Read Online A Fine Specimen by Lisa Marie Rice - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lisa Marie Rice
Ads: Link
panic rose. 7:55. Another minute more
and she’d be too late to catch the bus. “I realize you feel you should drive me
back to the hotel, Lieutenant, but there’s no reason—”
“Alex.”
“ Alex ,” she
repeated, feeling hunted. 7:56. “There’s no reason at all for you to
feel that way. Captain Avery didn’t expect you to look out for me. All he asked
was for you and your officers to give me some of your time.”
“Ray sent you. Frankly,
he would have my head if I let you wander around Riverhead all on your own at
night.”
Caitlin gritted her
teeth and swallowed her words. She knew perfectly well she looked younger than
her years. Part of it was that she dressed so badly. She simply didn’t have the
money to dress as an adult out in the working world. But the combination of her
looks and her clothes had people constantly underestimating her and it rankled.
She wasn’t a dummy and she wasn’t without street smarts. “I won’t be wandering
around , Lieu— Alex. I have every intention of being careful, believe me. I
know how to behave in dangerous areas. You really don’t need to worry at all.”
Caitlin might as well
have been talking to the wind. He’d taken hold of her elbow again in a grip
that was just shy of painful and totally unbreakable. She was being walked
toward a side door and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it,
unless she wanted to create a scene or leave her elbow behind. A big clock in
the lobby showed the time. 8:00.
Hell , she though. The bus has gone.
They exited through the
side door into a parking lot. The lieutenant— Alex —pressed something in
his jacket pocket and a sleek black car in a slot with “Lt. Cruz” stenciled on
the brick wall in front of it unlocked its doors for him with an
expensive-sounding whump . It wasn’t enough that he had police officers
and herself obeying him, Caitlin thought resentfully. Even his car sprang
to attention, damn his hide.
Caitlin sighed and thought
of her ancient car, Marvin, named after a particularly limp boyfriend who, like
his namesake, often left her flat when she needed him most. Marvin—the car—had
died a geriatric death last month and she simply had no money to replace it. It
hadn’t had a remote-control opening or power steering or air conditioning. She
was lucky it had had four tires, though all of them were bald.
Alex opened the
passenger door for her, releasing her arm only when she was settled in the
passenger seat. “Seat belt,” he said as he slid behind the wheel, cop to the
end.
“Yes sir .”
He glanced over, not
visibly disturbed by her slightly acerbic tone. “It’s the law, you know.”
Caitlin probably knew
the law better than he did. The law wasn’t the problem, he was. “Well,
the law certainly doesn’t say anything about feeling responsible for me or
having to accompany me to my hotel.”
He backed quickly,
skillfully out of the slot. “The law might not be clear on that point, Ms.
Summers, but there are rules.”
“Caitlin,” she said on a
sigh. “If you’re going to babysit me, we might as well be on first-name terms.”
Traffic was heavy. The
ride took almost forty minutes. Twilight was edging into night by the time Alex
pulled up in front of the decayed old hotel which had never seen better days.
Across the street from
the Carlton was a burned-out apartment building. To the right was a
rubble-strewn empty lot and to the left was a boarded-up building which,
according to the poster on the splintered door, had been condemned by the city
authorities, though no one had cared enough to actually demolish it.
The instant they’d
entered Riverhead at the Madison Street turnoff, the change was startling, like
day into night. The few people on the streets were badly dressed, some
stumbling, some simply standing, eyes blank, high on the drug or drink of their
choice. The buildings were old, built when people had stoops to beat the summer
heat. Many of the stoops had
and she’d be too late to catch the bus. “I realize you feel you should drive me
back to the hotel, Lieutenant, but there’s no reason—”
“Alex.”
“ Alex ,” she
repeated, feeling hunted. 7:56. “There’s no reason at all for you to
feel that way. Captain Avery didn’t expect you to look out for me. All he asked
was for you and your officers to give me some of your time.”
“Ray sent you. Frankly,
he would have my head if I let you wander around Riverhead all on your own at
night.”
Caitlin gritted her
teeth and swallowed her words. She knew perfectly well she looked younger than
her years. Part of it was that she dressed so badly. She simply didn’t have the
money to dress as an adult out in the working world. But the combination of her
looks and her clothes had people constantly underestimating her and it rankled.
She wasn’t a dummy and she wasn’t without street smarts. “I won’t be wandering
around , Lieu— Alex. I have every intention of being careful, believe me. I
know how to behave in dangerous areas. You really don’t need to worry at all.”
Caitlin might as well
have been talking to the wind. He’d taken hold of her elbow again in a grip
that was just shy of painful and totally unbreakable. She was being walked
toward a side door and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it,
unless she wanted to create a scene or leave her elbow behind. A big clock in
the lobby showed the time. 8:00.
Hell , she though. The bus has gone.
They exited through the
side door into a parking lot. The lieutenant— Alex —pressed something in
his jacket pocket and a sleek black car in a slot with “Lt. Cruz” stenciled on
the brick wall in front of it unlocked its doors for him with an
expensive-sounding whump . It wasn’t enough that he had police officers
and herself obeying him, Caitlin thought resentfully. Even his car sprang
to attention, damn his hide.
Caitlin sighed and thought
of her ancient car, Marvin, named after a particularly limp boyfriend who, like
his namesake, often left her flat when she needed him most. Marvin—the car—had
died a geriatric death last month and she simply had no money to replace it. It
hadn’t had a remote-control opening or power steering or air conditioning. She
was lucky it had had four tires, though all of them were bald.
Alex opened the
passenger door for her, releasing her arm only when she was settled in the
passenger seat. “Seat belt,” he said as he slid behind the wheel, cop to the
end.
“Yes sir .”
He glanced over, not
visibly disturbed by her slightly acerbic tone. “It’s the law, you know.”
Caitlin probably knew
the law better than he did. The law wasn’t the problem, he was. “Well,
the law certainly doesn’t say anything about feeling responsible for me or
having to accompany me to my hotel.”
He backed quickly,
skillfully out of the slot. “The law might not be clear on that point, Ms.
Summers, but there are rules.”
“Caitlin,” she said on a
sigh. “If you’re going to babysit me, we might as well be on first-name terms.”
Traffic was heavy. The
ride took almost forty minutes. Twilight was edging into night by the time Alex
pulled up in front of the decayed old hotel which had never seen better days.
Across the street from
the Carlton was a burned-out apartment building. To the right was a
rubble-strewn empty lot and to the left was a boarded-up building which,
according to the poster on the splintered door, had been condemned by the city
authorities, though no one had cared enough to actually demolish it.
The instant they’d
entered Riverhead at the Madison Street turnoff, the change was startling, like
day into night. The few people on the streets were badly dressed, some
stumbling, some simply standing, eyes blank, high on the drug or drink of their
choice. The buildings were old, built when people had stoops to beat the summer
heat. Many of the stoops had
Similar Books
