The Twelfth Of Never: A suspense mystery romantic thriller Read Online Free PDF Page A

Gideon reached down, picked up the chair, and set it
against the wall. Then he turned to the hefty woman who ran the ER. She stood
her ground, her hands folded, her hip cocked with a foot tapping the floor.
Thelma Washington had a presence about her that demanded order.
    "Now if you want to stay here, I suggest you sit and be
quiet."
    "This is official business," Gideon said again, this
time with more sincerity. But it was no use arguing with the determined woman.
    "In this hospital, once they enter those doors," she
turned, pointing at the doors leading to the ER room, "your authority
ends. You get him after they put the pieces back together, and not
before!"
    Thelma turned and was about to walk back to her station, but
stopped and glanced back at Gideon, then shook her head. Too often, she had
seen young men brought in all shot up. Once they were patched, they were hauled
away to court for a prison term. Life was not getting easier. With only seven
years left until retirement she did not know if she had it in her to continue.
It was a hard life, watching the streets turn into jungles, with the bodies
brought in only getting more mutilated than before.
    "Are there any other phones in this place?" Gideon
asked, glancing at the three booths already in use. Everyone was watching him
by then.
    Thelma pointed down the hall to the lobby. Gideon walked away;
there was no use arguing. No one would be allowed to talk to Delaney, not with
Thelma on duty. Colby was waiting for his call. The disaster in the park would
not make him happy, but it was out of Gideon's control, had been from the
start.
    Gideon walked down the hall. The aching in his temple made the
room spin for a moment. He stopped until the sensation passed. The telltale
scar from a bullet that almost ended everything for him over five years ago
throbbed as it always did when he lacked sleep.
    Gideon pushed through the crowd of people gathering in the
lobby and finally made his way to the row of booths near the entrance. He sat
and rested his head on the wall, hoping the pain would subside. As he shut his
eyes, he remembered a time long ago in a jungle he wanted to forget. There was
the sound of shots echoing in his ears as he envisioned Delaney pulling the
trigger on the young Vietnamese woman they were interrogating. Gideon had a
hard time believing what Delaney said, yet he himself was once witness to
Delaney’s treachery. The man had no conscience even back then. It bothered
Gideon that Delaney turned to him for help after all this time.
    Gideon took out his wallet, flipping through the photos
quickly until he was staring at the woman in the sketch. It was the only thing
he had that could ease his pain. A picture of a woman he had never met, or had
he? Gideon did not know or remember. But he was always drawn to her, like she
was the answer to all the pain he felt. He waited for the throbbing to stop
while his eyes watered.
    Then slowly he punched in the number for Langley. It was
Colby's private line. Only a few select agents had that number, and Gideon was
one of them. The two went back a long way, ever since Clandestine Operations in
Vietnam. Colby was his Chief back then. Even now Gideon was on special
assignment for Colby. Gideon knew Colby would not be happy with what he had to
say, but he could not avoid the call.
    Gideon seriously doubted Wayne would go through with the
speech planned for later in the week at the U.N. Security Council. But in the
world of diplomacy, not even an assassin's bullet was cause for cancellation.
It only put credibility to what was said.
    Finally, Colby was on the line. Gideon filled him in on the
details of the fiasco that morning.
    "Who called in the locals?" Colby asked in a somber
tone.
    "I did," Gideon replied.
    "They shouldn't be involved."
    "I had no choice."
    "We could get into trouble if the press gets hold of
it."
    "Don't worry, no one will brag about this one."
    "How can you be so sure?" Colby asked.
    "Would you blow your