Read Whisper of Evil for Free Online

enough money, and frequently more than enough, to live comfortably. She and Hailey had owned horses in childhood and, upon their seventeenth birthdays, had been presented by their father with very nice cars—their use of which had been strictly supervised to the extent of Adam holding the keys most of the time.
    According to the inventory Nell had been provided by the family attorney, the horses and cars were long gone; Adam Gallagher's old Lincoln was the only vehicle left, and it was sitting on a car lot in Silence waiting to be sold.
    Other things would have to be sold as well. Nell had no idea what would be left by the time debts and taxes were paid, and she didn't think much about it. She hadn't come home hoping to profit from her father's death, after all.
    She walked away from the house now without looking back, allowing instinct or her subconscious to choose between one of several faint paths into the woods. There were probably fifty or so acres of forest separating the Gallagher house from the surrounding farms and ranches, the canopy of greenery high above creating a cool, dim haven where Nell had spent many childhood hours, especially during the hot and humid summers.
    It didn't feel quite as peaceful now as it had then.
    Even so, Nell kept walking, conscious of a restless urge too familiar to be ignored. She stopped several times, looking around her with a searching gaze, but all she saw was the motionless green undergrowth, some of it still wet from the previous night's storms.
    That realization had barely crossed her mind when Nell heard a deep, rolling rumble of thunder. She blinked, and between one second and the next the scene around her abruptly changed.
    It was night, not day, and it was storming. She could feel the wind-lashed rain stinging her skin, even blinding her momentarily until she could turn her back to the force of it. She wiped the rain from her eyes and blinked, trying to see, in the strobelike flashes of lightning, what she was meant to.
    A figure wearing a dark rain slicker moved along a path diverging from the one she stood upon. She thought it was a man but couldn't be sure; the slicker he wore had a hood that covered his head, and since he was moving away from her at an angle, his face wasn't visible.
    The body over his shoulder was very visible.
    It was a woman, Nell was sure of that. Bare arms dangled, and long, wet hair streamed down. She seemed to be wrapped in a sheet or some other pale cloth that was clinging wetly to her skin, and she was limp. Very limp.
    "Nell?"
    Ignoring that summons, Nell tried to move forward,
    WHISPER OF EVIL
    to follow him and find out where he was going. Was he going to bury a murder victim? Was he carrying an unconscious woman deeper into the woods to—do whatever it was he intended to do to her? Who was he? Who was the woman?
    She tried to follow, but something grabbed at her, stopped her, and when she looked down it was to see thick vines twining about her wrists, holding her still. She managed to lift her arms slightly, fingers curling into fists with the effort, but the vines held on tightly.
    "Nell!"
    She looked quickly through the driving rain, trying to at least see which direction the shrouded figure took through the woods. But there was so much movement of the thick, wind-blown undergrowth, and so much distortion caused by the heavy rain and brilliant flashes of lightning, that she couldn't see him now.
    He was gone___
    "Nell!"
    She blinked. The day had returned. The storm was gone. No rain, no thunder or lightning, no wind. And the vines gripping her wrists were two powerful hands.
    She looked up to find Max frowning down at her, and she spared a moment to think wryly that the universe had a bizarre sense of humor. Either that, or it was out to torment her.
    "I'm all right," she said, dismayed by the unsteadiness of her voice. "You can let go of me now."
    "I'm not so sure." If anything, his frown deepened. "What the hell just happened, Nell? You