Remembered by Moonlight Read Online Free Page B

about to slip into the vehicle, when a single word tore through his head like a bullet.
    “Max!”
    He gripped the metal frame, creasing it as his hands convulsed and knees buckled. Waves of heat, cold, and shaky sickness swept over him. Blood dripped from his nose, dotting his crisp white shirt front. From a long way away, he felt Giles grasp his arms to keep him from going down, from falling into that sudden sinkhole pulling at his senses.
    Just when he thought he might recover, the anxious voice came again, louder, sharper, slicing between his ears.
    “Help me, Max!”
    ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
    “So?”
    Cee Cee glanced at her partner. “So, what?”
    “So what’s with you and Savoie?”
    Though she enjoyed her conversations with MacCreedy, this was one topic she wished to avoid. She stared determinedly out the windshield as they waited for a cargo container to be moved out of their way. “Things are fine.”
    “Define fine.”
    “Better than before.” Before, when Max had first opened his eyes in the back of the speeding SUV after she, Giles and Susanna freed him from an experimentation table in Chicago. When he’d looked up at her, eyes wild with disoriented panic. Before, when she’d told him her name and gotten no reaction. Before, when he’d fought and struggled against their attempts to penetrate the blankness those bastards in the North had left in his once razor-sharp mind. Now wasn’t great, but it was better.
    “He giving you any problems?” A hint of concern edged the calmly asked question.
    “No. We’ve come to a tentative arrangement. I’m not sure trust is involved yet, but need is a good substitute. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and I’m his best option at the moment.”
    How that truth hurt.
    For now, his desperation let her control him. But that wouldn’t last forever. Max was getting stronger every day. He’d been bred to adapt, to learn quickly, to blend in. Soon he’d be able to navigate this foreign world on his own. Without her.
    She tapped the dash with restless hands, eager to get moving. Anything to prevent Silas from pursuing the uncomfortable conversation. She wasn’t ready to bare a heart she’d kept carefully closed off until Max Savoie had found the way inside. “LaRoche is probably in his office at the club doing the books. Maybe he can shed some light on this mess at the morgue.” She glanced over her shoulder and frowned at the sight of semi-tractor and trailer backing across the pavement behind them. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. This is getting ridiculous.”
    MacCreedy looked in the rearview mirror. He wasn’t amused.
    “Hang on.”
    At his grim warning, Cee Cee grabbed the dash and the Oh Shit handle above the door to avoid being whipped about the bucket seat as Silas executed a sharp, tire-squealing turn, hoping to cut around the big rig before they were blocked in. No such luck. He backed quickly into another tight half circle to find their only two exits closed off.
    “Call for backup.” Silas began reaching toward the small of his back for his service piece. “This isn’t going to be pret—”
    There wasn’t time to brace, as a lift truck suddenly appeared on the driver’s side. Violent impact rocked the vehicle as its raised forks pierced through the door panel. One impaled MacCreedy’s thigh, pinning him as they were steadily pushed toward the edge of the wharf and the deep waters far below.
    “Silas!” Cee Cee reached frantically for his seat belt, but his hip was smashed against the dividing console. She couldn’t get to the release.
    He pushed her away, his features tight and gray with pain. “No time. Get out. Get out!”
    Gun in hand, Cee Cee pulled herself through the passenger side window, crouching over the roof to get off several shots at the driver of the lift. The car shook, spoiling her aim, sending her bullets careening off the protective roll cage.
    Then, a tremendous jolt as they hit the raised lip of the pier sent her