Volcano Read Online Free Page B

kind of longing. But it had
been swept away just as surely as the thread-bare sands beneath a turning tide. And now, there was nothing left but the crashing
surf and her fleeing emotion. Somewhere between the baby and his work, Mark had
lost sight of the power rushing between them. And where there’d once flowed
love, now only existed an empty ocean.
    Ana placed her hands on his shoulders and attempted to push
him back, but he held on tight, as he always did, in telling reassurance he’d
never let her go. And, a part of her didn’t want to be let go. Her heart, her
soul wanted desperately to hang on. Hold on to what was familiar. But another, more fervent part of herself, needed to be set free. Free from this entanglement called home, laden with expectations and demands-
demands she increasingly appeared unable to meet.
    Ana wished so badly she could simplify. Somehow cleave her
spirit in two and be, at once who she aspired to be, and the woman Mark wanted.
But every passing day, it seemed more impossible to conquer that double
ambition.
    “Ana,” Mark said, resting his forehead against hers and
pulling back his lips. “You really need to be more careful.”
    She wasn’t the only one, Ana realized, shivering as the
coldness engulfed her. Their troubles had to do with more than Ana falling off
the steps. They were rooted right here in this very room and anchored in a
relationship that wasn’t. “That’s what you keep telling me,” she said, as the
noodles boiled over and sent steaming liquid hissing onto the stove.

CHAPTER 3

 
    Major Carolyn Walker strode in and plopped another group of
files on top of the existing heap on Mark’s desk with a sigh. “You’re not going
to like this, Chief.”
    Mark brought a stiff hand to his temples and massaged a
moment before looking up. “How many?”
    “Another thirteen.”
    “My lucky day.”
    “No, sir. More of these reports coming in over the wires.”
    Mark laid a hand on the stack and glanced over Carolyn’s
shoulder out the open door. “Close the door, Major.”
    Major Walker squared her shoulders beneath her impeccably
tailored uniform and went to shut the door with short, brisk strides. She
returned and stood as straight as a fresh-starched shirt in front of Mark’s desk.
She’d been decorated twice in Desert Storm.
    “At ease, Major. Have a seat.”   Although technically a civilian, in
DIPAC’s grand scheme, Mark Neal still out-ranked her and knew the only way to
get a woman like Carolyn Walker to sit was to damn well order her to. “How many
more?” he asked, once she’d positioned herself, straight-arrow ,
in the chair opposing his desk.
    “Can’t say yet, sir. But if you’ll pardon my French, this
thing’s a damn bit scary. Almost like we’ve got an epidemic on our hands.”
    Mark drew a gold pen from his shirt pocket and thumped it
against his desk. “What kind of epidemic, Major?”
    “Not for me to say, sir. Better to let the people in
analysis-”
    “Your opinion, Major.”
    “An intelligence scare, sir.”
    “Intelligence scare?”   The very words made his temples constrict anew. It was true; every one
of the thirty-nine cases presented thus far had to do with somebody in or
linked to a person in the intelligence field.
    So far, there’d been nebulous incidents: house fires in
Upper Northwest DC, unexplained accidents at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, street
muggings just outside of US military bases in the UK, Germany and Hawaii. This
thing was already taking on worldwide proportions, and from what Carolyn was
telling him, the sickness was spreading. Not only that, it was escalating. Each
subsequently reported act was more vile and menacing than the last.
    “It’s the only association I see, sir. But, of course,
that’s not my training.”    Major Walker’s training was in battlefield logistics, but as far as Mark
was concerned her vision was twenty-twenty when it came to threat and analysis
work as well.  
    “Thank you,