Read Online Not Dead Yet by Pegi Price - Free Book Online Page A

to dinner and a concert.  The next day a huge bouquet of flowers was delivered for me at the dorm.  For the next year he swept me off my feet, taking me to Acapulco, buying me jewelry, sending me flowers and taking me to nice restaurants.  We got engaged and then married.  Life was perfect.”
    “How did you get from there to him stalking and shooting you?” Toni asked.
    “Well, after we were married, his mental illness surfaced,” Theia answered.  “At first I thought he just had isolated outbursts of temper, but over time I realized there was something more.  When my safety became an issue, I went into hiding and divorced him, but he would not leave me alone.  Everything culminated with him shooting me and the police shooting him.”
    “Where were you shot?”
    “Through my right arm and in the chest,” Theia replied.  “But that is all dead and buried.  I faced my demons head on, and I won.  I’m fine now.  I have a great life, and I plan to keep it that way.  So will you please give me your stamp of approval so I can tell my friend she can stop worrying?  All I had was one stupid nightmare.  No one ever died from a nightmare.”
    “Tell me about the nightmare,” Toni urged.
    Theia described the nightmare.  As she did so, she leaned forward and her body tensed up. She cracked her knuckles, gave a brief shudder, then lifted her chin in defiance.  “That does not mean anything is wrong with me.  It’s perfectly normal to react to unpleasant things.  It’s like sneezing from black pepper.  In fact, it would be abnormal to have no response,” Theia said, defensively.  She forced her muscles to relax, and she leaned back a little, to a more natural pose.  “So, what is the verdict?” Theia asked Toni.
    “I think you have done a great job of getting through some extremely difficult experiences that could have broken you,” Toni replied. “You might have worked so hard that you are overcompensating, but I haven’t talked with you enough yet to know for certain.  I would like to meet with you again.  How about next week, unless you have another nightmare before then?”
    Theia begrudgingly agreed, then returned to her office.  She attacked the stacks of work on her desk, to make up for the time lost while talking to the therapist.
    Her phone rang.  Theia stared at the ringing telephone.  Damn, she hated phones.  She shook her head and snatched up the receiver.
    “Theia Pearson,” she said robotically.
    “He called again.”
    “Uh, who is this?” Theia asked.
    “It’s Lu, who did you think?” she chuckled.
    “I was really hoping I wouldn’t hear from you again.  Only about this case, of course.  Nothing personal.”
    “Gee, can you feel the love?”  Lu volleyed back.
    “Look, I’m not going to get involved in this,” Theia said. “There is nothing I can do but give him two victims instead of one.”
    There was silence on the line.
    “I was wondering what you would do,” Lu replied.  “I don’t know what I would do in your shoes.  Ten years as a DJO in the city, I have seen almost everything, and this guy gives me the willies.  There’s something about his voice, and the way he says things.  He’s real evil. I would probably react the same thing you are.   Do you want to know what he said anyway?”
    “Do I really have any options here? I can worry myself sick about what he said, or worry myself sick wondering what he said,” Theia stated.
    “Hey, remember – I’m just the messenger.  I didn’t ask to be in this anymore than you did.”
    “I have an idea,” Theia suggested.  “You tell me this one last message, then you don’t tell me any more, ever.  Does he call you on your work line or on your personal number?”
    “He calls on my work line,” Lu answered.  “No way am I giving out my personal phone number to the idiots I have to ride herd on.”
    “Don’t blame you there,” agreed Theia.  “Listen, have your number at work