Read Online Last Safe Place, The by Ninie Hammon - Free Book Online

get you the presidential suite in any five-star hotel in the city with a single phone call. And about those show tickets. I—”
    “Stop …” she whispered. As soon as she saw him, fear had expanded in her chest like an inflatable life raft and now it was so huge she could barely speak. “Stop following me.”
    “I’m not following you,” he said pleasantly, his smile as thin as a filleting knife. “I’m not going anywhere.” He glanced down at his injured foot and a murderous look flashed across his features like a puff of wind scattering dry leaves. The leaves settled back into place as he lifted his eyes to lock into hers again. “As you can see, I’m not up to traveling right now. But it was certainly worth the price of two plane tickets to …” He pulled a boarding pass out of his pocket and noted the destination. “… ah yes, Cleveland, to watch my man hand-deliver your little invitation to court. And there’s more where that came from. I—”
    “Can’t you … please … leave me and my family ...” Her words struck the hard surface of his demeanor—splat, a rotten tomato on a window pane—and slid off it to the floor.
    An armed TSA air marshal appeared in the concourse a few feet away and as he walked past them a tiny flame from the furnace of anger in Gabriella’s heart began to warm her. Hard to find a safer place than an airport. You couldn’t slip so much as a pair of fingernail clippers through security and the corridors were patrolled by guys carrying automatic weapons.
    “ Leave us alone!” She heard the words leap out of her mouth before she could grab hold of them. Emboldened by the environment, she went on. “It’s not real, none of it. Can’t you see that? You’re not The Beast of Babylon. I made him up! Go away—”
    He struck like a pit viper, grabbed her wrist, twisted it and yanked her down toward him with such force she almost toppled into his lap. “You will not speak to me like that when I rule—”
    The murderous growl of an angry wolf froze Yesheb like an ice sculpture. He released his hold on Gabriella in surprise and turned slowly to see P.D. poised to pounce, only inches from his face. Teeth bared, canines glistening, the ever-affable golden retriever had been transformed into eightyfive pounds of savage beast that would go for Yesheb’s throat if the man so much as blinked. Gabriella allowed herself a tiny smile. She’d managed to pack a weapon through security after all!
    She straightened up, turned and motioned for Ty and Theo.
    “You two go on to the gate,” she said, amazed that her voice was level. “I’ll be right there.”
    Theo took a step toward Yesheb, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
    “I need you to look after Ty. Please, get him away from here.”
    Ty’s face was ashen, his eyes huge. He stared at Yesheb with the look of a rabbit caught in the talons of an eagle.
    Theo scowled at Yesheb, but nodded and shoved Ty in front of him out toward the crowded concourse. The old man paused as he passed Yesheb, though, leaned close and said quietly, “Some days you the big dog and some days … you the hydrant. ” Then he limped away.
    Alone with Yesheb, Gabriella’s fear returned, rose up in her throat like vomit.
    Yesheb spoke without moving, his eyes fastened on the growling, menacing P.D. “I will kill this dog. Give me time and I will devise an appropriately brutal way to dispatch him.” He remained rigid, but moved his eyes up to Gabriella’s face. “I will stomp the old man, crush his brittle bones, leave him to die slowly. And I will kill the boy, your son, rip his heart out of his chest while it is still beating and offer it as a sacrifice to join us together for all eternity.”
    The ice in Yesheb’s eyes flowed out of them and into Gabriella’s heart. She reached down a trembling hand and took the handle of P.D.’s harness. He was still growling, the hackles standing up on the back of his neck. The dog had never done