Dark Guardian. Jan Hambright

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СКАЧАТЬ bulb blew into tiny pieces and hit the floor. The room went black.

      Olivia reached for her tool bag. The sound of the lock releasing stirred terror in her. It was only a matter of time before she was discovered and arrested.

      In desperation, she rummaged in her bag and pulled out the flashlight.

      A loud scuffle erupted near the door.

      She squeezed the light in her hand, determined to use it as a weapon if anyone got too close.

      A deep guttural yell echoed in the room. The sound of mortal combat less than ten feet away from her played out in the dark.

      Fear, solid and unmistakable, solidified in her mind.

      Something scraped on the floor near her hiding spot. The stepladder she’d left in the row?

      It slapped shut, grinding over the floor right past her and splinting into pieces against a wall on the opposite side of the room.

      “Where is she?” a raspy male voice demanded from out of the darkness.

      “Get out.” The order was unmistakable. Olivia strained to see in the blackness, to put a face with the voice, but if she turned on her flashlight, they’d find her for sure.

      “Take care of it or we will.”

      “Don’t threaten me.”

      Bump! Bump! Bump!

      All hell broke loose in the room as one by one the shelves banged into each other, falling like dominoes.

      She lunged forward in the dark, aiming for a way out before she was caught in the calamity, but she miscalculated her location and slammed into a shelf, hitting her head and losing her ball cap.

      Rolling onto her back, she turned on her flashlight just in time to see the first file box careen off the shelf above her.

      She rolled to the left to avoid being crushed and ended up on her belly.

      A scream rose in her throat.

      Squeezing the flashlight as hard as she could, she aimed it toward the door.

      There was a hard tug on the flashlight cylinder. Increasing her grip, she hung on to it as tight as she could. Another tug, then a jerk.

      The light wrenched from her hand, rocketed across the room, slammed into the wall and went out.

      Terror rocked her. What was happening? Who was in the room? Who…or what?

      She felt a tiny prick in her right arm through her sleeve and slapped at it. Something clattered to the floor next to her. Patting the cement, her hand came down on a syringe. She’d been drugged?

      Fear raced through her as one by one her senses dulled and went into hibernation. Still fighting, she settled into the void and closed her eyes.

      

      “SHE’S DANGEROUS. She’ll expose us.”

      He had to agree, but his methods differed from theirs. “I’ll make sure she leaves Black’s Cove. Stay away from her. Do you understand?” For emphasis, he mentally shoved them into the wall, holding them there with his mind.

      “If you don’t get rid of her, we will.”

      Letting them drop, he stepped back. In an instant, they were gone, leaving him alone in the room with her. The sedative he’d given her would wear off in an hour’s time; he could only hope she hadn’t seen any of their faces.

      Turning in the darkness, he focused on her where she lay between two fallen shelves. She’d been minutes from death. They would have crushed her if he hadn’t intervened. But somehow he doubted only intervention was going to be enough to protect Olivia Morgan’s life. He’d have to do that and so much more.

      Glancing at the file box tipped over next to her, he made a decision. He would allow her to discover enough information about her brother to be satisfied. She would leave Black’s Cove and their secret would remain secure.

      Moving his hand in front of him, he willed the shelves into place.

      They rocked upright, slaves of the telekinetic energy he forced on them. Next the file boxes were raised, refilled and put back into place, all except for the one she was after, that one he mentally slid onto the lowest shelf.

      He knew she would return to the clinic in a couple of days—he’d seen it in a precognitive vision. And when she did, she would find what she was looking for.

      

      OLIVIA’S SENSES RETURNED, starting with pain throbbing from a bump on her head. Awareness brought her around and she bolted straight up in the seat, almost banging her forehead on the steering wheel of her car in the process.

      What had just happened?

      Blinking several times, she got her bearings, shaking off the last of the fog that blanketed her mind. She couldn’t recall leaving the clinic. In fact, her last memory was of her flashlight mysteriously being jerked out of her hand.

      She swallowed, fishing for memories beyond that. Nothing. Still, she couldn’t keep a shudder at bay. It ripped through her, setting her nerves on end.

      “Dang.” She hadn’t gotten the file. Reaching up she patted her naked head. Her lucky red ball cap was missing. She’d dropped a clue, but she wasn’t going back for it tonight.

      Turning the key in the ignition, she started her car and glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was 3:20 a.m. She was missing an hour? She eyed the clinic as she pulled out into the driveway.

      She had to have Ross’s file. She’d be back to try again, but next time, she’d come prepared for whatever lurked in the basement.

      

      STEPPING OUT of the woods, he stared at the taillights of her car in the distance. He could still smell her sweet floral scent on the red baseball cap in his hand and on his clothes, still see the curve of her face as he’d carried her to her car and put her safely inside.

      A wave of indignation raged through him. Olivia Morgan had to leave Black’s Cove. He wouldn’t have her blood on his hands.

      He’d been watching her every move, but so had the others. They’d followed her here tonight just like he had. That knowledge worried him as he stepped out of cover and onto the cobblestone path that led him away from the building and all the secrets it contained.

      Chapter Two

      Olivia sat in a booth next to the window in the local coffee shop on Main Street. Her unobstructed view of the front door of Black’s Cove Gazette made the cup of weak coffee sitting in front of her almost palatable.

      The newspaper would open in ten minutes. She glanced at her list, information she had to dig up from the newspaper’s archives.

      A racy black Jaguar pulled up to the curb next to the restaurant. A man climbed out of the car, pausing long enough СКАЧАТЬ