A Familiar Sight (Dr. Gretchen White, #1)

by Brianna Labuskes

Marconi took a half step forward, and he wondered what he’d sounded like just then, how he had been almost yelling before. How that last bit had come out quiet and controlled. And he realized it was the exact same tone Claire used before she brought a lit cigarette down on his thigh. It was the exact same tone Viola used when she’d told him how she’d skinned the rabbit alive. It was the voice of a psychopath. And it had come from him. But Gretchen recovered swiftly, waving her hand at him like he wasn’t about to kill her in cold blood. “Will you put the gun down? Marconi is going to pop a blood vessel.” Marconi huffed, but her eyes were locked on Reed, her stance battle-ready. He lowered his weapon but didn’t drop it. It wasn’t just the easy out. It was his only out. One way or another. “What’s going to happen?” he asked. “You are going to put down that gun before you accidentally shoot your foot and embarrass everyone,” Gretchen said. “And I am going to convince Marconi here that she came into the house five minutes later than she actually did.” Reed didn’t blink, didn’t react. But his lungs filled with air, his head stopped pounding. And deep in his chest, a tiny spark flared to life. He knew that spark was dangerous, and yet it was there anyway, waiting to catch fire. “No,” Marconi corrected. “Mr. Kent is going to put down his gun, and then we’re all going to go down to the station and figure this out.” Which was why hope was dangerous. His fingers tightened around the ...