Read Online Inferno by Stormy Glenn - Free Book Online

sound again, he started to take a step. The slightest rustle of some underbrush caught his attention.
    Abe cast a quick look around to make sure he hadn’t walked into a trap, even going as far as sniffing the air. Once he had separated the different scents and knew he was essentially alone in the park, Abe squatted down and started moving branches out of the way as he searched for the creature that had made the small mewling sound.
    Two big bright blue eyes blinked up at him from beneath one of the ferns. “Well, hello there.” Abe slowly reached down and picked up the little white fur ball, lifting the kitten into his hands. The darn thing was so small it fit into the palm of his hand. “Where’s your mama, little one?”
    A kitten this small shouldn’t be out here on its own.
    Abe cradled the small creature to his chest as searched the bushes for the mother. Much to Abe’s dismay, he found her in the bushes just off the edge of the street. Apparently she had made it far enough to get her baby to safety, and that was it.
    Knowing she needed warmth and probably contact of some sort, Abe unbuttoned his shirt and tucked the kitten inside and then went back to his truck for a towel and a bag. He couldn’t do much for the mother beyond making sure her body wasn’t left to the elements and scavengers.
    The kitten on the other hand…Abe pulled out his cell phone and looked up the closest veterinarian. The kitten was pretty small. Abe wanted to make sure it wasn’t in danger of dying due to the loss of its mother.
    By the time Abe found an emergency vet clinic and took the kitten in for a checkup, over two hours had passed. He walked out of the clinic with a kitten and a bag of stuff sure to dip heavily into his pocketbook.
    He felt like a new mom with all of the stuff the veterinarian insisted the four-week-old kitten needed. Between the baby kitten food, the vitamins, flea supplies, a carrier, and one cute little stuffed orange bunny that the kitten seemed to have taken a liking to, Abe felt weighted down.
    And he had no idea what he was going to do with the new kitten. He had tried to pawn it off on one of the staff members at the clinic but the woman admitted to having five cats already. She didn’t need one more. Abe thought about taking the cat to animal control for about half a second. He just couldn’t do that to the poor little thing.
    That meant he had a new cat…unless… Abe placed the kitten into the cat carrier the vet insisted the little thing needed if it was going to be transported in a vehicle, and then started up the truck. Personally, Abe was pretty sure the vet saw him coming from a mile away and he had sucker written across his forehead.
    Even if he did, there was someone else that had sucker written across his forehead in big neon colors. And he was just as cute and adorable as the small white kitten curled up in the cat carrier with its orange stuffy.
    The ride back to where he had left Ben and Danny didn’t take as long as Abe thought it would, which was surprising considering the increase in traffic due to the lunch hour rush. Everyone seemed to be in such a damn hurry. Yet another reason Abe preferred living in Pacific Cove.
    City folks were crazy.
    Abe pulled around the corner to Danny’s street and started scanning the area in front of the apartment building for a parking spot. His truck was a dually with a full bed in the back and a wench on the front. Finding a parking spot big enough wasn’t always easy.
    He spotted a black sedan pulling out halfway down the block and stepped on the gas to get there before someone else did. A moment later, he slammed on his brakes when a car door suddenly opened. Abe dropped his head onto the hands he had gripping the steering wheel. His heart started beating again, going so fast that he was afraid it was going to beat right out of his chest.
    A horn honking brought him out of his near panic. He lifted his head and looked up. The man that had been