Killshadow Road. Пола Грейвс
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Название: Killshadow Road

Автор: Пола Грейвс

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Ужасы и Мистика

Серия: The Gates

isbn: 9781474005180

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ “I know that whatever you’ve done, whatever you’re doing now, is something you believe is right. Whatever rules you’ve broken, whatever orders you’ve defied, you’ve done it with good intentions. That’s what I believe.”

      Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at him, fire in her expression. She spoke slowly and carefully, her accent disappearing with her precise pronunciation. “I broke the rules, Darcy, because someone in the FBI was aware I was getting close to discovering their link to the Blue Ridge Infantry and their hodgepodge of associates. Those people have gone beyond meth dealing and planting pipe bombs. They are up to something huge. Mass-casualty huge. And someone in the FBI is facilitating their plans.”

      “And you don’t know who?”

      “Six people in the FBI knew I was trying to infiltrate the Blue Ridge Infantry. One of them set me up. I just don’t know which one.”

      She looked even paler than before, he realized, except for the bruise-like purple shadows beneath her haunted eyes. He hated what he was about to say but he had no choice. Quinn’s call had been a clear signal.

      “I know you’re tired. Clearly you need rest.”

      “I’m okay—”

      “No, you’re not.” He reached over to the nightstand and picked up the thermos. He checked to make sure the seal was tight before he put it in the wicker basket on the floor at his feet. “But this can’t be helped.”

      “What are you doing?”

      “Packing,” he said as he reached for the water bottle and checked the top, as well. “We have to leave this cabin now. Before the people out there looking for you realize you came here.”

       Chapter Three

      “How are you holding up?”

      Darcy’s low voice rumbled like thunder through her pain-hazed mind, stirring her from a jumble of disjointed dreams. All she could remember of those fractured images was the loamy smell of decaying leaves on the forest floor beneath her nose as she hid from a horde of faceless shadows chasing her through the woods.

      She twisted her head to look at him. “How do you think?”

      “You look like bloody hell.”

      “You’re so free with the compliments, Darcy. People will talk.” She realized they weren’t moving. Looking up, she saw they were in a line of cars waiting for a stoplight to change colors. “Where are we?”

      “Just south of Bitterwood.”

      “Where’s that?”

      “Just south of Purgatory.”

      “And where’s that?”

      “Somewhere north of hell.” Darcy’s lips quirked at the corners. “I think you’d be safe to take some acetaminophen now if you think it’ll help with the pain. Your ibuprofen dose was nearly two hours ago.”

      She shook her head. “No more pain relievers. They’re making me feel loopy and that’s worse than the pain.”

      He pressed the back of his hand to her cheek, catching her off guard. She slanted a questioning look toward him and he dropped his hand away. “Over-the-counter pain relievers shouldn’t be making you feel loopy. You’re a little warm for my liking.”

      She shifted in her seat, sucking in a quick gasp at the ache in her injured side. “You think I have a fever?”

      “Maybe. I don’t have time to get the first-aid kit out.” Ahead, the light had turned green and they started moving again. “We’ll be there soon and I’ll take your temperature and see where we are.”

      “Where is ‘there’?” She fought to keep her eyes open, weary of the nightmares that chased her through her dreams when she drifted off.

      “It’s a cabin. Belongs to someone I work with.”

      “Quinn?”

      “No. Someone else. He’s out of town for a week. Took his sister and his fiancée to the beach to celebrate. His cabin is empty for the next few days, and it’s deep in the woods, far enough from here that no one should bother us.”

      Even through the haze of pain, mention of a trip to the beach caught her attention. “Are you talking about Hunter Bragg?”

      He angled a sharp look toward her. “You know Bragg?”

      “I know his fiancée. She’s my cousin. I talked to her a couple of weeks ago, before everything in my undercover op started going belly-up.” She quirked one corner of her mouth. “Pear-shaped, I think you Brits call it.”

      “Not a Brit,” he murmured, but his lips curved upward. It was an old joke between them, one she hadn’t been certain he’d remember after all this time.

      He was technically as American as she was. He just sounded like his British-born mother after spending his formative years in England.

      “Did you tell Hunter what’s going on?” she asked after his smile faded.

      “Of course not.”

      “So we’re breaking in and staking out squatters’ rights for a few days while he’s away?”

      “Yes.”

      “That sounds a whole lot like breaking the rules, Darcy.”

      “I like to live life on the edge.” His dry tone made her laugh, which she instantly regretted.

      “Ow,” she moaned, shifting to find a more comfortable position.

      “We’re close,” he promised her, and sure enough, within a few minutes he had turned the Land Rover off the main highway onto a one-lane road that twisted and turned deep into the woods.

      The one lane ended abruptly in the middle of nowhere, and for a second, McKenna thought they’d taken a wrong turn. But at the last second, Darcy steered the Land Rover onto a narrow dirt road the woods seemed to swallow whole.

      The road twisted and climbed until they appeared to be a long way from anything approaching civilization. Then the dirt road disappeared, and Darcy stopped the Land Rover and turned off the engine.

      McKenna gazed into the dense thicket of trees in front of them, her heart sinking. “Where’s the cabin?”

      “Through those trees.”

      She felt sick at the thought of trudging through the woods again so soon. “Don’t suppose we could just stay here? Bunk down in the back?”

      “I promise, it’s not far.” He unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the SUV, walked around the front and opened the passenger door. His dark eyes met hers steadily. “You can do this.”

      Gritting her teeth, she unbuckled her own seat belt and eased her legs toward the open door, trying to ignore the СКАЧАТЬ