Dangerous Memories Read Online Free Page A

removed his coat, she wondered if the cotton had shrunk to form-fit the muscles across his arms and chest.
    Add ‘don’t watch Levi undress’ to the Don’t List.
    She took a deepbreath, relaxed her shoulders and stretched her neck. She could do this.
    Life with her father had always been a list of don’ts. Her father had drilled it into her head to be safe. Don’t get too far from home. Don’t be out of cell range. Don’t go anywhere alone. Don’t write letters. Don’t forget to check in. And most importantly—don’t make friends.
    Perhaps that’s why it had been so easyto accept that her father had been released from WITSEC. Levi was introduced as a friend and their friendly relationship seemed to have been encouraged.
    Naïve. She’d been so naïve. But no longer.
    None of it was real. The two men in her life had shared a secret and that hurt most of all.
    But she could hold on to her own secrets. Levi might think he knew about the nightmares, butshe wouldn’t admit anything. If she focused, she could keep the details to herself. She’d never share how the dream about a white room was streaked with red. She seemed to look through fog and dark red would be everywhere.
    She couldn’t lie to herself any longer and claim it was just her imagination fabricating a part of her mother’s death. Or that it was a dream she’d thought couldn’t possiblybe related to anything real. Until this afternoon.
    Not a dream at all. The rest of the images were fuzzy, blurred to where she couldn’t take a guess at what they represented. What had she seen when the man had yelled “gun”? The harder she tried to focus, the less clear it became.
    “You won’t get home faster by clicking your ruby-red slippers and making a wish.”
    “I didn’t hear you.”
    “That’s becoming a habit.”
    “Please stop lecturing and let’s eat.” She lifted the stowaway table, but he put his hands on top of hers. Levi had instructed her to stay put and had supposedly gone in search of food. His hands were empty.
    “You sure you don’t want a shower first?” he asked.
    “No food?”
    “Dining car isn’t serving until we get underway.”
    “And you aren’t sharingwhere you really went.” She began to lift the table again. “So let’s look at the letter.”
    He smiled and shook his head.
    “You’re not going to show me the letter until the train is moving.” She dropped the tray into its slot and relaxed on the couch again, pulling her feet under her, not caring about her muddy, damp clothing. It was his bed. “You’re afraid I won’t stay? Levi, I have nowhereelse to go. You’re stuck with me a while.”
    “Very perceptive.”
    “Not normally.” The facts of her parents’ deaths evaded her. She’d been duped by the two closest people in her life. No, she wasn’t feeling very smart at the moment.
    “I’ll feel a bit more comfortable once we’re out of St. Louis,” he said.
    “It’s been an exhausting day.” She just didn’t have the energy to think aboutanything. She tucked a pillow by her ear, propping herself up against the wall, trying her best to stay awake. She closed her eyes. “This conversation is taking too much effort.”
    Gun!
    She heard the word through a fog on a hillside. What had happened to the rain? A rainbow shattered, splintering through the white. Something. She tried to grab hold. A face? A...what was it? Remember. Shehad to remember. But if she did, she’d get hurt. Mama told her...she said not to say a word. What is it? She’s so close. Remember. Don’t...remember.
    “Dad!”
    She’d shouted herself awake. The ker-thunk she felt in her chest was her heart, not the train. She rubbed away the sleep and what little makeup might have remained on her eyes.
    “You okay?” Levi stood bare-chested directly infront of her.
    “Yeah. Fine.”
    “Bad dream?” he asked with that knowing smile of his.
    “I think so. This is so silly. I should be able to remember. I just woke