Read Online The Off Season by Colleen Thompson - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Colleen Thompson
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of—”
“Crimes against poor, pitiful rich people?” Renee asked.
Harris swung a hard look her way. “Crimes against taxpayers in my jurisdiction. Or would you rather I left your friend here a sitting duck for next time some jackass decides to take a screwdriver to her vehicle—or her?”
“Jackass!” Jacob laughed at the one word he’d homed in on, earning Harris an even blacker look from his ex-wife.
Before things could deteriorate any further, Harris took down Christina’s cell-phone number and told her he’d update her as soon as he knew anything. “Meanwhile,” he added, “we’ll be stepping up patrols in the neighborhood, so don’t be alarmed if you see a department vehicle parked nearby the next few nights.”
Yours again? she wanted to ask, but instinct warned her not to splash more fuel on the fire of Renee’s animosity. Besides, it didn’t really matter which officer it was, as long as she and Lilly would be safe here, at least from the vandal.
But who could keep her safe from the voice she’d been hearing? A voice she couldn’t entirely stop suspecting had been spun from the darkest reaches of her own scarred mind.
As on edge as she was, Christina didn’t expect to fall back asleep, didn’t really mean to. But Renee showed such compassion, insisting on serving her breakfast in bed, with a cold glass of milk to wash down the waffles, that Christina felt duty-bound to try.
Most likely because she’d been asked not to, Lilly—now dressed in the outfit they had laid out before bedtime—slipped upstairs to snuggle and kiss Christina’s face, her lips sticky from her own meal. But she was too wiggly to settle, her blue eyes alive with mischief.
“Mommy take nap.” She climbed from the bed to twirl around, the skirt she wore over purple leggings flaring like a ballerina’s. “ Mommy sleep, not me!”
Christina smiled. “That’s what Miss Renee tells me. And we always listen to her, right?”
Lilly nodded solemnly before crinkling her nose. “Or you gonna get time-out.”
Christina snorted, amused to imagine herself being ordered by her petite friend to the designated corner chair in the family room. Though come to think of it, Renee would probably have better luck getting her to sit still for five minutes than either of them had had so far with Lilly.
“Guess I’ll take my nap, then,” Christina said before she heard Renee calling upstairs for Lilly to come back down. “And you’d better stay with Jacob now. Or time-out will be too crowded for both of our patooties.”
Lilly laughed like a pint-size maniac, then darted back to give her one last kiss. “Nighty-night. And when you wake up, come find me, Kay-dee-Mommy!”
Christina stared, unable to form a coherent thought, much less a question before Lilly closed the bedroom door behind her.
Come find me, Katie.
Shivering, she could only listen as the turquoise-and-hot-pink boots her daughter was practically living in this winter clumped down the hall toward the steps.
I should get up and go after her, make her explain where she first heard that. But Christina’s limbs felt like lead, her eyelids heavier still. For a split second, she suspected Renee had drugged her milk in an attempt to force her to rest. But the idea was so preposterous, she put it out of her mind, assuring herself that the long nights had finally caught up with her instead. Or perhaps she was only seeking to escape the words still crashing through her brain. Words warning, sometimes in the strange woman’s voice and other times in Lilly’s, of the dire consequences should she fail to find the biological mother who’d been missing for three decades.
Sometime later, she jerked awake from a disturbing dream where she’d been called into the trauma bay, only to find her husband lying on the gurney, his abdominal cavity laid wide open with a medical examiner’s Y incision. Turning from the horrific sight, she remembered looking back, telling
“Crimes against poor, pitiful rich people?” Renee asked.
Harris swung a hard look her way. “Crimes against taxpayers in my jurisdiction. Or would you rather I left your friend here a sitting duck for next time some jackass decides to take a screwdriver to her vehicle—or her?”
“Jackass!” Jacob laughed at the one word he’d homed in on, earning Harris an even blacker look from his ex-wife.
Before things could deteriorate any further, Harris took down Christina’s cell-phone number and told her he’d update her as soon as he knew anything. “Meanwhile,” he added, “we’ll be stepping up patrols in the neighborhood, so don’t be alarmed if you see a department vehicle parked nearby the next few nights.”
Yours again? she wanted to ask, but instinct warned her not to splash more fuel on the fire of Renee’s animosity. Besides, it didn’t really matter which officer it was, as long as she and Lilly would be safe here, at least from the vandal.
But who could keep her safe from the voice she’d been hearing? A voice she couldn’t entirely stop suspecting had been spun from the darkest reaches of her own scarred mind.
As on edge as she was, Christina didn’t expect to fall back asleep, didn’t really mean to. But Renee showed such compassion, insisting on serving her breakfast in bed, with a cold glass of milk to wash down the waffles, that Christina felt duty-bound to try.
Most likely because she’d been asked not to, Lilly—now dressed in the outfit they had laid out before bedtime—slipped upstairs to snuggle and kiss Christina’s face, her lips sticky from her own meal. But she was too wiggly to settle, her blue eyes alive with mischief.
“Mommy take nap.” She climbed from the bed to twirl around, the skirt she wore over purple leggings flaring like a ballerina’s. “ Mommy sleep, not me!”
Christina smiled. “That’s what Miss Renee tells me. And we always listen to her, right?”
Lilly nodded solemnly before crinkling her nose. “Or you gonna get time-out.”
Christina snorted, amused to imagine herself being ordered by her petite friend to the designated corner chair in the family room. Though come to think of it, Renee would probably have better luck getting her to sit still for five minutes than either of them had had so far with Lilly.
“Guess I’ll take my nap, then,” Christina said before she heard Renee calling upstairs for Lilly to come back down. “And you’d better stay with Jacob now. Or time-out will be too crowded for both of our patooties.”
Lilly laughed like a pint-size maniac, then darted back to give her one last kiss. “Nighty-night. And when you wake up, come find me, Kay-dee-Mommy!”
Christina stared, unable to form a coherent thought, much less a question before Lilly closed the bedroom door behind her.
Come find me, Katie.
Shivering, she could only listen as the turquoise-and-hot-pink boots her daughter was practically living in this winter clumped down the hall toward the steps.
I should get up and go after her, make her explain where she first heard that. But Christina’s limbs felt like lead, her eyelids heavier still. For a split second, she suspected Renee had drugged her milk in an attempt to force her to rest. But the idea was so preposterous, she put it out of her mind, assuring herself that the long nights had finally caught up with her instead. Or perhaps she was only seeking to escape the words still crashing through her brain. Words warning, sometimes in the strange woman’s voice and other times in Lilly’s, of the dire consequences should she fail to find the biological mother who’d been missing for three decades.
Sometime later, she jerked awake from a disturbing dream where she’d been called into the trauma bay, only to find her husband lying on the gurney, his abdominal cavity laid wide open with a medical examiner’s Y incision. Turning from the horrific sight, she remembered looking back, telling
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