CUT AND RUN
Chapter One
THE PRESENT
Of all things, Larson thought he recognized her laugh. Here,
where he least expected it. It carried like a shot, well past his ears
and spilling down into the audience where it ran into a waterfall of
others-though none exactly like it-and broke to pieces before
the footlights and spots that made the dust in the air look like snow.
It might as well have lodged in his chest, the way it stole his breath.
He'd started the day perfectly, the way he wished he could start
every day, busting his body into a sweat while pulling on twin
sticks of composite carbon painted on the scoop in a diagonal of rich
burgundy and black, the owner's college colors no doubt, driving
the borrowed scull through swirls of no-see-ums and gnats so thick
he clenched his teeth to filter them out, the occasional dragonfly
darting swiftly alongside as if challenging him to a race. He'd been
up before the birds, and would be done-put away and showered,
Creve Coeur Lake behind him-before the rush-hour traffic made
the city's famous arch stand still.
He'd taken in the play on a whim, calling the b ... read full excerpt from Cut & Run ebook
