Read Online Salvaged to Death by Vanessa Gray Bartal - Free Book Online Page A

nonetheless.
    She nudged Hal, muffling his mouth with her hand in case he woke up talking. Her lips pressed to his ear, whispering. “Someone’s in the pumpkin patch, Linus.”
    He blinked a few times to reorient himself. He nodded, and she dropped her hand, pointing to the spot the person had been. Sadie rose; Hal stumbled up and righted himself against the pumpkin. She guessed he was running on fumes at this point. She would have let him sleep except that he would be disappointed to miss any action.
    They crept toward the place the mysterious stranger had been. There was no sign of him, but he would hardly be standing out in the open if he was sneaking around. And with so many giant pumpkins, there were plenty of places to hide. Sadie and Hal used the pumpkins as cover, dodging from gourd to gourd as they got closer to their target. Sadie didn’t expect whoever it was to still be there, but she hoped to gain some insight into who it had been. Even from far away she didn’t think it was Tom Tomkins. His tiny stature was a dead giveaway; even most women were larger. She was almost positive that whoever had been lurking wasn’t him.
    They were two pumpkins away from the spot where she saw the intruder. She put a hand on Hal’s arm and pulled him to a halt, listening. She heard nothing but the sound of Hal’s breathing and the rustling of his jacket. He wasn’t great at sneaking around, she realized. He wasn’t as bad as some, but he obviously had no experience with covering the details of his presence. She could smell his cologne—it was pleasant, but also a dead giveaway. His jacket was nylon; Sadie had given up on synthetics when she became an investigator. Now she wore a cotton sweatshirt. It was warm and soundless with no crinkling material or clanging zippers. Unbidden, her thoughts turned to Luke. He had learned all the same lessons from Gideon that she had. She didn’t realize how invaluable it was to have someone who already knew what to do. She didn’t often use Luke, but when she did, he came prepared.
    She released her grip on Hal and took a cautious step forward. Though there was no sound, her skin pricked, alerting her to danger. Some unspoken sense was trying to send her a message. Sadie had learned long ago to rely on those gut feelings; they were right more often than common sense in situations like these. She paused again, but it was too late. Someone rushed from the shadows and barreled into her and Hal, knocking them down like bowling pins. Sadie didn’t fight the hit; instead she rolled into it, allowing her upper torso to absorb any impact. She rolled twice and sprang to her feet, a maneuver she learned from her ex-husband who used to tackle her for fun. Kai had been amazed by her ability to take a hit and keep going.
    Hal was still on the ground. She jumped over him and sprinted after their attacker.
    “Okay?” she called.
    “Yes,” he said, breathing hard. Grunting, he heaved himself up and limped behind her. She easily outpaced him, but she was still too far behind their assailant. Whoever he was, he was fast. She still couldn’t make out much about his form except that he was covered head to toe in black. Even his hair was covered. After the tackle, Sadie ruled out the possibility that it was a woman. He was fast and strong, but so were a lot of people. Her first instinct was to blame Bo, but rushing to judgment was often a mistake. When an investigator rushed too early to pin a suspect, she often overlooked something obvious in her determination to make a case.
    Sadie pushed aside thoughts of identification and concentrated instead on catching up. She added a turbo burst of speed, but to no avail. The suspect easily outpaced her and disappeared into the night. The chase became futile. Sadie gave up and admitted defeat, something she hated to do. She wanted a release for her anger, but Fiona’s precious pumpkins were the only outlet. While it might feel temporarily satisfying to kick