Read Online A Kiss Before I Die by T. K. Madrid - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: T. K. Madrid
Ads: Link
tires.
“What happened to your truck?”
“There isn’t another off ramp for maybe six, seven miles and I thought if you were hurt and…I couldn’t just leave you there, okay? I was scared but I knew it wasn’t right. I cut across the median, tore up the front a little.”
“So you believe me?”
“I think you’re a lying sack of shit and I’m only here because I don’t let people down, especially girls, and maybe it’s not smart but that is what I thought.”
“Okay,” she said.
Then, reluctantly it seemed to her, he said one more thing.
“I had a change of heart.”
She shared two words.
“Thank you.”
“But just we’re clear about this, if you did kill my dad I want to be the one to kill you.”
Sam inhaled and exhaled.
“Fair enough.”
(16) Two Lost Sheep
They arrived just after the man in the red Ford with the massive tires reversed his truck behind the house in a vain attempt to hide. There were the tire tracks in fresh snow: you could’ve seen them from space.
Sam hadn’t alerted Tyler to the address, but she guessed he knew that by the way she peered past him into the darkness.
But she didn’t catch the way he was looking at the house.
“I don’t believe it,” the boy said.
“What’s that?"
“This is where we bought this.”
Now she was flummoxed.
“This? This truck?”
“You look like your mother. I remember her more than your dad.” He looked at her. “She was beautiful.”
“They were each handsome.”
“Where are they? Your parents?”
“Murdered. At that Safeway shooting last November.”
The vehicle continued down the empty road.
“You shitting me?”
“No,” she said. “I am not.”
He understood.
“I’m afraid I’ve mislead you, Tyler. You have to leave. Drive a mile up the road and let me out.”
He stared into the dark, headlights the only source of light as the house faded from view.
“I can’t leave you out here.”
“Sure you can. It happens all the time. People quarrel and are abandoned. I’ll need my gun.”
They were going maybe thirty miles an hour, slower than the speed limit, as fast as conditions allowed.
“I’m not leaving dad.”
“Please, listen…”
He extinguished the lights and put the car in neutral.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t want the man in the red truck to know we’re slowing. I hit the brakes out here, in all this snow, and it’ll light up the country like a meteor.”
Samantha thought this was clever.
“How would you know something like that?”
“I used to know a girl that lives out here.”
The truck rolled to a stop. Snow swirled around them.
“We need a better plan than to have you walk up on that place and say – what were you going to do?”
“Ring the bell. Trick or treat.”
He laughed.
“Jesus, you are crazy.”
“I can make it. I need my gun.”
Her knight in the shining Bronco was undeterred.
“I don’t like or trust Wilcox.”
“I liked him for about two hours.”
He shifted into Drive and they rolled forward for another half-mile.
“The first part of what you said. That makes sense. But I’ve got to ring the doorbell.”
“You can’t,” she said.
She could see he was thinking, making estimates, rolling over scenarios just as she was.
“He didn’t see us,” she said. “He couldn’t have. He was rolling.”
“I agree, but you’re hurt and you’re not thinking like I am. You’re all jittery and cold, lady. What’s your name again? Moore?”
“Moretti. Samantha.”
He quickly shifted to the familiar, to a name only her parents and intimate friends used.
“Sammy, you ever go hunting?”
She hadn’t.
“And you didn’t kill my dad, but your parents; they were in that mess last year?”
“Yes.”
“To both questions?”
“Yes, to both.”
She didn’t mind the interrogation. He was thinking. She wanted his advice. But what he said next startled her.
“So you’ve never killed anything?”
She
“What happened to your truck?”
“There isn’t another off ramp for maybe six, seven miles and I thought if you were hurt and…I couldn’t just leave you there, okay? I was scared but I knew it wasn’t right. I cut across the median, tore up the front a little.”
“So you believe me?”
“I think you’re a lying sack of shit and I’m only here because I don’t let people down, especially girls, and maybe it’s not smart but that is what I thought.”
“Okay,” she said.
Then, reluctantly it seemed to her, he said one more thing.
“I had a change of heart.”
She shared two words.
“Thank you.”
“But just we’re clear about this, if you did kill my dad I want to be the one to kill you.”
Sam inhaled and exhaled.
“Fair enough.”
(16) Two Lost Sheep
They arrived just after the man in the red Ford with the massive tires reversed his truck behind the house in a vain attempt to hide. There were the tire tracks in fresh snow: you could’ve seen them from space.
Sam hadn’t alerted Tyler to the address, but she guessed he knew that by the way she peered past him into the darkness.
But she didn’t catch the way he was looking at the house.
“I don’t believe it,” the boy said.
“What’s that?"
“This is where we bought this.”
Now she was flummoxed.
“This? This truck?”
“You look like your mother. I remember her more than your dad.” He looked at her. “She was beautiful.”
“They were each handsome.”
“Where are they? Your parents?”
“Murdered. At that Safeway shooting last November.”
The vehicle continued down the empty road.
“You shitting me?”
“No,” she said. “I am not.”
He understood.
“I’m afraid I’ve mislead you, Tyler. You have to leave. Drive a mile up the road and let me out.”
He stared into the dark, headlights the only source of light as the house faded from view.
“I can’t leave you out here.”
“Sure you can. It happens all the time. People quarrel and are abandoned. I’ll need my gun.”
They were going maybe thirty miles an hour, slower than the speed limit, as fast as conditions allowed.
“I’m not leaving dad.”
“Please, listen…”
He extinguished the lights and put the car in neutral.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t want the man in the red truck to know we’re slowing. I hit the brakes out here, in all this snow, and it’ll light up the country like a meteor.”
Samantha thought this was clever.
“How would you know something like that?”
“I used to know a girl that lives out here.”
The truck rolled to a stop. Snow swirled around them.
“We need a better plan than to have you walk up on that place and say – what were you going to do?”
“Ring the bell. Trick or treat.”
He laughed.
“Jesus, you are crazy.”
“I can make it. I need my gun.”
Her knight in the shining Bronco was undeterred.
“I don’t like or trust Wilcox.”
“I liked him for about two hours.”
He shifted into Drive and they rolled forward for another half-mile.
“The first part of what you said. That makes sense. But I’ve got to ring the doorbell.”
“You can’t,” she said.
She could see he was thinking, making estimates, rolling over scenarios just as she was.
“He didn’t see us,” she said. “He couldn’t have. He was rolling.”
“I agree, but you’re hurt and you’re not thinking like I am. You’re all jittery and cold, lady. What’s your name again? Moore?”
“Moretti. Samantha.”
He quickly shifted to the familiar, to a name only her parents and intimate friends used.
“Sammy, you ever go hunting?”
She hadn’t.
“And you didn’t kill my dad, but your parents; they were in that mess last year?”
“Yes.”
“To both questions?”
“Yes, to both.”
She didn’t mind the interrogation. He was thinking. She wanted his advice. But what he said next startled her.
“So you’ve never killed anything?”
She
Similar Books
