David Koepp - Cold Storage

“That ain’t what I called about. Fucker, what the fuck is this?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Notice of Expungement. I got it in the mail. What the fuck is this, dude?!”

“It’s exactly what it says, Travis.” Nobody called him Teacake anymore, and he didn’t miss it. Roberto continued. “Your conviction has been set aside and your record permanently sealed. It’s as if it never happened.”

“How the fuck did you do that?!”

“It isn’t that hard.”

“Well, fuck, man, thanks! Fuck!”

“You have got to learn another word. You know, for when you want to emphasize something.”

“I’ve tried other words, man. Nothin’ else is as good. Anyway, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“And hey—go easy on them painkillers. I can hear it in your voice. You got the thick tongue.”

Roberto smiled. “Will do.”

“That’s a slippery slope, man. I’ve seen it.”

“So have I, my friend.”

“Later, dude.”

“Later, Travis.” Roberto hung up.

He watched his wife as she worked in the garden.

I’m here now.

TRAVIS PUT THE PHONE IN HIS POCKET AND TOOK NAOMI’S HAND AGAIN.Sarah ran ahead of them. They were headed for the playground. He glanced over at Naomi, figured now was as good a time as any. He spoke, soft and halting at first, then picking up steam.

“So, like, I gave it a lot of thought, and it’s not something I say much or have said much, and I don’t want to come off like ‘Ooh, I’m this guy who knows all this shit about whatever or what have you,’ but, you know, given what’s up and how it is, I mean, you prolly know what I’m gonna say, and I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever said it before, or maybe what I should say is I can honestly say I’ve never said it before, you know, anyway, the thing is, I love you.”

Naomi didn’t respond. She kept walking, looking straight ahead, watching as her daughter ran the last fifty feet of sidewalk and cut right onto the sandy expanse of the playground, toward the big play set in the middle.

Travis stared at Naomi, furrowing his brow. He hadn’t expected an “I love you” back, but he hadn’t expected this either. Ignoring him? Staring straight ahead? What kind of ridiculous bullshit was this? Had he freaked her out that badly? Then he remembered.

He let go of her hand and moved around to the other side of her, the side with her good ear, the one she could actually hear out of. He looked at her.

“I love you,” he said.

Naomi turned and looked back, hearing the words for the first time. “I love you too,” she said. She kissed him.

Oh, Travis thought, how much there is to be said for a sober kiss.

With her.

Many thanks to all who helped get this book out of my head and into your hands—Brian Murray, Zachary Wagman, Dan Halpern, Laura Cherkas, Miriam Parker, Sonya Cheuse, Meghan Deans, Allison Saltzman, and Will Staehle at Ecco; Mollie Glick, Brian Kend, Richard Lovett, and Danial Mondanipour at CAA; David Fox; Mike Lupica; and Dr. Andrei Constantinescu, who was of enormous help with the science. Anything that is too fanciful here is not his fault.

For encouragement and early reads, thanks also to Melissa Thomas, John Kamps, Howard Franklin, Gavin Polone, Will Reichel, and Brian DePalma. Special thanks to my son Ben, whose dreamy sense of story and vibrant creativity were with me every step of the way; to my son Nick, whose infectious enthusiasm and first look at my earliest pages were invaluable; to my son Henry, for sharing his exuberant love of science in general and Ophiocordyceps in particular; and to my daughter, Grace, who’s taught me there’s a whole other gender out there and they tend toward the awesome. And thanks to all four of you for somehow understanding Dad can do horror and still be a nice guy.

DAVID KOEPPis a celebrated American screenwriter and director best known for his work on Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Panic Room, and War of the Worlds. His work on-screen has grossed over $6 billion worldwide.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

COLD STORAGE. Copyright © 2019 by David Koepp. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Cover design by Will Staehle

Cover photographs © Kitsana1980/Shutterstock (spray) and Turbosquid (man)

Title page art: Shutterstock/andy_pol

FIRST EDITION

Digital Edition SEPTEMBER 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-291645-7

Version 07202019

Print ISBN: 978-0-06-291643-3 (hardcover)

Print ISBN: 978-0-06-296046-7 (international edition)

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.

Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

www.harpercollins.com.au

Canada

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower

22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor

Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3

www.harpercollins.ca

India

HarperCollins India

A 75, Sector 57

Noida

Uttar Pradesh 201 301

www.harpercollins.co.in

New Zealand

HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand

Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive

Rosedale 0632

Auckland, New Zealand

www.harpercollins.co.nz

United Kingdom

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF, UK

www.harpercollins.co.uk

United States

HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

195 Broadway

New York, NY 10007

www.harpercollins.com