Read Online Love Lies Bleeding by Meghan Ciana Doidge - Free Book Online
Authors: Meghan Ciana Doidge
Ads: Link
headed.
“You’re a stripper?”
“Nah, that’s just my real cover.” Karli now tamed her hair back into a bun as she spoke. “I mean, the money is good and the agency lets me keep anything stuck in my panties, kind of like a retirement fund. But it’s not a longterm lifestyle I aspire to.”
“Oh.” Pamela didn’t really get it … any of it.
“That true, what Shep said about you earlier today?”
“Not wanting to live without Grady, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t get that.”
“Not many people do.”
Karli looked at Pamela as if finally truly seeing her. “Not all of us are so lucky.”
“I know, and I can’t go back.”
“Now that you know what love is supposed to be like.”
“I’m just looking to match this empty shell to my departed soul.”
Karli looked as if she might speak again, but then had nothing to say. She grabbed Pamela’s wrist and pulled her farther into the forest.
•••••••••
They ran and ran and ran.
Finally, Pamela was forced to twist her wrist from Karli’s grasp and stop stumbling along behind her best friend. She leaned against a tree, very winded. “I’m going to pass out.”
“Bad idea. Got to keep moving.”
“No one is who they seem to be,” Pamela moaned. “Including Grady.”
“That’s not my secret to tell,” Karli said cautiously. “I’ll get you to a safe place and we’ll sort this all out.”
Shep’s voice boomed out from the forest behind them. “I spy with my little eye something that is white,” he taunted from far too nearby.
Karli yanked Pamela behind a tree, then looked around trying to catch sight of Shep.
“Whoops. Where she go?” Shep, still hidden somewhere in the forest, laughed.
“Shit! Okay, this is what we need to do … where’s the laptop?” Karli asked.
“In the car?”
“Shit!”
“Fe, fi, fo, fum. I smell the blood of a dumb, dumb blonde!” Shep taunted. He was obviously close enough to hear the girls’ conversation, but still hidden from their sight.
“I’ve got to go back.” Karli checked the bullets in her gun.
“Are you crazy? You know he won’t be satisfied with a tooth. Or, in your case, a notch on his bed post.”
“It doesn’t count, you know, as a number on your personal total, if you have your fingers crossed.”
“Or if they don’t know the true you?”
“Exactly. Go. I’ll circle around. Find a path and follow, it’ll eventually take you to one of the parking lots or out of the park. Stay near people. Then go to our coffee shop, I’ll find you. Go!” Karli ducked around a tree and ran in the opposite direction.
“Karli!”
“Pamela! We aren’t done, darling!” Shep’s voice receded deeper into the trees as he chose Karli as his first target.
If Shep had an iPod he might have chosen to play Rich Hope’s song, My Love is a Bullet to underscore his hunt. Its pounding, punishing guitar rift would have pleased him, but perhaps such a choice was beyond his ability to understand his personal motivations. So it was instead Pamela, who’d seen Rich play the Piccadilly Pub many years before, to whom the lyrics rose unbidden. Perhaps the words were recalled by her pounding heartbeat as she ran and ran and ran farther into woods.
•••••••••
Pamela dashed into a clearing and stumbled. Unable to catch her balance, she pitched face forward , though her dress softened her landing as it wrapped around her legs. She released the breath she’d been holding in a puff of frustration and with an edge of despair. She looked around.
She was surrounded by forest in every direction. A rusted chainsaw was partially hidden in the brown fir and cedar needles that coated the ground. She scrambled forward in a crawl to pick up the saw, but it was so heavy she could barely lift it, let alone run and wield it.
A surprised scream and then a gunshot echoed from the direction Karli had previously headed.
Pamela dropped the saw,
“You’re a stripper?”
“Nah, that’s just my real cover.” Karli now tamed her hair back into a bun as she spoke. “I mean, the money is good and the agency lets me keep anything stuck in my panties, kind of like a retirement fund. But it’s not a longterm lifestyle I aspire to.”
“Oh.” Pamela didn’t really get it … any of it.
“That true, what Shep said about you earlier today?”
“Not wanting to live without Grady, you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t get that.”
“Not many people do.”
Karli looked at Pamela as if finally truly seeing her. “Not all of us are so lucky.”
“I know, and I can’t go back.”
“Now that you know what love is supposed to be like.”
“I’m just looking to match this empty shell to my departed soul.”
Karli looked as if she might speak again, but then had nothing to say. She grabbed Pamela’s wrist and pulled her farther into the forest.
•••••••••
They ran and ran and ran.
Finally, Pamela was forced to twist her wrist from Karli’s grasp and stop stumbling along behind her best friend. She leaned against a tree, very winded. “I’m going to pass out.”
“Bad idea. Got to keep moving.”
“No one is who they seem to be,” Pamela moaned. “Including Grady.”
“That’s not my secret to tell,” Karli said cautiously. “I’ll get you to a safe place and we’ll sort this all out.”
Shep’s voice boomed out from the forest behind them. “I spy with my little eye something that is white,” he taunted from far too nearby.
Karli yanked Pamela behind a tree, then looked around trying to catch sight of Shep.
“Whoops. Where she go?” Shep, still hidden somewhere in the forest, laughed.
“Shit! Okay, this is what we need to do … where’s the laptop?” Karli asked.
“In the car?”
“Shit!”
“Fe, fi, fo, fum. I smell the blood of a dumb, dumb blonde!” Shep taunted. He was obviously close enough to hear the girls’ conversation, but still hidden from their sight.
“I’ve got to go back.” Karli checked the bullets in her gun.
“Are you crazy? You know he won’t be satisfied with a tooth. Or, in your case, a notch on his bed post.”
“It doesn’t count, you know, as a number on your personal total, if you have your fingers crossed.”
“Or if they don’t know the true you?”
“Exactly. Go. I’ll circle around. Find a path and follow, it’ll eventually take you to one of the parking lots or out of the park. Stay near people. Then go to our coffee shop, I’ll find you. Go!” Karli ducked around a tree and ran in the opposite direction.
“Karli!”
“Pamela! We aren’t done, darling!” Shep’s voice receded deeper into the trees as he chose Karli as his first target.
If Shep had an iPod he might have chosen to play Rich Hope’s song, My Love is a Bullet to underscore his hunt. Its pounding, punishing guitar rift would have pleased him, but perhaps such a choice was beyond his ability to understand his personal motivations. So it was instead Pamela, who’d seen Rich play the Piccadilly Pub many years before, to whom the lyrics rose unbidden. Perhaps the words were recalled by her pounding heartbeat as she ran and ran and ran farther into woods.
•••••••••
Pamela dashed into a clearing and stumbled. Unable to catch her balance, she pitched face forward , though her dress softened her landing as it wrapped around her legs. She released the breath she’d been holding in a puff of frustration and with an edge of despair. She looked around.
She was surrounded by forest in every direction. A rusted chainsaw was partially hidden in the brown fir and cedar needles that coated the ground. She scrambled forward in a crawl to pick up the saw, but it was so heavy she could barely lift it, let alone run and wield it.
A surprised scream and then a gunshot echoed from the direction Karli had previously headed.
Pamela dropped the saw,
Similar Books
