The Nightmare Thief. Meg Gardiner

“What did the neighbor hear Wylie say? Exactly.”

      Evan checked her notes. “Wylie mentioned something about how they 'ran.’ And 'rock.’ ”

      Jo tapped one of the photos. It showed massive wedges of granite. “Maybe it’s nothing. But maybe he was talking about the mountains.” She stood. “I need to clear my schedule. I have to get up to the Sierras.” She extended her hand. “Thanks for the information.”

      “We should compare notes again. Forty-eight hours from now?”

      “You bet.” Jo’s smile was hardly neutral. It was hungry.

      “Excellent. And who gave you my name?”

      That smile became enigmatic. “I’ll call you in forty-eight hours.”

      Jo headed for the door, blowing a kiss to her sister as she left. Evan took a breath, excited, and her stomach pinched.

      Who had put Jo in contact with her?

      The door opened and the wind whispered in, teasing her, hinting at his name.

      But she hadn’t told him about the feature story. She hadn’t told him because she hadn’t spoken to him—though he was the man who knew her better than anyone. He was the man she loved, and who had left her inconsolable, struggling through emotional wreckage after her father went missing. The man she didn’t know how to face, the man she had promised to marry.

      She slung her pack over her shoulder and walked out.

      Jo jumped off the cable car near the top of Russian Hill. The tracks rang with the sound of gears and cables beneath the road, a bright noise that echoed the humming of her nerves. In the park across the street from her house, a basketball hit the backboard and sluiced through the net. Sophie Quintana grabbed the rebound, and saw her.

      She hopped and waved. “Jo, you be on Dad’s team.”

      Gabe stood beneath the basket, hands on his hips, catching his breath. “That was a quick meeting.”

      Jo jogged to the court. “Hurried back to be your point guard, Sergeant.”

      He looked good in the October sunlight. Ripped and smiling and welling with energy.

      “What’s that gleam in your eye?” he said.

      Sophie turned and charged the lane, ten years old and confident that her agility would outgun the grown-ups. Her brown ponytail flicked in the breeze. Her cheeks were bright. Her smile, Jo was happy to see, looked unburdened.

      She dodged around Jo and took the layup. The shot hit the rim.

      Jo caught the rebound. “The campout with your cousins is this weekend, right?”

      The little girl nodded. “Friday.”

      Gabe said, “What kind of plan are you hatching?”

      Jo passed him the ball. “I’m going to the Sierras.”

      “And you want a pararescueman to ride shotgun?”

      A whistle from the backcourt caught her attention. The man on the far side of the court raised his hands and called time-out.

      “You no longer look like you want to take this day out back and shoot it,” he called to her. “So I’m guessing your meeting went well.”

      She excused herself from the game and walked toward him. “You were right. Evan was the one I needed to talk to.”

      Jesse Blackburn smiled, short and sharp—a slice. “Glad to hear it.”

      His jeans had a hole in the knee. His T-shirt said FIND YOURSELF IN PARADISE and hung loose from his swimmer’s shoulders. His eyes were blue and keen with questions.

      Jo gave him the answers. “Yes, she wanted to know who gave me her name. And, no, I didn’t tell her it was you.”

      He spun the wheelchair and coasted toward her. “Thank you.”

      “But, Jesse, she knows you crossed swords with Phelps Wylie in court. Of course she suspects. She can easily find out I was at UCLA with you. And that you’re in San Francisco to argue a case before the Ninth Circuit.”

      An undertow seemed to pull at him. He and Evan had promised their futures to each other—and then they were assaulted by a cascade of Bad. He thought he had brought it down on them and couldn’t see how to swim out from under. Now Jo had spent time with Evan, while he had not. The hurt showed on his face.

      He lived with plenty of pain. He had survived more. And he would survive this. But merely surviving would be a waste. Evan was clearly his match. Together, Jo had no doubt, they sparked heat and light. For them to lose that connection would be heartbreaking.

      She said, “If Evan asks me again, I still won’t tell her. But you should.”

      He looked away, at the sun jumping off the blue waters of the bay. “Not yet.”

      “What will waiting accomplish?”

      He pushed to the fence that bordered the park, hung his arms on top, and stared toward Alcatraz.

      Jo leaned on the fence beside him. After a moment, she said, “I never thanked you for coming to Daniel’s funeral.”

      He looked at her, surprised. “You don’t need to thank me.”

      “You drove three hundred miles that day. I appreciate it.”

      “It was the least I could do.” He paused. “Is that your way of reminding me that none of us has unlimited time?”

      “You know what it’s like to live a suddenly changed life. I appreciate that too.”

      Jo had become a young widow in the time it took to blow out a match. She knew all about being stared at. About being That Girl. That Guy. The one who lost . . . the ability to walk. A lover. The future that they’d never have. Jesse’s friendship, the fact that he understood what she had gone through, meant a lot to her.

      He stared at the water. “This cut is deep.”

      “When did wounds ever stop you? What did you tell me once?” His smile was thin. “When you can’t change a situation, and can’t get out of it, you have to go forward. It’s a fucking fact of life.”

      “I tattooed that statement on my rear end. Thanks for confirming I got the wording right.”

      His smile turned wry. “You and Evan are definitely going to hit it off.” He laughed and shook his head.

      Gabe called to them. “Guys, I need help on defense. Sophie’s killing me here.”

      They headed back toward the basketball court. Sophie was dribbling the ball, bobbing and weaving in a circle around him. Her laugh sounded silvery.

      Jo said, “I also remember the second half of that statement, Jesse.”

      “The important thing is not to be afraid. Even when you know what’s coming.”

      She squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t forget it.”

       Chapter 3

      Friday, October 12

      Limo didn’t begin to cover it. They drove south down 101 in a sick beast of a vehicle: a stretch Hummer, black with honest-to-God flames painted on the sides. As if Autumn truly were the queen of a trashy, flashy drug cartel and this was her monster ride. She stretched on the plush bench seat and watched San Francisco rush by.

      Dustin pulled a bottle of champagne from the Hummer’s mini-fridge. “Time to toast the birthday girl.”

      Lark Sobieski shook her head. “Not a good idea. We need to stay sharp.”

      Lark’s punkish black hair swooped over one eye, nearly covering her glasses. Her ouroburos tattoo rolled over the