Page 98 of Shadow of Death
“How you doing there?” Hunter asked, stretched out on the second lounge in their private area, up on an elbow as he grinned at her.
“I can’t believe we’re here!”
“I wish I could say it was thanks to me. But Aidan is a remarkable guy. If his cousin didn’t work for the casino, we’d never be here, you know. I mean, we could have sprung for a room, and I do love the lights and the fountains and the music. I love hearing rock play with our heads under the water while we’re swimming. But it is thanks to Aidan and his cousin that we are exactly where we are.”
“Aidan is the best.”
“He’s meeting us for dinner later.”
“I am so glad. And still...”
She closed her eyes. It was so beautiful.
So incredible to get to relax. Swim, play, watch the light display by night and the fountain shows and even tease Hunter into trying out a few slots.
Of course, Mickey had still called to report to them. So far, they had questioned everyone they had brought in—and learned little. Except that the Apocalypse was coming, and they were idiots, they didn’t understand what was happening. Occasionally, they found someone ready to change—someone who “saw the light” more or less. But no one seemed to know anything beyond the fact that Hayden hadn’t just taken on the role of the Archangel, she had been the third horseman, and she had been there to weigh the good from the bad, to sort them out, to take care that many were given a chance to redeem themselves before judgment.
In short, those in most need had been murdered.
How Barrington had run a company, Amy would never understand. According to Mickey, he was the most brainwashed in the group. He had come to “salvation” through Hayden.
“Race you to the foot of the pool!” Hunter said.
“Hey, wait! We have to get around to the head of the pool!” Amy said.
Hunter was already in the water. She followed. He was a strong swimmer, but so was she. And she had grown up in Florida, where she had truly honed her skill.
But chasing after him, she remembered what he’d said about the music beneath the water and she gave up the race to dive down and listen to Bon Jovi and “It’s My Life.”
Laughing, she met him on the surface, assuring him she had only let him win because she was preoccupied.
They spent a little more time in the water, a little more on the lounges, and then time just being together.
They were getting dressed to meet Aidan at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner when Amy’s phone rang.
It was Mickey.
“Hunter with you?” Mickey asked. “Put me on speakerphone.”
“I’m here,” Hunter said.
“So...”
“Anything new?” Amy asked anxiously. “Did Barrington know more? Or what about Banyan Bend, the community where Hayden had been staying?”
“No, we found the house she’d been renting and pulled it apart. Nothing. Oh, except for her several different passports and driver’s licenses under different names. No, this is... Well, hell, no way out of saying it flatly. I don’t know what is about to begin, but it’s about to begin.”
“Mickey, what, please!” Amy said.
“A box came to the main office addressed to the FDLE and then to you, specifically. I ordered that it be opened. And it contained one of those horses, Amy. One of those little plastic kid’s horses. Stay where you are for now, please. I didn’t want to call you—there’s nothing to do.”
“Mickey—”
“Right. I’m afraid the pale horse and his rider are on the way.”
New York Timesbestselling author Heather Graham brings the Krewe of Hunters to Europe in the first book of her thrilling Blackbird Trilogy!
Read on for a sneak peek ofWhispers at Dusk
