Read Online Blood Orchids by Toby Neal - Free Book Online Page B

stepped outside with the dog at her side. How long since Keiki gave the first alarm? Her mind raced, calculating. No more than five minutes, max. The bastard couldn’t have gotten far.
    The street was quiet and deserted except for the blue glow of TVs behind living room windows and pools of yellow street lights here and there. She and Keiki speedwalked down the cracked sidewalk, looking for any sign of movement, straining their ears for anything unusual.
    They got to Tom Watanabe’s house at the end of the block. The Acura was parked in the driveway, the streetlight gilding its chrome. His windows were dark, shades down, no flicker of TV showing.
    There was no sign of anyone up or down the street, and Lei felt a sudden hot rage. Bastard thought he could scare her in her home? She’d give him some fucking memories. The stalker was going to learn the hard way she wasn’t like other women. She’d never be a helpless victim again.
    She knew it could put Keiki at risk, anyone out in the neighborhood at risk, but in a split-second she unclipped Keiki’s leash. If he was still here, Keiki would find him.
    “Go,” she said. The dog shot away, silent as a black arrow, hurtling up the street. Lei ran after her, trying to keep up. She was halfway to the next block when a cacophony of barking started up ahead and she broke into an all out run.
    Her heart sank as she saw one of her neighbors, a plump lady in a muumuu, backed up against her mailbox clutching her fuzzy Shih Tzu. Keiki faced them, growling, her hair on end and ears flat. Her teeth looked enormous as she broke into the fast-paced barking meant to herd and intimidate. It appeared to be working.
    “Help! Oh my God!” The woman shrieked as the little white dog tried to claw its way onto her head. Lei grabbed Keiki’s chain collar and yanked her back onto her haunches.
    “Friend!” she yelled, holstering her gun and making the hand signal where the snarling dog could see it. Keiki was so agitated her hair was standing on end, spit flying from gnashing jaws. Lei gave her another yank and a smack on the haunches to get her attention. The dog finally sat, and Lei made her lie down and expose her belly in submission. Only then did she look up at her neighbor.
    Up and down the street, lights were coming on and the woman’s husband came roaring down the steps, a baseball bat in his hand.
    The woman ran toward him screaming, “She has a gun!”
    “I’m so sorry,” Lei said. “I’m a police officer and I was chasing a suspect. My dog was looking for him.”
    “What the hell?” screamed the husband. “Are you crazy?”
    “I called the police,” yelled another neighbor from her porch. Lei recoiled. This was a nightmare.
    “I’m a police officer,” she repeated to the couple. “I was looking for an intruder . . . I really am sorry. She wouldn’t have hurt you. She was ‘holding’ you for me.”
    The lady had dropped the Shih Tzu at some point and the dog had vanished. She sobbed hysterically as her enraged husband helped her into the house.
    “Tell it to the cops, you crazy bitch! I’m going to tell them to shoot that dog!”
    Lei heard the wailing of sirens in the distance. She sat down on the sidewalk and waited, Keiki flopped beside her, her tongue hanging out.
    “I’m sorry, girl,” she whispered, rubbing her dog’s neck. “This is all my fault.”

Chapter 12
    Lei rocked a little in her bed, her arms around herself, her eyes shut under the sleep mask. She’d called in sick for the morning, dreading facing anyone in the department. Unfortunately, she still had to go meet Stevens and interview the kid at the high school, or miss out on the chance to help with that. She was sure he would’ve heard about the humiliating interview she’d had with Detectives Ross and Nagata. Bathed in flashing blue-and-red lights and surrounded by hostile neighbors, it had been hard to explain the patrol of her neighborhood that had ended so badly.
    “At least the