Read Online Golden Anidae (A Blushing Death Novel) by Suzanne M. Sabol - Free Book Online Page A

have a Plan B.
    I needed to talk to that girl behind the counter. She knew something. I’d seen the fear in her eyes, had felt the desperation in her grasp. I wanted to know what had made my little kitten skittish.
    I went down three blocks, glancing back over my shoulder. A black Cadillac Escalade would stand out, wouldn’t it? I wanted to give Detective Salazan enough time to leave and be out of sight before I went back. Making the turn to circle the block, I parked the bike at a Denney’s, backed my bike up against the diner-style building, and waited.
    I sat for another fifteen minutes before I was sure he hadn’t followed me. I drove around the block, then made my way back to the burger joint. I rode up by the front entrance and searched inside.
    She wasn’t there.
    I hit the throttle, and made the turn to the backside of the strip mall. Loading docks, dumpsters, and cigarettes filled the alley. The air was overpowered by the foul-smelling trash crammed into the dumpsters behind the building, rotting in the dry heat of a Las Vegas spring. A couple of heroin addicts dug for food as another one shot up against the building. The teenager I was searching for smoked a Kools as she leaned up against the wall, ignoring the druggies a few yards away. Classy!
    I parked the bike and yanked the helmet off. She took one look at me and shook her head, tossing the cigarette to the ground in a huff. She was young, probably younger than I thought. Stringy blond hair was tied back into a tight ponytail, giving the appearance that her hair was plastered to her head, either intentionally or from lack of washing. Perfectly formed curling iron ringlets stuck out from underneath her visor on either side of her face. Her beady eyes narrowed on me and the stress of a hard life was etched in her face.
    “No way, Lady.” She turned her back on me as she made her way to the rear entrance of the burger joint.
    “Wait!” I said, louder than I’d intended as I hopped off the bike, almost knocking it over. Catching the handlebars in both hands, I steadied her and set the kickstand before the teen grabbed for the door.
    “No. I like my head the way it is. Still attached,” she snorted, yanking the door open.
    “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re the one who tried to warn me ,” I scoffed. “I just want to know why you’re so scared.” I hopped up onto the loading dock easier than any human would’ve been able in a long lithe hurdle and grabbed for her. She didn’t seem to notice.
    “Look, I’d like ta help, I really would. But I’m gettin’ my GED, I got a kid, and I’m finally gettin’ my life together. I can’t risk it.” She seemed defeated and beaten down.
    I wanted to tell her I’d help her, that I’d protect her and her kid. I could have if I was back home but not here. Not now.
    Nodding, I let her go.
    “I understand,” I said. Grabbing a pen from the inside of my leather jacket, I reached out quick before she could stop me and clutched her wrist. I shoved the sleeve of her shirt up to her elbow, ignoring the long-healed track marks of a user. She tugged against my hold but I held her tight in my preternatural grip. She couldn’t have jerked away from me to save her life. I turned her arm over and wrote on the roughened flesh of her scarred forearm.
    “If you run into trouble,” I said, writing the number of my new drop phone on her arm in big bold numbers. “Call me.”
    She stared down at the numbers, then yanked her arm away in a huff. Slouching the sleeve of her shirt back down to her wrist, she snorted at me.
    “Whatever,” she huffed in protest but I could hear the fear lacing her voice. “Just stay away from that guy.”
    I watched her high-tail her ass inside, helpless to do anything more for her. The knot forming in the pit of my stomach told me I was on the right track even if I wasn’t quite sure what that track was or where it led. I couldn’t help her but I could help Soraida.
    Grabbing