Reunion Read Free Page B

fresh mound of earth was completely covered by the long-stemmed beauties.
    But when it came time to decorate Angela Connor’s side of the grave, he unwrapped the first bundle of roses, then hesitated. There was something he’d left undone. He dropped back to his knees and picked up a single, long-stemmed rose. Then, one by one, he began breaking the thorns off the stem. Only after it was completely smooth and unable to harm did he lay it upon the ground. He picked up another and began to repeat the same process all over again, echoing a habit his mother had practiced for all her life.
    The rose had been her favorite flower, but she had frequently commented upon the irony of such beauty being capable of causing such pain and had done what she thought was fitting by removing the thorns from her glorious bouquets.
    The process was tedious, and more than once he pricked his own finger. But the pain was nothing to what he was feeling inside. His grief gave way as he dropped the last rose to the ground. Tears ran hot and angry, and rage filled him.
    “Ah, God, why them and not me?”
    But there were no answers. In spite of the heat of the day, a chill settled inside him. Weary beyond belief, he started back to the car. A few yards away, he heard someone sobbing. Startled, he turned to look. There was no one there. He touched his cheeks, but his own tears had already dried.
    The voice. It was back. Foreboding swept over him in waves of defeat. He thrust his hand through his hair, feeling the place where they’d shaved it to stitch up the wounds.
    “Leave me alone,” he muttered. “I’ve got troubles of my own.”
    After that, the voice was strangely silent.

Two
    B rent Connor had founded Straight Arrow Security when Gabriel was ten. Gabriel had joined the company straight out of college. Now it was all his, and he didn’t want it.
    It wasn’t that he didn’t know the job. It was the being in control that bothered him. He kept asking himself how the hell could he operate a million-dollar business when he couldn’t control his own thoughts?
    Twice in the past few days he’d come close to telling his uncle Mike about the voice. The man was a psychiatrist. Surely he’d heard wilder stories from other patients. But an instinct for self-preservation kept him quiet. He’d convinced himself that this was nothing more than an anomaly, and that it would eventually go away. Therefore, the less people who knew what was happening to him, the better off he would be. That was what he’d told himself. That was what he believed.
    And yet, when they turned into the winding drive leading to the Connor estate, Gabriel found himself beginning to panic. Could he live among the memories without losing his mind? He shuddered. Maybe it was too late. Maybe his sanity was already coming undone.
    He shoved aside the negative thoughts and made himself focus on the three-story mansion with its gleaming white walls and elegant Corinthian columns. Like four guards on duty, they stood two stories tall, bracing a third-story balcony that ran the length of the home.
    His gaze moved from the house to the grounds, and even though he couldn’t see it, he knew the most beautiful spot was his mother’s rose garden at the back of the estate. His belly knotted, and he wondered if this would ever feel like home again.
    Mike parked and then pointed toward the house. “Matty must have been watching for us. Here she comes.”
    Gabriel tensed. Facing her wouldn’t be easy.
    Matty Sosa was more like a grandparent to Gabriel than the family housekeeper. When she saw him, her face crumpled, and she began to hug him fiercely.
    “ Madre de Dios. You are too thin.”
    Gabriel managed a smile as he returned her embrace. “Hospital food isn’t as good as your cooking.”
    Matty dabbed at her eyes with the hem of her apron. Desperate for something to do, she reached for Gabriel’s bag.
    “Enter, enter,” she commanded, and led the way inside the house. “I will