Road Rage Read Online Free Page A

Hall of Fame. She couldn’t lift it off the dresser or even slide it a millimeter in any direction.
    She couldn’t open drawers. She couldn’t leave a smudged fingerprint on the mirror. Fear slithered down her spine like trickles of ice water.
    Beside the hamper, a crumpled sock collected dust. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she nudged it with her toe. It wouldn’t move. Crouching down and fighting tears, she curled her fingers in the oddly-stiff ridges of cotton and pulled with everything she had. She pulled until her shoulders creaked and the cotton cut into her hands. And still, the darn thing wouldn’t move. The world was frozen to her. Like a movie on pause. She could feel, but she couldn’t be felt.
    She fell back on her butt and yelled, “Get me out of here! I want to wake up!”
    The man didn’t stir. No sound came from down the hall.
    Loneliness closed around her, and she desperately wished she could remember her name. “It’s only a dream,” she told herself, but bands of despair squeezed her chest.
    Time passed far too slowly for her to buy the dream theory any longer. Dreams shouldn’t be this boring. And crazy ought to be way more fun. Which meant she’d have to consider the possibility she might be–
    A quiet sob drew her attention to the bed. Eager to abandon the depressing train of thought, she crept to the man’s side. Anxiety lined his forehead. His chest rose and fell erratically. He made soft whimpering sounds, terrified sounds.
    Worried he might cry out again and wake up his daughter, she said, “Easy. Take it easy. You’re okay. You’re not alone.” She brushed her knuckles over the hair at his temple. The soft strands moved under her touch.
    The knot of unease in her stomach relaxed. So did the man’s brow. He stopped whimpering.
    “That’s right. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” She stroked his hair less tentatively, letting her fingers comb through to his warm scalp. “Nothing to be afraid of.”
    She kept stroking even after his dream seemed to be over, unsure who was more comforted.
     

 
    Chapter 3
     
    The cab of Derek’s truck smelled like coconut sunscreen and French fries. Across the console, Haley bounced to the beat of some pop song on the channel he’d let her choose. She had on a purple sundress, and the laces of her swimsuit made a neon-blue bow behind her neck. Her tanned shoulders glowed from their afternoon at Shasta Lake, and she kicked her sandaled feet at a rumpled McDonald’s bag.
    “Thanks for the fries,” she said as she licked salt off her fingers. “Mom won’t let me get them. If we go to McDonalds, I have to get apple slices.”
    “Well, that’s okay. Apples are better for you than fries.”
    She wrinkled her nose.
    “But fries are okay sometimes,” he added, reaching over to ruffle her hair.
    She swatted his hand away with a roll of her eyes. But she had a lopsided smile for him too.
    “Want to get a movie?” he asked.
    “Sure. Can it be Tyler’s Ransom? ”
    “No. I hate those teen movies. And you’re too young for them.”
    “Am not. Mom let me see it with Annabel in the theater.”
    He’d have to talk to Deidre about that. He’d seen the previews for Tyler’s Ransom, and he didn’t like the thought of Haley seeing a film where a teen-singer-turned-actress showed that much cleavage and kissed a guy with tongue. “How about E.T. ?”
    “That movie’s so old.”
    “It’s not old, it’s a classic. I loved it when I was your age.”
    “It’s low budget.” She tossed her ponytail in disgust. “They didn’t even have CGI back then. And classic is just another word for old.”
    He shook his head. His little girl was growing up too fast. “How’s this? You can pick the movie, but I get veto power.”
    “You get two vetos.”
    “I get unlimited vetos, but I’ll throw in a bucket of popcorn.”
    She puckered her mouth while she thought about it. “And a bag of Red Vines?”
    “Deal.”
    Half an hour later, he