Wisdom Spring by Andrew Cunningham
If you enjoyed All Lies, please try Andrew Cunningham's Amazon bestseller, Wisdom Spring! Here's a sneak peek…
Prologue
Looking like a waterlogged waif in the periphery of my headlights, she couldn’t have been much more than five feet tall, and had no belongings that I could see. She was standing on the most deserted stretch of highway you could ever imagine, thumb out in a deflated sort of way. In the darkness and the rain, I almost missed her.
It’s amazing really, how many things can go through your mind in just a few seconds. In the time it took me to put on my turn signal and pull over, I had already questioned the wisdom of picking her up, flashed to my father’s endless stories of hitchhiking in the early sixties as a teenager, and was presented with the sad realization that even if she turned out to be a whack-job, I really didn’t care. I no longer cared about much of anything. But I was oddly intrigued. How did she get to this god-forsaken spot? How long had she been standing there?
I stopped the car and waited. Despite it being a major highway, there were few headlights or taillights in either direction. The only sounds were the clicking of the turn signal and the soft swishing of the windshield wipers. I switched off the turn signal. The competing rhythms were going to drive me even crazier than I already was—like two metronomes slightly out of sync. That was better. Without the competition, the windshield wipers were fairly quiet—the advantage of an expensive car.
The passenger door opened and she got in. Close up, she appeared older than I thought in the brief splash of my headlights. Maybe her late-twenties. I was close about the height though. Five-one, at best. Her hair was blonde, but looked darker plastered to her head from the rain. Wearing only a thin windbreaker to protect her from the elements, her blouse, jeans, and sneakers were thoroughly soaked. She squished as she sat down on the leather seat.
Mumbling an apology for getting my seat wet, along with a barely audible thank you for picking her up, that’s when I noticed the tears. Funny how I was able to see the difference between tears and rain. It wasn’t my business though, so I ignored it.
Putting the car in gear, I asked, “Where are you headed?,” again knowing that I really didn’t care.
She was silent for a few seconds, then shook her head in resignation.
“To Hell,” she answered.
I smiled for the first time in weeks. Granted, it wasn’t much of one, but for the first time since the funeral, someone said something I could relate to.
“I’ll take you,” I said. “I’m going that way myself.”
Available from Amazon in paperback and as an ebook.
About the Author
Andrew Cunningham is the author of the Amazon bestselling thriller Wisdom Spring and the mystery All Lies, as well as the post-apocalyptic Eden Rising Trilogy: Eden Rising, Eden Lost, and Eden's Legacy (due December 2015). He is also working on a disaster novel set on Cape Cod. As A.R. Cunningham, he has written the Arthur MacArthur series of mysteries for children. Born in England, Andrew was a long-time resident of Cape Cod. He now lives with his wife, Charlotte, in Florida.
All Lies Page 23