Lightning Lingers Read online

  Lightning Lingers

  (Lightning Strikes Trilogy #2)

  Barbara Freethy

  Also Available

  Lightning Strikes Series

  #1 Beautiful Storm

  #2 Lightning Lingers

  #3 Summer Rain, Coming Soon!

  The Callaway Series

  #1 On A Night Like This

  #2 So This Is Love

  #3 Falling For A Stranger

  #4 Between Now and Forever

  Nobody But You (A Callaway Wedding Novella)

  #5 All A Heart Needs

  #6 That Summer Night

  #7 When Shadows Fall

  #8 Somewhere Only We Know

  #9 If I Didn’t Know Better

  #10 Tender Is The Night, Coming Soon!

  LIGHTNING LINGERS

  (Lightning Strikes Trilogy #2)

  From #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy comes the second book in a new romantic suspense trilogy: Lightning Strikes. In these connected novels, lightning leads to love, danger, and the unraveling of long-buried secrets that will change not only the past but also the future…

  Katherine Barrett, a dedicated young doctor, receives a terrified phone call from her brother, TJ. He is running away to Mexico to save himself and their family from an unnamed killer. He warns her not to come after him and not to go to the police, as there is no one she can trust. But Katherine realizes there might be someone she can trust…

  She turns to her former high school sweetheart Jake Monroe—the man whose heart she broke a decade earlier. Katherine asks Jake to fly her into a remote and dangerous part of Mexico where no one else dares to go.

  Jake had always thought that one day Katherine would realize she needed him, but he didn't expect it to go down this way. Still, he can't resist the beautiful blonde he has never been able to forget.

  They set off on an adventure that will take them into the past, unravel a decade of secrets, and lead them into the heart of a lightning storm that will change the way they look at their families, the world, and each other…

  Also Available in the Lightning Strikes Trilogy:

  Beautiful Storm (#1)

  Lightning Lingers (#2)

  Summer Rain (#3), Coming Soon!

  LIGHTNING LINGERS

  (Lightning Strikes Trilogy #2)

  © Copyright 2016 Barbara Freethy

  All Rights Reserved (V1)

  ISBN: 9781943781065

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  For information: [email protected]

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  Visit Barbara's website

  One

  She didn't like storms, especially not on Halloween. But the shiver that ran down Katherine Barrett's spine as she stepped onto the roof of Houston's St. John's Hospital at eleven o'clock at night had as much to do with painful memories of the past as it did with the storm clouds gathering overhead.

  There was nothing to be afraid of tonight, and her sense of foreboding was misplaced, she told herself forcefully. Even the ER had been quiet; only a sprained ankle, a broken arm, and a stomachache from too much candy. No one had gotten hurt.

  No one had died.

  Her stomach twisted painfully at the memory of another Halloween a very long time ago. In her head, she could still feel herself tripping over the long skirt of her costume as she ran through the streets with her friends. They'd gone farther than they were supposed to that night. She'd known it then, but she hadn't stopped. She'd never imagined anything bad could happen.

  Shaking her head, she told herself to stop going back in time, focus on the present and not the past.

  Today was a celebration, an end of one very long chapter in her life and the beginning of a new one. Eleven years of medical training had come to a finish with her last shift as a medical resident. She was twenty-nine years old and more than ready to start her career as a doctor. She'd thought medical school was difficult, but the past three years as a resident had been brutal. She'd worked eighty-hour weeks, and sometimes she'd been so tired she couldn't remember what day it was. Through it all, she was supposed to be at the top of her game, and for the most part she had been at the top, because she'd given up everything else in her life—friends, family, hobbies—in pursuit of her goal. She'd climbed a mountain, she'd made it, but the hollow in her heart reminded her that she was alone.

  Had it been worth it?

  Frowning, she couldn't believe she was even contemplating the fact that all the time and dedication hadn't been worth it. She was just exhausted. Tomorrow, she'd feel the exhilaration that she couldn't quite seem to find at this moment. Tomorrow, Halloween would be over, and she'd be done with that painful memory, too.

  She reached for the locket she'd put on for her last shift. She didn't usually wear it on duty, but tonight it had felt appropriate. She unclasped the necklace and opened the locket to look at the smiling face of Hailey Peters, a beautiful, freckled redhead with a big smile—her face forever captured at twelve years old.

  "I did it, Hailey," she murmured. "I'm a doctor."

  For a moment, she thought she could hear Hailey's voice saying I knew you could. She smiled at the foolish thought, but silently offered up a thank you, knowing that Hailey's voice had gotten her through a lot of tough moments in her life.

  However, it was another voice that drew her head around. Josie Holt, a fellow resident, walked over to join her. Josie was a gregarious brunette who seemed able to maintain her happy nature no matter the circumstances. She'd also just finished her last day of residency.

  Katherine slipped the locket into her pocket as Josie handed her a beer.

  "This should be champagne, but we're not making real doctor money yet, so I settled for beer," Josie said with a grin.

  "It's perfect."

  Josie raised her bottle. "Here's to us, to a new beginning."

  "To us," Katherine echoed, as they clinked their bottles together.

  "Can you believe we actually made it?" Josie added, taking a swig of beer. "No more eighteen-hour shifts, no more working every holiday and every weekend, no more taking orders from Dr. Horrible."

  Katherine smiled. Dr. Horrible was a nickname for Dr. Mark Hutchinson, the brilliant but rigid physician who had terrorized them for the past year. "Would it sound traitorous if I said I think he might have made us better doctors?"

  Josie made a face at her. "He might have taught us a few things, but he didn't have to be such an asshole about it. He hated all of us. Actually, he tolerated you, because you're so damn good. In fact, you're the most single-minded, determined person I've ever met. If you don't know something, you make it your mission in life to figure it out. I've learned a lot from you, Katherine."

  "We've learned a lot from each other," she said, not completely comfortable with the compliment. Her single-minded focus might have been good for her career, but it had distanced her from everything and everyone else in her life. She'd left a lot of people behind on her way to this moment.

  "So, have you decided which job offer to take?" Josie asked. "Are you going to stay here in Houston, go back to Corpus Christi, or will New York or Los Angeles be lucky enough to get you?"

  "I haven't decided yet. What about you?"

  "I'm going home to Connecticut to join my uncle's practice. He has a well-estab
lished and mostly insured patient base. With all my debt, how can I say no?"

  Katherine shrugged. "Do you want to say no?"

  "It's not as exciting as hospital work, but it will be nice to get to know my patients, not just meet someone in the middle of a health crisis, not just think of them as whatever part of them is broken or diseased."

  Katherine nodded, but she didn't feel the same way Josie did. For her, it was easier to think of the problem than the patient. Emotions only got in the way.

  "I'm going to miss this view." Josie waved her hand toward the downtown Houston skyline. "Texas has gotten into my heart."

  The city was beautiful at night; the collection of lit-up architecturally magnificent skyscrapers had always been a nice distraction from the chaos of the ER. Katherine had come to this roof many a night when she needed a minute to breathe—not that she ever got much more than a minute—but the view had always calmed and inspired her.

  But for her, the real Texas was wide-open spaces, empty highways that went on for miles, spectacular storms, and home in Corpus Christi.

  "One thing I won't miss is rain and hail the size of baseballs," Josie added, putting out her hand as drops of rain began to fall. "Looks like another storm is on the way. Thank goodness it cleared up for the trick-or-treating. Fewer sopping wet children on Halloween means fewer kids coming in next week with colds and the flu. Not that we'll be here to deal with it."

  "It's weird to think that we won't be." She wrapped her arms around her waist as the wind made her shiver again. "Maybe it's the storm making me feel so edgy." The words slipped past her lips before she could stop them. She didn't normally share her emotions or her mood with coworkers simply because it didn't matter how she felt, only how she performed at her job.

  "Is that how you feel—edgy?" Josie tilted her head to the side, giving her a thoughtful look. "What's going on, Katherine? You should be happy. Today is the day of victory. We climbed Mount Everest, or at least our version of it, but you don't look very excited or relieved."

  "I am happy. I'm just too tired to celebrate, and I can't quite believe it's over. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I can't imagine what I'm going to do tomorrow when I wake up."

  "Well, sleep in for one. Then come join me for a much-needed massage at the Serenity Spa."

  "That is tempting."

  "Then let yourself be tempted for once in your life. You don't always have to be responsible. We can talk about it over better drinks. David is meeting us at Harry's Bar in a half hour. You should come. He's going to buy us champagne."

  "I don't want to be the third wheel on your date. Plus, it's Halloween. It will be crazy busy."

  "So what? As you just said, you don't have anything to do tomorrow. David has a bunch of guy friends coming. You'll have fun, I promise."

  Out of habit, she hesitated and then thought, why not? She'd turned down hundreds of invitations over the years. "All right. I'll meet you there. I'm just going to finish my beer and enjoy one last night on the roof."

  "Really? You're going to get wet."

  "It's barely drizzling." She'd spent so many hours of her life inside the hospital that she'd almost forgotten what it was like to be outside, to feel cold, to be out in the world.

  "Well, don't take too long."

  "I won't."

  After Josie left, Katherine took a sip of her beer and then pulled her phone out of her pocket as it started to vibrate.

  She frowned as she looked at her screen. The area code wasn't one she recognized, and it was late for a telemarketer. Hopefully, it wasn't one of her mom's caregivers on the phone. "Hello?"

  "Katherine?"

  "TJ?" Her brother's voice was muffled and scratchy. "What's wrong? Is it Mom?"

  "No, it's me. I'm in trouble, Katherine."

  "What's happened?"

  "They're all dead. I didn't understand how they were all connected, but now I think I do."

  "Who's dead?" she asked in alarm.

  "Everyone. Jerry. Professor Bryer. Connie. They're all dead," he said forcefully. "And I'm going to be next. They already tried to get me once. I can't wait for them to try again."

  "You're not making sense, TJ." The only name she'd recognized was Professor Bryer, the man TJ had worked under at the university, but he'd been murdered a year earlier, and she didn't think that had had anything to do with TJ. "What on earth is going on?"

  "I don't have time to explain. There's so much you don't know. It's too late to bring you into it. You can't help me, but you can help Mom. It's on you now, Katherine. She can't stay alone anymore. She's gotten much worse the past few weeks. I've set up round-the-clock caregivers to take care of her for the next two weeks, then it's your job to figure something out."

  "Wait," she said, suddenly panicked that he was about to hang up. "Let me help you, TJ. Whatever is wrong, we can go to the police. If you're in danger, they can protect you."

  "No one can protect me. They're too powerful, Katherine. And there's no one I can trust. Hell, I don't even know if I can trust you."

  Another shiver ran down her spine and the sense of foreboding she'd felt earlier returned. "Of course you can trust me; I'm your sister. Tell me where you are. I'll come to you."

  "I won't be here after I throw this phone away. And you can't come after me. They'll be watching you. If you book a flight to Mexico, they'll know I spoke to you. You'll be in danger."

  "Mexico?" she echoed in surprise. "What the hell are you doing in Mexico?"

  "I was asking myself that question until a few minutes ago. The less you know the better. I'll call you again—if I can. But if you don't hear from me, take care of Mom—"

  "Stop," she said, cutting him off. "Tell me where you're headed now."

  "I'm not entirely sure."

  "You must have some idea."

  "I need to disappear. The cities are too dangerous. I'm going to see if I can find the village where the world is stuck in time, where people linger in a civilization that died hundreds of years ago."

  His words ignited an old memory in her mind. "Are you talking about where Jake's great-grandmother lives?"

  "Maybe if I can turn back time, I can find my way back to who I'm supposed to be."

  She'd always thought her brother was a little on the dramatic side, but she could hear the fear in his voice. "TJ, please, tell me where you are right now. I'll meet you. I can fix this."

  "Not even you can fix this, Katherine. Just take care of Mom and if she's lucid, tell her I love her. Good-bye, Katherine."

  Her stomach churned. "This isn't good-bye, TJ. We're going to see each other again."

  "I hope so. Don't tell anyone I called, Katherine. Promise me."

  "TJ—"

  "Just promise."

  "I promise." She'd barely gotten the words out when the dial tone buzzed in her ear.

  Her hand shook as she stared down at the phone. She hit redial, but the call didn't go through.

  What should she do?

  She wanted to start making calls, but he'd just told her not to tell anyone. Was she really going to do the one thing he'd made her promise not to do?

  But she couldn't do nothing.

  Her father was dead. Her mother was suffering from dementia. TJ was all she had left of her once vibrant family, and she was the only one who could help him.

  But how?

  No immediate answer came to mind, but one thing was clear; she couldn't solve the problem from Houston. She needed to go home, see her mom, and then figure out how to find her brother.

  * * *

  After stopping at home to pack an overnight bag and fill a thermos with coffee, Katherine made the four-hour drive from Houston to Corpus Christi. She'd been wondering what she would do with her first day off in years, and it definitely hadn't been this. She had planned to go home, of course, but in a few days—when she'd had time to sleep and consider her job opportunities.

  Guilt ran through her at the selfishness of that thought. She'd let TJ carry the burd
en of her mom's illness since her father had died a year ago. She'd told herself she'd make it up to him and to her mom when she was done with her residency, when she had more time and more money to help make their lives easier. They'd both told her they understood, but that didn't necessarily make it right.

  Well, she couldn't change the past, but she could start being a better daughter and sister today.

  It was seven a.m. when she arrived in the modest neighborhood of single-family homes, where she'd lived from age thirteen to eighteen. They'd moved to Corpus Christi when her father, Ron Barrett, had become an English professor at Texas A&M. It had been a good move for him and for her, Katherine thought. After Hailey's death, it had been horribly painful to walk by her best friend's house every day on her way to school.

  She pulled into the driveway and turned off the car. As she looked at the house, she felt a mix of emotions. This house had once been the centerpiece of her happy family. Her dad had been a gregarious man who'd always welcomed his colleagues and grad students into his home. Her mother, Debbie, had been a stay-at-home mom, and she'd been involved in everything her children did from soccer to horseback riding and science fairs. Katherine had taken it all for granted. She'd always expected her parents to be here in this house when she came home.

  Unfortunately, her father had suffered a fatal heart attack a year ago and without warning he was gone. Shortly thereafter, her mother had had a mini-stroke, the beginning of what had been a mental slide into dementia. Her father was too young to be deceased, and her mother was too young to be losing her mind, but as Katherine had learned the past few years, illness and injury could strike anyone at any time.

  Grabbing her overnight bag, she got out of the car and walked across the lawn. When she stepped onto the porch, she was assailed with more memories from the past. The porch swing with its now-faded cushions and rusty iron chains had been her favorite place to read, and she'd always been a big reader. How could she not be with a father who was an English teacher?