Specter Rising (Brimstone Network Trilogy) Read Online Free

done it without them—his initial team—but Emily’s cell began to ring and she quickly took her small portable phone from her pocket to see who it was.
    “It’s my folks,” she said, standing up and walking away.
    Bram looked over to where Bogey had just been sitting and found the seat empty. His plate had been cleaned and added to the other three, and the Mauthe Dhoog was gone, likely having rifted away.
    “So much for stimulating dinner conversation,” he muttered, finishing up his water.
    Bram left the table, looking around at the agents mingling with one another. It felt good to see, but it also made him a little sad. He wished his father were there to see how much he had achieved, but then again, if it were not for his father’s death, none of this would have happened.
    Walking through the doorway out of the dining hall,he almost tripped over Dez as he rolled around the corner in his wheelchair.
    “Hey, Dez,” Bram said, immediately on guard. It had been two days since the handicapped boy had buried his father, and not once had Bram asked how he was doing.
    “Hey,” the boy answered softly, briefly making eye contact.
    “Are you doing okay?” Bram asked.
    Dez nodded, and then shrugged. “It is what it is,” he said. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”
    Pangs of guilt needled Bram. If it were not for him, and his desire to see Douglas St. Laurent finally laid to rest, the man’s animated body would have likely still been around. Bram knew it was for the best, but he wasn’t sure if Dez felt, or ever would feel, the same.
    “Do you need anything?” Bram asked, immediately regretting the question.
    Dez just looked at him. “No,” he finally answered. “Everything’s great.”
    Bram knew that wasn’t the case at all, but decided he would leave it there. Dez had to deal with his grief in his own way; Bram just hoped that Dez knew if he needed somebody to talk to, he and the other members of the original team were there for him.
    “Going to have some dinner?” Bram asked stupidly.
    “Yeah,” Dez answered, staring into the hall.
    “Well, don’t let me keep you,” Bram said, stepping out of the boy’s path.
    His thoughts were suddenly filled with the memory of the service they’d had for Dez’s father three days before. He remembered the intensity of the sadness that he’d seen in Dez’s eyes, and how it had stirred emotions he hadn’t had the opportunity to experience after learning of his own father’s passing.
    There hadn’t been time for mourning then; he had a Network to build and a world to protect. Dez’s father’s service had provided him with an opportunity denied to him up until this point.
    “Have a good night,” Dez said with a wave over his shoulder as he rolled himself toward Stitch’s food station.
    “I’ll certainly try,” Bram answered, missing his father more then than he had in a very long time.

3. J OHANNA SAT ON THE WOOD BENCH IN FRONT the train station waiting for the 7:25 back to the city.
    The creepy guy Stitch had dropped her at the station just after six; there had been a 5:45 that she had missed, so she’d had no choice but to wait and to think about what she was going to do after she got back.
    She’d tried to make conversation with the large, pale-skinned man, getting only grunts and silence as she tried to explain her—what did her parents refer to it as? Oh yeah, her rather caustic personality.
    He didn’t seem all that interested, and dumped her at the station with not so much as a Hey, it was nice meetin’ ya.
    The ghost dogs whined around her, sniffing the ground at her feet. They were picking up on her feelings, reacting to her agitation.
    And yes, she was agitated.
    Johanna had always wanted to be part of something, but could never quite figure out where she belonged She’d tried to join the various clubs and organizations at school, but never seemed to make it through the first meeting without being asked to leave.
    Don’t even get her