Shimmer: A Novel Read Online Free Page A

after Liana turned off the bedside lamp, she wasn’t surprised to hear Thalia climb out of her bed and join Liana. Thalia draped an arm around Liana’s neck and whispered in her ear. “I still hear them screaming.”
    Liana felt a lump in her throat. She stroked her sister’s hair.
    “Make them stop,” Thalia whispered. “Please? Sing ‘little star.’”
    Liana took a deep, tremulous breath and sang softly, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”

Chapter 4
    Laramie, Wyoming
    In darkness, Gideon Walker sat in a kitchen chair in his rancher, a tumbler half filled with scotch held in his hand, staring through the bay window into the night. Although he had excellent night vision, his gaze was unfocused at the moment, his attention turned inward. He’d made a life for himself here, far from all of them—he even owned a small construction business—but he still experienced days that made him feel as if he’d never left. Premonitions that all was not right in the world. Reminders that he’d once had a part to play in righting the wrongs, a role he’d abandoned when he realized the cost was too high and that he was no longer good enough. Being born to a job didn’t exclude the possibility of resigning. Free will, choices, all of it, told him to move on. He’d served his time, paid his price. He had nothing more to offer.
    His left hand rose to that side of his face, almost touching the furrowed scars that flowed from his forehead down to his neck… almost. No need for physical contact. He’d memorized every twisted runnel. For a moment, his fingers paused over the black cloth patch and the useless socket it concealed. The facial scars, while unpleasant, were basically superficial, but the missing eye was a real deficit. No amount of pride or self-esteem could overcome that loss. It had changed the shape and course of his life.
    Let others pick up the gauntlet, rush into the fray.
    He whispered into the darkness, his voice a grim rasp. “I did my time.”
    Nevertheless, he’d felt the old stirrings today. Something was coming. Something big. He’d cut himself off, but would never be completely free. Not without some radical form of gene therapy, a complete revision of his doomed DNA. The family had a young douser, somebody who sensed the trouble ahead. In contrast, Gideon sensed the aftershocks. Not a very useful talent by any stretch, but one likely to give him nightmares or toss his stomach.
    Can’t live with them,
he thought in resignation,
can’t live away from them.
    He leaned back in his chair and reached for the phone—a moment before it rang—an anticipatory response he’d stopped questioning a long time ago. It was part of the phenomenal reflexes ability he shared with his brother, Barrett. Instead of a greeting, Gideon said, “How did you get this number, old man?”
    “I don’t know,” the familiar, amusingly befuddled voice said. “Just came to me, I imagine. Were you expecting my call?”
    “Had a feeling,” Gideon said and stood. Never comfortable talking on the phone while sitting. Nervously, his free hand spread the stack of newspapers across the round oak kitchen table. He’d folded each paper to the story of a missing or murdered child. Authorities had recovered three bodies, hideously mutilated. Two children were still missing. Gideon knew it was only a matter of time before they found the bodies. “Been one of those days.”
    “Quite,” Ambrose Walker said. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re awake.”
    “I recall asking you not to call me.”
    “Right,” Ambrose said and cleared his throat. “So you did. Ah, but desperate times call for long distance measures.”
    “It’s a big family, old man,” Gideon said. “Flip to the next card in your mental Rolodex.”
    Ambrose sighed. “Gideon, we have lost so many…”
    “I’m not lost,” Gideon said. “I have a new home.”  He glanced around his Spartan surroundings. Utilitarian was the word for it. No plants, living or