker didn't answer.
    "Tell me now," Lizzie said.
    The dog bared his teeth, thick white drool dripping from the sides of his mouth, and the Irishman responded with a visceral shudder.
    Definitely not a dog lover.
    He bit his lower lip. "First floor. Browning's place."
    "When?" Lizzie asked.
    He turned his gaze from the dog and fixed his eyes on her. "Now."
    She stifled a jolt of panic. He wasn't lying. Between the thought of the dog ripping out his intestines and her cutting his throat, he wasn't willing to risk a lie. Her father had told her at around age fourteen there was nothing like the fear of bleeding out to motivate a man.
    "We need to call Boston," Keira said.
    Lizzie nodded in agreement, but her heart jumped when she saw a tall man crossing the pasture toward the stone circle.
    Will Davenport.
    Keira saw him, too, and cried out to him as he entered the circle. "Will! There's a bomb--I have to warn Abigail."
    He sized up the situation with a quick glance. "All right. I'll call." He spoke with complete control. "Tell me the number."
    "I don't have Abigail's number memorized. It's at the cottage."
    "What about your uncle?"
    She nodded. "It's easier if I dial." He passed her his BlackBerry. Keira had tears in her eyes, but her hands didn't shake as she hit buttons. "If they're all there...if Abigail's on her porch..." She continued to dial.
    Will crouched next to Lizzie and placed his hand over hers on the knife. His hand was steady, warm. His eyes, the flecks of gold gleaming, leveled on hers. "Let me take care of him. You help Keira."
    Lizzie didn't budge. "How do I know you're not going to take the knife and kill us both?"
    "Because I don't need the knife."
    There was that. Lizzie loosened her grip on the handle. "I have bungee cords in my pack. We can use them to handcuff him."
    "It would seem you think of everything," Will said as she eased her hand out from under his and he held the knife at the Irishman's throat.
    Rainwater streamed from Keira's hair down her face as she spoke to her uncle in Boston. "Bob. Thank God..."
    She faltered, and Lizzie stood up. "The people in danger are your family and friends. Please. Let me do this." She put out a hand, and Keira gave her the phone. Lizzie forcefully addressed Keira's uncle on the