Read Online Desperate to the Max by Jasmine Haynes - Free Book Online Page A

one who killed her.” She spread her hands and shrugged. “Otherwise, why call, right?”
    “If he doesn’t call?”
    “Then he’s my number one suspect.”
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Max climbed from bed, dragged on an old pair of black jeans, a maroon, paint-covered sweatshirt she wore for cleaning, and her black suede boots. She loved suede whether the heels were four inches or flat. These were flat, which made running easier.
    Half an hour later, Max cruised Garden Street. The lights were out in Ladybird’s house except for one on the front porch. Witt’s department-issue sedan was gone, the street empty and quiet, fall leaves whirling across the macadam in front of her car. She rolled down her window and listened to the night. San Carlos was a small, tightly packed suburb, allowing the distant sound of cars to drift in from the El Camino.
    Lights blazed in every window on the opposite side of Bethany Spring’s duplex, the side occupied by her mother and sister. A gray Camry station wagon had joined the Civic in the driveway.
    Damn, damn, and triple damn. “I might be able to sneak into the house, but I sure don’t like the new odds with everyone awake next door.” Eleven-thirty. People would only have just settled down after the eleven o’clock news.
    “I doubt they’ve even been thinking about watching the news,” Cameron scoffed.
    “It’s still risky.”
    “Chicken.”
    She glanced in the rearview mirror and narrowed her eyes as if she could see Cameron somewhere in the reflection. “Why don’t you see if she gets any calls? They’re always saying ghosts can use the telephone.”
    “I’d hate to take away all your fun. I know how you love doing a little B&E.”
    He was referring to her late-night sojourn through a murder suspect’s house less than two weeks ago. Bad experience, that. She didn’t want a repeat.
    Max circled the block twice. Nothing had changed.
    “This is a really dumb idea.” Witt would pitch a fit if he knew she’d even contemplated slipping into Bethany’s house.
    “Park the car one street over,” Cameron ordered.
    “You’re crazy.” But she did as she was told. After pulling the key out of the ignition, she reached into the glove compartment for her black leather gloves, tugged them on, then got out of the car. The breeze held the scent of rain. Walking to the end of the block, she headed back toward the duplex on the corner. Halfway down, she stopped at the back of the property line. The bushes were tall, but behind them was only the short, white picket fence, a duplicate of the one in front.
    “You can go through the neighbor’s yard.”
    She pushed aside the hedge, peered through. A swing set, a tipped-over tricycle, and no lights on. A car backfired in the distance, the sound like a gunshot. Max jumped, her heart pounding out of her chest as Cameron’s frenzied “hurry” rang in her ear.
    She scrambled through the bushes, stooped over, and ran for the opposite end of the yard. The moon was bright, spotlighting her against the gray-green expanse of lawn. It seemed like miles before she finally threw herself back into the shelter of the hedgerow. Small, sharp branches stung her cheeks and forehead like needles. She hadn’t taken a breath in over a minute, and now she gasped for air.
    “If you weren’t dead already,” she whispered between breaths, “I’d have to kill you for getting me into this.”
    “You wanted to do it, sweetheart, but you needed me to give you the okay.”
    “I notice you didn’t tell me to bring Witt this time.”
    “Don’t worry. You won’t be able to keep this to yourself.”
    “I don’t like the sound of that. Am I going to get caught?”
    “I’m a ghost, not a fortune teller. I have no idea. But if you don’t get your sweet little ass moving, and out of this guy’s yard, you might get a bite taken out of it.”
    It was then she heard the low growl. Oh shit. Where the hell had the dog come from? She clambered