Edge of Midnight (McClouds & Friends #4)(129)

And then she smelled him—T-Rex. That bitter, awful stench.

Fear bloomed inside her, faraway but terribly real. So was the grief. Sean. The name came to her. She clutched at it, desperately.

So sad. That all of Sean’s heroic efforts should come to nothing, because she’d been so stupid, so credulous. The monster had come, and she’d never even thanked Sean for what he’d done. For his bravery, his passion, his sweetness. The lovely, shining truth of him.

The monster bent over her, dressed in hospital scrubs. His foul breath washed over her face. He bent close, gave her face a sloppy lick with his meaty red tongue. She was paralyzed, unable to flinch away.

“Oh, Olivia. I’m so glad to see you.” His voice was a raspy whisper.

He scooped her out of the wheelchair. Dumped her headfirst into the canvas bin, half full of dirty sheets. Wrenched one over her body.

The sound of the wheels creak-creaking below her head was the last thing she heard as she faded away, buried alive in the airless dark.



Miles’s Specs revealed that Liv’s phone was in the Chamberlain Clinic. Sean was baffled, but glad that it was a public building where she would be relatively safe. At least the icon wasn’t blinking forlornly in a ditch somewhere. “Give me your keys,” he said to Davy.

Davy looked dubious. “If things go the way they usually do, you’ll get hauled off by the cops, and I’ll have to bail your useless ass out before I can retrieve my car keys. Don’t you want to see the tapes?”

“I’ve waited fifteen years to see the tapes. I can wait another half hour. Hand ’em over.” He waggled his fingers imperiously.

Davy sighed, flung the keys at him. Sean caught them, and bolted up the stairs and through Miles’s mom’s kitchen, deftly evading her as she tried to flag him down and stuff a sandwich into his face.

He called Liv’s phone repeatedly, as he speeded through town. His nerves were crawling so bad, he could barely keep from screaming.

Answer it, he willed her. For Christ’s sake. Have mercy on me.

He was so startled when a voice answered, he practically rearended the vehicle ahead of him. He screeched to a stop just in time.

“Liv?” he bellowed. “Where in holy hell are you?”

After a moment, an acid voice replied, “She’s right where she should be, Mr. McCloud. Safe with her family, and away from you.”

“Who is this?” he roared, and then realization hit, like an anvil in his face. “Oh, Christ, no. Don’t tell me. Is this Liv’s mom?”

“I am Olivia’s mother, yes. Please do not try to get anywhere near my daughter, ever again. The police are ready to intercept you.”

“I cannot believe this,” Sean hissed. “What did you do? Lure her in by saying that one of you was sick? Is that why she’s at the clinic?”

“My husband’s frail health is none of your business.”

“Frail health, my ass. I can’t believe she fell for it, but then, she always cared more about you guys than either of you ever deserved. Put Liv on the line. Let me talk to her.”

“No,” the woman said, her voice triumphant. “She is resting. She’s had a terrible experience. I will not let her talk to you. Ever again.”

“How do you intend to stop her?” Sean asked. “She’s thirty-two.”

“Yes, and very fragile. Easily led by a dominating personality.”

An image of Liv charging through the forest topless, screaming bloody murder as she emptied the clip of the Beretta at T-Rex, came to him. “Uh, yeah. Right,” he muttered.

“Wait. Just a moment, Dr. Horst, I’m on the phone with that person, and I’ll be with you in a…what? She’s what?”

Crack. The phone had dropped to the ground.

A hole of fear yawned open in his belly. He listened to the still open line. People were yelling in the distance. Amelia was screaming.

Already. He’d f*cked up. He should have stuck to Liv like glue.

“Mr. McCloud?” Amelia shrieked into the phone. “What have you done with my daughter? Where is she?”

Relief made him giddy. T-Rex had nabbed her, had not simply murdered her. There was still a chance. He laid on the gas.

“Nothing,” he said. “Don’t tell me. She’s disappeared, right? Someone abducted her. You mean you’re surprised? Where have you been for the past four weeks? Jesus, lady! Hello! Wake up!”

“It’s not possible! She wasn’t—you’re not—”

“I’m not the one!” Sean yelled. “Bet she tried to tell you, huh? Bet you didn’t listen. You’ve never listened to her in her entire life.”

Her incoherent response suddenly diminished in volume. “Mr. McCloud?” said a gruff male voice. “Where did you take my daughter?”

“Nowhere,” he snarled. “I’m trying to keep her alive, and you and your stupid wife are making it hard. How long ago did she disappear?”

“We saw her just fifteen minutes ago—”

“Tell the cops to block all the roads leading to the clinic. Stop everyone from leaving.” He hung up the phone, and gunned the engine.

The cops would be all over his ass in no time. He had to catch up with T-Rex before they caught up to him. Think, goddamnit. Think.