Vortex
()
About this ebook
Blair and her brothers are driving home from a disastrous road trip when their day suddenly gets a whole lot worse. After facing down a tornado, their car is barely functioning, and the same can be said for Blair's older brother. Blair must take charge and get her family out of danger, but the storm isn't letting up. Will Blair be able to get her injured and scared brothers to safety . . . before the next twister hits?
Vanessa Acton
Vanessa Acton is a writer and editor in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She enjoys stalking dead people (also known as historical research), drinking too much tea, and taking long walks during her home state's annual three-week thaw.
Read more from Vanessa Acton
Next in Line Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDirector's Cut Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFamily Business Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRadioactive Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Aftershock Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBackfire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTracks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMomcilo Gavric's World War I Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Vortex
Related ebooks
Zoe & Dylan: The Sons of Dusty Walker, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFinal Solution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe State of Grace: The Gillian Jones Series, #3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Family Business V: Family Business, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSnowball Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ever After: Las Vegas Sidewinders, #12 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Somebody's Ex: The Jackson Brothers, Book 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Night Terrors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Promise of Murder: A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery, #32 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Second Chance Christmas: A Clean Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSwitched in Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Threshold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHave Yourself a Crazy Little Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Carpet Christmas: CLUB UNDERCOVER, #5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwin Fix: Obscure Reflexions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLonesome Mama: Lonesome Lawmen, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mountains Rise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Wrinkle in Crime; 10 Stories of Foul Play, Murder and Revenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlmost Unseen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYOU Owe Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHer Old Kentucky Home: A Novella Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFather In The Making Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Black Rose Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Edge of Sanity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBorn Of Sin: Born Of Sin, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5His Little Cowgirl Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFalling For Her Fake Husband: Finding Love in a Small Town, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEverybody's Son: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Snowbound Suspicion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Down From The Mountain Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
YA Mysteries & Thrillers For You
Ace of Spades Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cellar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sadie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delicious Monsters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is Where It Ends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thunderhead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Firekeeper's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Savage Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Allegedly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Devil in Ohio Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Monday's Not Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Smoke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Little Liars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clown in a Cornfield Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/514 Ways To Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chain Letter: Chain Letter; The Ancient Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Awake Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Truly Devious: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Total Strangers Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Identity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The First Horror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Will Find You Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Z for Zachariah Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Study in Charlotte Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Thing I Remember Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grimmer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Vortex
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Vortex - Vanessa Acton
1
The day of the disaster, Blair O’Neill actually thought her weekend was improving.
She and her brothers had survived their mom’s wedding. Now all they had to do was get home to Michigan.
They’d left on schedule, exactly at eight. One hour down, twelve to go. Blair’s older brother, David, was driving, as usual. Her younger brother, Logan, sat in the back—earbuds in, eyes closed. Blair was in the front passenger seat. She’d offered to drive part of the way, since she had her permit now, but no luck. You can drive us around once you have your license,
David had told her. For now you’ll be my copilot.
Really, the GPS was his copilot. Blair was just moral support.
I’m so glad to be out of there,
David said as the car’s clock blinked to 9:02 a.m.
I noticed,
said Blair. Her older brother had been visibly tense ever since they arrived in Hatchville, South Dakota. He’d hardly said anything to their mom. Gritted his teeth through the overdue introduction to Theo, their mom’s fiancé—now her husband. Barely smiled in the wedding photos. Didn’t dance or mingle at the reception. For a guy who’d just turned twenty-one, he’d acted a lot like a cranky uncle—more so than usual.
I almost wish we hadn’t come at all,
he mumbled now, his eyes on the road. It’s not like Mom would’ve missed us.
Blair tried not to flinch. She was used to hearing this from David. For a long time she’d felt the same way. But it had been six years since their mom left. Weren’t they old enough to know better now? Come on, Dave, that’s not true.
Sure, their mom was flaky, but that wasn’t the same as not caring. And she’d wanted her kids at this wedding, for sure. She’d even offered to pay for them to fly out—an offer David had refused.
David made a dismissive noise in his throat. "Now that she’s got Theo, it’s like she’s forgotten Dad even exists. And we’re right on the edge of falling off her radar along with him. Mom only ever thinks about what she wants to do, what’ll make her happy—not about what she leaves behind."
From the backseat, Logan said to David, Well, Theo’s definitely way cooler than Dad. So there’s that.
Blair whipped around to glare at her twelve-year-old brother. His eyes were still closed. Blair knew David wouldn’t have said so much if he’d known Logan was listening. Then again, Logan wasn’t an innocent six-year-old anymore. It had been a long time since he’d needed David to tell him bedtime stories or arrange his food in smiley faces. A long time since Logan had burst into tears at any mention of their absent mom, or thrown a tantrum whenever their dad drove off on yet another business trip. He was old enough to hear what his siblings really thought—and to be obnoxious about it. Don’t you have some death metal to concentrate on?
she snapped.
"It’s not death metal. It’s doom metal. Blackened doom. And Theo is, like, at least twenty percent cooler than Dad."
Logan, do me a favor. Shut up until you’re past puberty.
Logan responded with a gesture she ignored.
Take it easy,
said David, out of habit.
Blair faced forward again and stared at the road. Not an inspiring view. Just a two-lane highway, empty except for David’s car. Surrounded by basically nothing: bare fields on either side, cloud-clogged sky above, the occasional tree or fence or distant farmhouse. Blair hadn’t realized that South Dakota was so flat. It was ridiculous. If this is what it looks like here in May, people must gouge their eyes out in the wintertime.
David managed a weak laugh. Guess you won’t be moving in with Mom and Theo?
Never.
She looked over at him, but he kept his eyes on the road. The smile on his face wasn’t real. It was the same smile he’d used all weekend, at all the awkward moments—the smile of a guy who expected to be let down.
Blair didn’t know what to do about it. Except promise not to move to South Dakota.
For the past six years, she and David had been a team, taking care of things while Dad was at work—which was most of the time. Their dad had dealt