Read Dying Dreams (Book 1 of Dying Dreams Trilogy) for Free Online Page B

catastrophe was only the beginning. Liza had been sixteen, and she hadn’t wanted to hide, so she’d seen the good in the people who’d had to rebuild, the good that countered the bad. It didn’t mean she was stupid enough to walk out alone at night without some form of protection, but she wasn’t going to hide in her apartment on a beautiful night, either.
    After the seas had calmed and the weather seemed to stabilize, businesses had moved and rebuilt. The gap between the poor and wealthy and between those who could adapt and those who couldn’t had widened and the unemployment and homeless rates were still high.
    She was dipping her toes in the water and admiring the reflection of the bright moon, when she felt a hand on her elbow. She pulled her mace out of her purse, spun free of the hand and held the mace to the person’s forehead.
    “Whoa, whoa,” the man said, hands in the air, backing up. “It’s me Agent Fulsom. We met yesterday.”
    She couldn’t believe her luck. She’d found Fulsom without even trying. She looked around for Agent Rice, but didn’t see him on the beach. She lowered the mace and slid it into her purse, but she kept a hand on it. “Sorry about that,” she said, giving him a bright smile, but keeping her distance.
    “It never hurts to be careful,” Fulsom said. “You really shouldn’t be out here alone. You meeting someone?” There was a hungry look in his eyes and she took another step away from him, until she was ankle-deep in the surf.
    “Yes,” she lied. “I’m meeting my fiancé, Ellison. He should be here any minute.” She’d always believed if you’re going to lie, you ought to go all the way.
    “Your fiancé, huh. That’s too bad. I’m meeting my partner here, but he’s late, and I thought you might be interested in getting a drink.”
    Fulsom’s phone rang and he answered it before Liza had to respond. She considered walking away while he was on the phone, but she wanted to talk to him about the mermaid and her dream.
    “Shit. Yes, we said we’d meet at the marina, but the boss doesn’t want us to go out there tonight… Sorry, I forgot to tell you. She says Mel will meet us near shore… Yeah, by the black rock… I’m on the beach, asshole… Don’t take your pissy mood out on me… Yeah, okay.”
    Fulsom hung up the phone and looked at Liza, like he’d forgotten she was there. “Change your mind about the drink?” he asked.
    “No, actually, I wanted to talk to you about the mermaid on the beach.”
    He grinned. “Mermaid, ha! You mean the lady dressed like a mermaid?”
    He was overcompensating, his voice boisterous. She wondered how he’d ever gotten to be an agent when he lied so badly. She wondered if he really was an agent at all and the idea of telling him what she’d seen in her dream when they were alone, on a dark beach, seemed suicidal suddenly. “Yeah, anyway, I never got your card and I wanted to call… your office and tell them what a great job you did and how professional you were.”
    Fulsom smiled and winked at her, before pulling a card out of a pocket of his suit jacket and handing it to her. He snatched it back before she could put it in her own pocket, though, pulled out a pen and wrote something on the back. “In case you change your mind about that drink,” he said. She took the card and he started walking away. “I’ve gotta go, but I hope to see you around again sometime,” he called over his shoulder.
    What a gentleman. And he’d left her alone on the beach without offering to wait with her until her fiancé showed up. A real gem, that one.

 
     
     
CHAPTER SIX
     
    *SLOANE*
     
     
    Sloane had expected to meet Fulsom at the marina, sail out, scuba down, and talk to the merfolk, so he’d worn tattered jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops. He kicked off the flip flops as soon as he got to the beach and stomped down the shoreline. He passed a woman, who looked vaguely familiar, going the opposite way, but he was