The Whisper of Stars Read Free Page B

knocking him sideways, and just made it through to see Aldridge on the edge of the platform attempting to sidestep his assailant. Jen drew her weapon. Mrs Harvey was yelling, lips drawn over her teeth like a snarling wolf.
    ‘This is what happens when you promise someone the earth!’ she cried. ‘You promised me, Marcus! You told me you loved me.’
    ‘Don’t move. Stay where you are!’ Jen shouted.
    The woman didn’t react.
    ‘Victoria!’ Jen shouted again.
    She watched Mrs Harvey leap up and push Marcus Aldridge hard in the chest. He flew back and away from the platform, seeming to hover in the air for a second before disappearing in a sudden, sickening rush of steel. The terrible image of the train smashing his body was followed by a hiss of brakes and the screams of unfortunate witnesses. Mrs Harvey was on her knees, a look of simple confusion. Jen kept her gun trained on her, knowing that Marcus Aldridge’s terrified expression would stay with her forever – a horrifying mix of shock, disbelief and fear – and that Operation Penthouse had just become a lot more complicated.

Chapter 4
    Nathan O’Brien glanced around the empty lounge, fresh magnolia paint covering memories of a life long gone. Notes were spread randomly around him, pieces of an elusive puzzle that remained just out of reach. He studied them, mumbling, looking for a connection he’d missed. His wife Katherine had been onto something, a story she believed would be the biggest of her career. It had become her obsession, and it had gotten her killed.
    Nathan corrected himself. Murdered.
    He played her final message again, her voice cramping his stomach and tightening his throat. Kat was meeting a man she thought might have some answers. She told Nathan she loved him, that he shouldn’t worry. The message ended.
    At first, Nathan thought he might be able to accept the official story. ‘Katherine O’Brien, investigative journalist for the Montreal News , tragically killed in mugging gone wrong.’It was believable. That sort of thing happened. Just not to people like Kat. She was streetwise, capable and smart.
    Nathan gathered his notes, each name, word and place memorised. He would burn them in the garden and then leave this place for good. A place where grief had owned him and days had threatened to stretch on forever.
    He couldn’t say how, but he’d eventually crawled his way out of that all-consuming grief, a simple word nourishing him back from the edge.
    Revenge .
    He would find those responsible and kill them. Gradually, the singular clarity of revenge became something more, something richer and deeper. He knew that retribution would only offer a brief respite from his pain. He needed to honour her somehow, finish her work, write the story – even it meant bringing down the whole house of cards. Then, and only then, would he would allow himself his sweet reward.
    If revenge meant his own death, then so be it; he would have nothing left to live for.
    A few years ago, all of this would have been impossible to imagine. He had been a lecturer in computer science and programming, a loving husband with a future stretching out in soft focus ahead of him. It had been a quiet life, and it had suited him just fine.
    All that was blown away in a second.
    The death threats had started a few months back. They scared him at first, but then he understood; it meant he must be close. They had helped him realise what he needed to do. If he was going to track them down, he needed to become a ghost.
    He took one last look around the house, their once-happy home, wincing at the Sold sign on the front lawn. The money from the sale combined with their savings should be enough. It would have to be.
    He played her final message again. How many times had he listened to it? A hundred? More? Her upbeat tone and excitement crushed his heart anew but also strengthened his resolve. He almost played it again, his mind hovering for an age, but managed, in the end, to