Sam Read online

  Ed stared at the blank screen. “Who the hell is it?”

  Gaia shushed him with a sharp hiss, as a graphic began to appear on the screen — a message, snaking its way from the right side, one letter at a time: C . . . A . . . N Y . . . O . . . U

  The voice continued as the letters slid into view. “He’s well enough for the moment but around, oh, say, ten o’clock this evening, he’ll be needing his insulin, quite desperately. And that, my darling Gaia, is where you come in. You must pass a series of tests. If you do so by ten o’clock tonight, we will free Sam. If you do not . . .”

  The graphic slithered by: S . . . A . . . V . . . E

  “. . . He will die!”

  S . . . A . . . M . . .?

  For a moment, the question trembled there on the dark screen. CAN YOU SAVE SAM? Then the letters went spinning off into the infinite background, and another message appeared in an eye-searing flash of brightness. It read:

  You will find on your front step a

  videotape. You will play it during your

  first-period class. DO NOT view the

  tape prior to showing it in school.

  Without warning, the e-mail broadcast returned, showing a close-up of Sam’s beaten face, frightened eyes, his mouth forming a word, and the word came screaming through the speaker in Sam’s voice.

  “Gaia!”

  Then, nothing. The image and the audio were gone, and the computer whirred softly, until George’s sickening screen saver — a scanned-in photo of Ella — returned to the screen.

  Gaia sprung up from the chair, and flew to the front door, which she flung open. The early-morning October air sparkled and the neighborhood was just coming alive with people on their way to work and school. Gaia paid no attention. Her eyes searched the front stoop until they found the package.

  She lunged for it.

  Gaia had no idea who had done this. She had no idea why. But she wasn’t about to ask questions.

  Not with Sam’s life on the line.

  Don’t miss any books in this thrilling new series:

  #1 Fearless

  #2 Sam

  Available from POCKET PULSE

  To Molly Jessica W. Wenk

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An Original Publication of POCKET BOOKS

  POCKET PULSE, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  Produced by 17th Street Productions, Inc., a division of Daniel Weiss Associates, Inc. 33 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011

  Visit us on the World Wide Web:

  http://www.SimonSays.com

  Copyright © 1999 by Francine Pascal

  Cover art copyright © 1999 by 17th Street Productions, Inc.

  Cover photography by St. Denis. Cover design by Mike Rivilis.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce

  this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information address 17th Street Productions, Inc.,

  33 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011, or Pocket Books,

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  ISBN-10: 0-743-43406-4

  ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-3406-5

  Contents

  TWO THINGS

  JONES

  NO BULLET

  GAIA

  DESPERATE

  A BOMB

  ONE SMALL COMMENT

  LONELY HEARTS

  REMARKABLE GIRL

  LIKE A DRUG

  A LAME COME-ON

  COLD BLOOD

  CUNNING INTELLIGENCE

  NOT YET

  SAM

  HAZARDS

  AN OCEAN AWAY

  A THREAT

  SEARCH

  GETTING LUCKY

  CAN HE RESIST?

  GAIA

  FRAGILE UNDERSTANDING

  SENT MAIL

  GAIA SIGHTING

  URGENT LONGING

  (SIR) THOMAS MOORE

  ABOUT SEX

  A CREEPY PERVERT

  HOW HE FEELS

  GHOSTS

  REMEMBERING KATIA

  DARTS

  IMPOSSIBLE

  THE VIGILANTE

  NO MORE THINKING

  WEARING PATIENCE

  CLINGING

  FROM THE WAIST DOWN

  CONDOM SHOPPING

  THE WRONG GIRL

  HEATHER

  READY. OR NOT.

  JUST GO

  HESITANT

  SINCERE

  A FAILED EXPERIMENT

  ED

  IT

  THE BIG MOMENT

  CRUEL LUCK: 1

  2

  2 ½

  3

  JUST CRUEL

  THE CHASE

  THE PARK . . .

  10th St. & 5th Ave.

  17th St. & 6th Ave.

  17th St. & 7th Ave.

  BACK UP A MINUTE

  A BRIEF VISIT WITH HEATHER

  AND ANOTHER WITH ED

  HELL’S KITCHEN

  39th St. & 11th Ave.

  44th St.

  BANG

  GAIA’S BACK

  HER FATHER

  NOT NOTHING

  A SOULLESS VIPER

  THE DARK HALF

  IF YOU LOVE SOMETHING . . .

  BAD CHOICE

  BEING BRAVE

  HERE IS A SNEAK PEEK OF FEARLESS™ #3: RUN

  GAIA

  SAVE SAM

  YOU’VE GOT MAIL