Read Online The Waterfall by Carla Neggers - Free Book Online

wouldn’t?”
    â€œGood. Then it’s settled. I’ll trust my gut instincts. I’ll go home and hope nothing else happens—”
    â€œNo, Lucy, you’re going to see Sebastian and tell him everything.”
    â€œIsn’t he going to Frankfurt?”
    â€œNo way. He’s…” Plato frowned, walking her toward the door. He seemed to be searching for the right words. “He’s on sabbatical.”
    â€œSabbatical? Come on, Plato. It’s not like he’s some kind of professor. How can he—”
    â€œYou’ll have to drive out to his cabin,” Plato said. “It’s not that far. I’ll give you directions.”
    Lucy slipped from his embrace and stood rock-still in the middle of the hall. He kept walking, his back to her. She was blinking rapidly, as if that might somehow clear her head.
    â€œI don’t want to see Sebastian,” she said.
    Plato turned back to her. “He can help you, Lucy. I can’t.”
    â€œI told you, I didn’t come here for help.”
    â€œI know why you came here.” His dark, dark eyes seemed to burn into her. “You promised Colin you would.”
    Her throat caught. “Plato…”
    â€œColin was right to send you to Sebastian. Lucy, I did rescues, and now I keep this company out of hot water. Sebastian’s a son of a bitch in a lot of ways, but he’s the best.”
    Lucy stood her ground. “What if I drive on out of here without seeing him?”
    â€œThen I’ll have to tell him what you told me.”
    She eyed him. “I have a feeling that would be worse.”
    He gave her a devilish smile. “Much worse.”
    Â 
    Plato’s directions were simple. He put Lucy on a dirt road and said to keep going until she couldn’t go anymore. She’d know when she reached Sebastian.
    Lucy wasn’t encouraged. However, not finishing what she’d stupidly started seemed to carry more risks than finishing. If he told Sebastian her story, Plato might exaggerate. Then Sebastian might end up in Vermont, and she’d really be in a mess. Sebastian might be worse than the feds. He might be worse than the occasional stray bullet through her dining room window.
    So why had she dragged herself and her two children out to Wyoming?
    The road was winding, dry, hot and dusty. The scenery was spectacular. Wide-open country, mountains rising up from the valley floor, a snaking river, horses and cattle and wildflowers. Despite its other uses, this was still a working ranch.
    J.T. loved it. Madison endured. “I’m pretending I’m Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, ” she said. “That might keep me awake.”
    â€œThe high altitude is probably making you sleepy,” Lucy said.
    â€œI’m not sleepy, I’m bored.”
    â€œMadison.”
    She checked herself. “Sorry.”
    The road narrowed even more, their car kicking up so much dust Lucy made a mental note to run it through a car wash before taking it back to the rental agency. Finally, they came to a tiny, ramshackle log cabin and small outbuilding tucked into the shade of a cluster of aspens and firs. The road ended.
    Lucy pulled in behind a dusty red truck. “Well,” she said. “I guess this is it.”
    â€œOh, yuck.” Madison surveyed the pathetic buildings. “This is like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven. ”
    From Out of Africa to Unforgiven. Lucy smiled. Madison kept the local video store in an uproar trying to track down movies for her. It was an interest one of her teachers, in the school she so loathed, encouraged.
    Three scroungy, big mutts bounded out from the shade and surrounded their car, barking and growling as if they’d never seen a stranger. J.T., his seat belt off, nervously stuck his head up front. “Do you think they bite?”
    â€œI bet they have fleas,” Madison said.
    Lucy judiciously decided to roll down her window and