Ed stared at the blank screen. “Who the hell is it?”
Gaia shushed him with a sharp hiss, as a graphic began to appear on the screen — a message, snaking its way from the right side, one letter at a time: C . . . A . . . N Y . . . O . . . U
The voice continued as the letters slid into view. “He’s well enough for the moment but around, oh, say, ten o’clock this evening, he’ll be needing his insulin, quite desperately. And that, my darling Gaia, is where you come in. You must pass a series of tests. If you do so by ten o’clock tonight, we will free Sam. If you do not . . .”
The graphic slithered by: S . . . A . . . V . . . E
“. . . He will die!”
S . . . A . . . M . . .?
For a moment, the question trembled there on the dark screen. CAN YOU SAVE SAM? Then the letters went spinning off into the infinite background, and another message appeared in an eye-searing flash of brightness. It read:
You will find on your front step a
videotape. You will play it during your
first-period class. DO NOT view the
tape prior to showing it in school.
Without warning, the e-mail broadcast returned, showing a close-up of Sam’s beaten face, frightened eyes, his mouth forming a word, and the word came screaming through the speaker in Sam’s voice.
“Gaia!”
Then, nothing. The image and the audio were gone, and the computer whirred softly, until George’s sickening screen saver — a scanned-in photo of Ella — returned to the screen.
Gaia sprung up from the chair, and flew to the front door, which she flung open. The early-morning October air sparkled and the neighborhood was just coming alive with people on their way to work and school. Gaia paid no attention. Her eyes searched the front stoop until they found the package.
She lunged for it.
Gaia had no idea who had done this. She had no idea why. But she wasn’t about to ask questions.
Not with Sam’s life on the line.
Don’t miss any books in this thrilling new series:
#1 Fearless
#2 Sam
Available from POCKET PULSE
To Molly Jessica W. Wenk
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An Original Publication of POCKET BOOKS
POCKET PULSE, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
Produced by 17th Street Productions, Inc., a division of Daniel Weiss Associates, Inc. 33 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011
Visit us on the World Wide Web:
http://www.SimonSays.com
Copyright © 1999 by Francine Pascal
Cover art copyright © 1999 by 17th Street Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information address 17th Street Productions, Inc.,
33 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011, or Pocket Books,
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
ISBN-10: 0-743-43406-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-3406-5
Contents
TWO THINGS
JONES
NO BULLET
GAIA
DESPERATE
A BOMB
ONE SMALL COMMENT
LONELY HEARTS
REMARKABLE GIRL
LIKE A DRUG
A LAME COME-ON
COLD BLOOD
CUNNING INTELLIGENCE
NOT YET
SAM
HAZARDS
AN OCEAN AWAY
A THREAT
SEARCH
GETTING LUCKY
CAN HE RESIST?
GAIA
SENT MAIL
GAIA SIGHTING
URGENT LONGING
(SIR) THOMAS MOORE
ABOUT SEX
A CREEPY PERVERT
HOW HE FEELS
GHOSTS
REMEMBERING KATIA
DARTS
IMPOSSIBLE
THE VIGILANTE
NO MORE THINKING
WEARING PATIENCE
CLINGING
FROM THE WAIST DOWN
CONDOM SHOPPING
THE WRONG GIRL
HEATHER
READY. OR NOT.
JUST GO
HESITANT
SINCERE
A FAILED EXPERIMENT
ED
IT
THE BIG MOMENT
CRUEL LUCK: 1
2
2 ½
JUST CRUEL
THE CHASE
THE PARK . . .
10th St. & 5th Ave.
17th St. & 6th Ave.
17th St. & 7th Ave.
BACK UP A MINUTE
A BRIEF VISIT WITH HEATHER
AND ANOTHER WITH ED
HELL’S KITCHEN
39th St. & 11th Ave.
44th St.
BANG
GAIA’S BACK
HER FATHER
NOT NOTHING
A SOULLESS VIPER
THE DARK HALF
IF YOU LOVE SOMETHING . . .
BAD CHOICE
BEING BRAVE
HERE IS A SNEAK PEEK OF FEARLESS™ #3: RUN
GAIA
SAVE SAM
YOU’VE GOT MAIL