LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter One

      As he slid another CD into the car’s player, Josh Walker frowned. Damned if he’d admit it, but—he was lost. Smack in the middle of the biggest nothing he’d ever seen. No trees, no houses, no other traffic. Aside from some stubby wildflowers edging the road, this western half of Texas held nothing but cactus and rocks.

      And weather, Josh amended. The blue-black clouds that had begun piling up along the horizon just an hour ago now filled the sky.

      Josh swore. He’d encountered one—count ’em, one—intersection since leaving the interstate and he must have made the wrong turn. Dammit, he should be in San Angelo by now.

      Not that it really mattered. The case in Midland had wrapped up unexpectedly this morning when his client accepted a new settlement offer. Josh had called his office back in Virginia, but there was nothing pressing at the moment.

      So he’d packed away his suit and tie, donned jeans and a well-washed chambray shirt—and the boots he still favoted over athletic shoes, even after years of living back East—and climbed into his outrageously expensive imported car to indulge in the one pleasure he could always count on: a long, solitary road trip. Ordinarily, the silent slipping of miles beneath the wheels relaxed him and chased the stress from his mind.

      Only it wasn’t working this time. Hell, nothing was working these days. His work no longer absorbed him; his house was just an investment; even sex—The last careful, casual physical relationship had left him completely cold. Dissatisfied. Empty.

      Damned if he’d admit that, either. He was only twenty-nine. His life was not empty. Everything was fine.

      Josh growled at the bright, cheerful April wildflowers dancing in the wind. Well, okay. Maybe his life was a little sterile, predictable and lonely, but—No, not lonely.

      Solitary. By choice.

      Because that was the only safe choice. He’d learned that lesson six years ago in earth-shattering fashion, when his girlfriend had disappeared for a weekend. To get rid of his baby. Without asking him. Without even bothering to tell him. If it hadn’t been for that blabbermouth friend of hers, he might never have discovered the truth.

      But he had. For a day or two, anguish and anger had threatened to devastate him.

      Then he’d fought back. Slammed a permanent lid on useless emotion. Stayed busy.

      It had worked, too. He’d finished first in his class in law school. Built a successful practice, specializing in environmental issues. And

Скачать книгу