Read Online Angel: Private Eye Book One by Odette C. Bell - Free Book Online Page B

my baby,” he said
flatly. “Why would I sell it? You can drive. Now get in the front
seat.” He motioned towards it and pointed with a stiff hand. “You
want to be careful on the clutch. And also, the accelerator can
respond a bit heavy.” He chuckled. “Growls like a tiger poked with
a stick of lightning,”
    Growls like a tiger poked with lightning…? I
was careful not to roll my eyes at that.
    Reluctantly I walked around the side of the
car, making a grimace that I hid expertly behind my hair.
    Carefully, as if I was about to plunge my
hand into a pit of snakes, I opened the door. Though I wasn’t
exactly a witch, I could feel the magic as the door swung next to
my leg. It buffeted off me as if I’d washed in a magical
solution.
    Shivering as unwelcome tingles danced over
my spine and my hair stood on end, I sat down in the driver’s
seat.
    Mr Marvelous reverently handed me the
keys.
    I took them and placed them carefully in the
ignition.
    I felt exactly like someone tasked with
disarming a bomb. Someone with absolutely no training and an
extremely shaky hand.
    What exactly had I gotten myself into here?
If I’d been smart and stayed at home last night, I would never have
met that vampire, and I wouldn’t be in this situation now.
    “Start her up,” Mr Marvelous said as he
leaned forward and slapped a hand on the dash. Discovering a mark I
couldn’t even see, he carefully wiped it off with his finger.
    Grimacing as if I was about to be struck in
the gut, I started the ignition, and the car growled. No, that was
an understatement. It suddenly sounded like a choir of lions and
tigers and bears jumped up around the engine and sang at the top of
their lungs.
    “Jesus,” I spluttered, turning the ignition
off in a snapped, desperate move.
    Mr Marvelous laughed. “It’s a beautiful
sound, isn’t it? Now start the ignition and back her up. Lizzie,
we’ve got a case to get to.” Suddenly his demeanor changed
completely. The smile that spread over his lips at the sound of his
car roaring like a dragon was replaced by a thin
lipped-grimace.
    It distracted me enough to start the car and
ease it into first. Though the car kicked and bucked like a wild
horse, I didn’t shift my attention off Mr Marvelous. As we drove
out of the alleyway, there was a pop around me as the mysterious
laneway disappeared and I suddenly found myself on the pavement.
“Oh, shit,” I spat as I jerked off it and join the street, swerving
in front of two vampires on bikes.
    Mr Marvelous slapped his legs with his open
palms. “That’s it. I like the way you drive, kid.” He chuckled as
the two vampires swore and flipped us off.
    I cringed, immediately slowing down to a
respectable speed.
    When we paused at the first set of lights, I
shifted my full attention back to Mr Marvelous. “Where exactly are
we going?”
    That look passed over his face again. I
suddenly realized something. I swallowed. Uncomfortably. “What
crimes do you deal with? I mean, you’re a PI – does that mean you
just investigate people who are cheating on each other or
something?”
    He shifted in his seat, bringing up a hand
and scratching his chin distractedly. “We are heading to a
murder.”
    I stopped. If the car hadn’t already been
paused at a set of lights, I would have slammed the brakes on.
“Sorry?” I said through a shuddering breath.
    He kept scratching his chin. “It’s a murder.
We’re going in to help the family, do our own investigation.”
    “I’m sorry? Aren’t the police meant to do
that?” my voice was shaking so badly it sounded like ticker tape in
a hurricane.
    “The police, ha? Of course they’re going to
investigate it. But we can investigate it, too.”
    “I’m pretty sure you can’t do that. Private
investigators don’t investigate crime.”
    Mr Marvelous sighed. “Could you keep up? I
know you don’t know much about the otherworld, but even you have to
know that us otherworlders have the right to