Read Online Nowhere Safe by Nancy Bush - Free Book Online Page B

garden outside the window, a garden shaded by the thick stand of Douglas firs that surrounded the property and led back into acres and acres of woods owned by the forest service. “Their skin is poisonous—highly poisonous. So if you pick one up you need to wash your hands. If ingested, the poison will kill most animals. It’s highly toxic.”
    Lucky waited. Sometimes Mr. Blue went on about things that seemed to have no rhyme or reason, yet inside was buried sage advice.
    “Do you know what a garter snake is?” he asked.
    “Just a harmless, everyday snake?”
    He nodded. “It’s not poisonous, apart from a venomous quality to its saliva that may help with digestion as it eats its prey live. The garter snake is a predator of the newt and has developed a resistance to the newt’s poison. So, over time, as a natural defense mechanism, the poison in the newts increases, becoming the new normal, as they say, and then the garter snakes die off until they develop a stronger resistance and can once again eat the newts with impunity until the newts’ poison becomes more toxic. It’s an arms race. I believe the garter snakes are currently on top.” His gaze returned to hers. “Are you?”
    “I’m not really in an arms race,” Lucky protested.
    “You might be and just don’t know it. Be careful.”
    There was something about this conversation—a long one for him—that seemed to be telling her something. Should she tell him something? A little bit about her plans? Was this what he was asking?
    “I don’t intend for them to win,” she said, purposely keeping her meaning vague.
    “You can’t often predict the outcome of an arms race.”
    Her heart beat heavily, almost hurting. She was rarely so honest with anyone. “I don’t think I have much time.”
    He returned his attention to his soup, but she thought she sensed a sadness in him. “Is it enough to get done what you need to do?”
    She thought of the sensation, the almost odor, at the school. After she took care of Harmak, once and for all, she intended on tracking the source of that feeling. Maybe he would be her last. “I hope so.”
    “If you need anything, just ask.”
    “I will.”
    She helped clean up the remains of the meal, then headed to her room. She needed to take care of Stefan Harmak soon. She should have given him enough to kill him, but she’d pulled back. The thought of those schoolchildren finding his dead body had influenced her. Now, she was going to have to catch him somewhere else, and the problem was, she’d put him on alert. Maybe she was in an arms race.
    She shook her head, angry at herself, and gazed at her reflection in the old fly-spotted mirror above the ancient bureau. Once she was through with Harmak, she would figure out who was responsible for the noxious aura left behind at Twin Oaks, an invisible vapor trail.
    She tilted her chin up. Could she play the part of a teacher, or a teacher’s aide?
    “I would like to apply for a job,” she said aloud, forcing her normally grim face to lighten with an almost smile. “I hear Twin Oaks Elementary is a great school. . . .”
     
     
    September lay next to Jake in bed, her head tucked onto his chest while they watched a lineup of sitcoms. Jake’s arm rested lightly around her, and she felt content and languid. “Sorry I’ve been such a bad patient,” she mumbled sleepily.
    “Nah, you’ve been fine.” He was distracted.
    “I’ve been a royal pain. You don’t have to spare my feelings.” She smiled. “Today was fun, though.”
    “Mmm.”
    Realizing he wasn’t paying attention, she glanced up at him, her gaze traveling down the firm line of his jaw. “I’ll move in this weekend as long as I don’t have to do any heavy lifting.”
    “You will?” His attention came back to her with a bang.
    “I’ve been delaying, I realize. We haven’t known each other all that long.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she corrected herself, “We’ve known each other,