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Back The Nest Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Copyright page
  3. Introduction by Will Errickson
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. TREMORS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. SUSPICIONS
  13. 1
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 4
  17. 5
  18. DREAD
  19. 1
  20. 2
  21. 3
  22. 4
  23. 5
  24. 6
  25. WITNESS
  26. 1
  27. 2
  28. 3
  29. ALERT
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. ENCOUNTER
  36. 1
  37. 2
  38. 3
  39. 4
  40. 5
  41. 6
  42. HAVOC
  43. 1
  44. 2
  45. 3
  46. 4
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. SEARCH
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. CLASH
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 4
  60. 5
  61. 6
  62. 7
  63. COUNTERATTACK
  64. 1
  65. 2
  66. 3
  67. 4
  68. 5
  69. 6
  70. 7
  71. VICTORY
  72. 1
  73. 2
  74. 3
  75. 4
  76. 5
  77. 6
  78. 7
  79. 8
  80. 9
  81. EPILOGUE
  82. About the Author

Elizabeth’s jaw quivered at the sound of the woman’s name. Immediately she chided herself: I should be ashamed of myself! With all of Yarkie Island in some unknown danger, how could she be concerned about an old jealousy—one she had never had any right to feel in the first place! She forced a noncommittal smile, and went quickly to Bonnie. She saw how disturbed her friend was, and spoke to her quietly. It helped her get control of herself. She was not going to forget that Peter Hubbard and Wanda Lindstrom were outside the circle of her life!

The Yarkie men started out of the Johnson house on their assignments.

Peter Hubbard turned to Elizabeth. “Could I trouble you for another cup of coffee, Elizabeth?” he asked pleasantly.

It was Bonnie who hurried to the kitchen. She wanted a chance to be alone, if only for minutes.

Elizabeth heard herself saying, in a restrained tone, “It’s too bad you have to come to Yarkie under these circumstances, doctor.”

He nodded, keeping his eyes straight on hers. “I can see that,” he smiled slightly. “Please don’t be formal with me, Elizabeth. We’re old acquaintances, after all.” He held his hand out to her. Elizabeth touched it coolly with her finger­tips. She was past a girlish infatuation now. She would remain at arm’s length with Dr. Peter Hubbard—she would be an agreeable and proper hostess to her grandfather’s guests, including Wanda Lindstrom. Nothing more.

“You’ve certainly changed,” Peter Hubbard was saying, his eyes unwavering on hers.

Before Elizabeth could respond, Elias Johnson interrupted them from across the room. “Peter, I have Doctor Lindstrom on the line now. She can come out on the first plane tomorrow, but she wants to talk to you . . .”

Hubbard turned for the phone at once. Elizabeth could not help noticing the change in his voice, the intimate way in which he began to discuss with his colleague the chemicals and scientific apparatus they would need for their work on Yarkie.

Yes, Peter Hubbard should indeed be talking in that manner to Wanda Lindstrom and not to her, Elizabeth Carr thought as she stalked to the kitchen after Bonnie. That was exactly the way it should be and exactly the way she wanted it, she told herself sternly, closing the door against the telephone conversation with a bang.

The noise brought the man’s head around. A small smile formed on his lips. Even while he was speaking earnestly to his colleague in Cambridge, the thought was in Peter Hubbard’s mind that there were more than biological misunderstandings to clear up on Yarkie. He would try to have a talk with Elizabeth Carr, but it was plain that tact was called for.