A Raging Dawn
A RAGING DAWN
Fatal Insomnia Book #2
CJ Lyons
Praise for New York Times Bestseller CJ Lyons:
"Everything a great thriller should be—action packed, authentic, and intense." ~#1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child
"A compelling new voice in thriller writing…I love how the characters come alive on every page." ~
New York Times
bestselling author Jeffery Deaver
"Top Pick! A fascinating and intense thriller." ~ RT Book Reviews
"An intense, emotional thriller…(that) climbs to the edge of intensity." ~National Examiner
"A perfect blend of romance and suspense. My kind of read." ~#
1 New York Times
Bestselling author Sandra Brown
"Highly engaging characters, heart-stopping scenes…one great rollercoaster ride that will not be stopping anytime soon." ~Bookreporter.com
"
Adrenalin pumping." ~The Mystery Gazette
"Riveting." ~Publishers Weekly Beyond Her Book
Lyons "is a master within the genre." ~Pittsburgh Magazine
"Will leave you breathless and begging for more." ~Romance Novel TV
"A great fast-paced read….Not to be missed." ~Book Addict
"
Breathtakingly fast-paced." ~Publishers Weekly
"Simply superb…riveting drama…a perfect ten." ~Romance Reviews Today
"Characters with beating hearts and three dimensions." ~Newsday
"A pulse-pounding adrenalin rush!" ~Lisa Gardner
"Packed with adrenalin." ~David Morrell
"…Harrowing, emotional, action-packed and brilliantly realized." ~Susan Wiggs
"Explodes on the page…I absolutely could not put it down." ~Romance Readers' Connection
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems-except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews-without permission in writing from its publisher.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2015, CJ Lyons
Library of Congress Case # 1-273031561
A RAGING DAWNFatal Insomnia, Book #2
CJ Lyons
Welcome to the second in the Fatal Insomnia Medical Thrillers. The adventure starts in
FAREWELL TO DREAMS
, followed by A RAGING DAWN, and will continue in Book #3, THE SLEEPLESS STARS.
To be the first to hear about the next installment, be sure to sign up for my
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newsletter. You’ll also receive a
FREE
copy of the first in the Lucy Guardino FBI Thriller series, SNAKE SKIN.
Happy reading!
CJ
To fear love is to fear life,
and those who fear life
are already three parts dead.
~Bertrand Russell
Chapter 1
LIVING WITH LIES
means sleeping with fear. Or in my case,
not
sleeping and running away like a thief racing the dawn.
The December moonlight eased its way through the sheer curtains of Ryder’s bedroom, as I scanned his dresser. I wanted to make certain I hadn’t left anything behind. It wasn’t as if I could never come back if I forgot something, but I didn’t want to make assumptions. Or promises I couldn’t keep.
Ozzie, the service dog who’d adopted me, looked up from where he lay in front of the door, blocking my escape. A sigh heaved through his body in the way only fat, pampered, well-loved Labs can sigh.
“Hush,” I whispered, mindful of Ryder still asleep in the bed I’d just left. “I have to go.”
He thumped his tail and looked at me with mournful eyes.
“I know you miss her,” I said as I bent to tie my Reeboks. Ozzie’s owner, a ten-year-old girl named Esme, was away at school and had entrusted me with his care. It’s a long, complicated story involving a tragic love affair, a ruthless billionaire, a vicious gang leader, and a serial killer stalking the city.
My life used to be so simple: go to work in the ER, play my fiddle, eat a little humble pie at family meals, repeat. But in the last three weeks, my existence had spiraled from one complicated story into another to the point where it was becoming difficult to remember which were lies and which were secrets.
Not after today. My shoulders slumped as I turned back to the bed one last time. Today was the day the truth would come out and I could walk away from my life. Maybe to Tahiti. Probably to Tahiti. Most certainly alone. I told myself that’s always been the way I wanted it: no strings, no debts, no heartbreak.
Well, maybe this time, a little heartbreak.
My gaze fell on the sleeping man I’d left behind. I wanted…I wished…
The numbers on the nightstand clock blinked. Three twenty-one. I spotted my cell phone beside it. Instead of reaching out to Ryder, sleeping deeply, as any sane person would be this hour, I grabbed my phone. No assumptions, no promises. Not today, when I’d be learning for sure if there’d be any tomorrows for Ryder and me.
He’s a detective, assigned to Good Samaritan’s Advocacy Center where I used to be an ER physician. We met only three weeks ago, but you’d be amazed at how much you can pack into three weeks when you agree to not talk about the past or the future, and one of you is recovering from a minor bullet wound, while the other is hiding from a death sentence.
A tremor shook my free hand, and I clenched it into a fist, smothering it inside the pocket of my hoodie. At least I had Tahiti…
Tahiti wasn’t me giving up. I was going to fight for every moment I could. Rather, it was a promise. I might be dying, but death would not define me. I was going out when I decided and how I decided, disease be damned.
Except…Ryder. A complication almost as unexpected as my one-in-a-hundred-million diagnosis. I couldn’t allow myself to want or need Ryder more than I already did. Sex was something we could both walk away from without getting hurt.
I stood there, staring, phone in my hand, watching him sleep, yearning to reach out and comb his hair back from his eyes. Ryder doesn’t snore; the sound he makes is more a constant rumble like a furnace running hot. After I left his warm embrace, he’d curled up on his side, one fist tucked under his chin like a baby.
Not that I’d ever tell him that. In addition to being a detective, facing the worst the streets of Cambria City have to offer, Ryder had been to war in the early days in Afghanistan. Yet, he still projects an aura of untarnished innocence. Not naïveté, definitely not. More like he’s seen it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly—and has somehow risen above.
It took all my strength to turn away from him now. Ozzie raised his head, shaking it, the fairytale wise man warning me to turn back before it was too late. Except this was no fairytale.
The phone in my hand rang. A cheerful ring tone crashing through the night like a battering ram. I didn’t have to look to know Ryder was awake. Fully alert, the way cops and soldiers and ER doctors woke, instantly and ready for anything.
I also didn’t have to look to know who was calling. “Are you okay?” I answered.
“There are footsteps. In the hall. They keep coming and going.” Tymara Nelson’s voice stretched tight with fear, ready to break.
I sagged onto the bed, my back to Ryder, but I felt his warmth as he shifted to sit up behind me. He settled one hand on my shoulder, a gift of encouragement and understanding.
“Did you actually see anyone? Did they stop at your door?” The first four times Tymara had called like this, I’d sent the cops to check on her. The next, I’d called Devon Price, the owner of the Kingston Tower apartments where she lived, and he’d ordered his men to watch over her. But Devon’s former gang members had made her too nervous, and so she’d sent them away. Not that I blamed her for being nervous about testifying, but there wasn’t much more I could do to help.