Angela Campbell - Spirited Away

ANGELA CAMPBELL

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

HarperImpulse an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

77–85 Fulham Palace Road

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014

Copyright © Angela Campbell 2014

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Angela Campbell asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable 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

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © September 2014

ISBN: 9780007543076

Version 2014-09-08

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

This book is dedicated to my wonderful critique partners, Pamela Hearon, Abby Niles, and Cynthia D’Alba. Without their encouragement and feedback, I would have never made deadline or spotted the weak points in my writing. Ladies, I love you.

And to my incredible editor Charlotte Ledger and the entire team at Harper Impulse, who helped me bring this series to the world, I give many, many thanks and chocolate kisses because, hey, chocolate kisses!

To all of my friends and family who put up with me while writing and encouraged me in the process, you guys rock! Cindy H., Cindy S., Christy, Tammatha and all my furry friends, too. Don’t know what I’d do without your support.

Also, I dedicate this story to Felicia Day, simply for being an excellent geek ambassador for women. I doubt Spider could have existed without you first paving the way.

Finally, to my loyal readers — this one is for you. I hope you enjoy it!

Contents

Cover

Title Page Spirited Away ANGELA CAMPBELL A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright HarperImpulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 77–85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2014 Copyright © Angela Campbell 2014 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Angela Campbell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Ebook Edition © September 2014 ISBN: 9780007543076 Version 2014-09-08 Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Dedication This book is dedicated to my wonderful critique partners, Pamela Hearon, Abby Niles, and Cynthia D’Alba. Without their encouragement and feedback, I would have never made deadline or spotted the weak points in my writing. Ladies, I love you. And to my incredible editor Charlotte Ledger and the entire team at Harper Impulse, who helped me bring this series to the world, I give many, many thanks and chocolate kisses because, hey, chocolate kisses! To all of my friends and family who put up with me while writing and encouraged me in the process, you guys rock! Cindy H., Cindy S., Christy, Tammatha and all my furry friends, too. Don’t know what I’d do without your support. Also, I dedicate this story to Felicia Day, simply for being an excellent geek ambassador for women. I doubt Spider could have existed without you first paving the way. Finally, to my loyal readers — this one is for you. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Also by Angela Campbell …

Angela Campbell

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

Oh yeah. She was gonna kill that mutt when she got her hands on him. And the cat too – just because.

Emma “Spider” Fisher rattled the locked doorknob one more time and glared at the animals watching her from the other side of the front window. Costello, the dog, panted happily and gave her a tongue-lolling, open-mouthed grin. Abbott, the cat, stood in the bay-window beside him, watching her with disinterested, narrowed eyes, as if she were the stupidest human he’d ever met – a distinct possibility.

“Ugh!” She rattled the front doorknob again and slapped the doorframe. Yeah, as if that would make it open.

It was the morning after her first night of house-sitting for Zach and Hannah, and she’d already locked herself out. Correction: one of the dogs had escaped the fence, she’d given chase in her jammies, and when she’d ran back to call for help after not being able to catch Charlie, Costello had bumped shut the door she’d left open. Locking her out. Without a key. Without a phone. Without a hope of not being killed by her boss when he returned from his honeymoon.

His beloved blind dog had disappeared after she’d chased him into some trees on the other side of the street. No telling where Charlie was now. God forbid, he could be lying dead on the highway. Might have fallen down a well somewhere. Joined a gang. Who knew?

In fact, who knew a blind dog could run so darn fast to begin with? She’d bet that dog had some cheetah in his genes.

Heaving a half-laugh, half-sob, she turned and slid down the door until her bottom met the cold concrete of the front doorstep. A quick scan of the other houses and manicured lawns lining the quiet subdivision was no comfort. Well, maybe it was. No one seemed to peek out of curtains to witness her humiliating predicament, although she’d have to start pounding on doors soon to see if someone would let her use their phone.

Who would she call? One of the so-hot-they-could-melt-her-panties-off guys she worked with? She groaned.

This could not be happening to her.

A flash of brown movement to her left caught Spider’s attention and sent her heart thumping wildly against her ribcage again.