Read Online Savage by Thomas E. Sniegoski - Free Book Online

her life.
    Janice closed the cabinet door, catching a reflection of herself in the mirror over the sink, and wondered who the old lady was looking back at her.
    â€œIt’s really starting to blow out there,” Ronald started. “Got the lawn furniture into the shed before it could blow away.”
    â€œThat’s good,” she said, watching the old woman’s mouth move as hers did.
    â€œEverything go all right at the vet? Alfred’s teeth look good—nice and clean. Did he behave himself?”
    She must’ve moved a certain way to show him her wrapped hand.
    â€œWhat the hell’s wrong with your hand?”
    â€œNothing,” she said, tearing her eyes from the old woman in the mirror. “Just a little accident.”
    He was suddenly there beside her, taking her hand in his, unwrapping the towel. His nearness made her flesh crawl, the painful throbbing of her hand becoming almost unbearable.
    â€œIt’s nothing,” she told him, trying to pull her hand away.
    â€œIt’s not nothing,” he corrected her. “That’s a bite. Who bit you? Did one of the dogs at the vet . . . Did Alfred bite you?”
    Alfred was sitting on the bathroom rug, watching closely with his dark doll’s eyes.
    â€œIt was an accident,” she said, getting away from him before she started to scream. “There was a fight, and I got bit as I was trying to break them apart.”
    She left the bathroom as quickly as she could, the closeness of him like poison to her body. Alfred followed her into the bedroom, as did Ronald.
    â€œDid you call the doctor? Maybe you should go to the emergency room . . . you’re probably going to need a tetanus shot, and maybe rabies.”
    â€œI’m fine,” she said, even though the pain was worse now than before. “I’m just going to bandage it up and keep it clean.” She hoped that her assurances would get him to leave.
    She had put the bandages and tube of antibacterial ointment down on her makeup table and thought she saw him leaving the room—
    But he came up suddenly behind her.
    â€œLet me help you with that,” he said, taking the ointment from the table and grabbing her wrist.
    And that was when she knew it was going to happen.
    That was when Janice Berthold knew she would kill her husband.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    The poor weather conditions were starting to intensify. Sidney held tightly to the wheel of her Jeep, struggling to keep control as the wind and rain threatened to push her from the road.
    Snowy whined in the backseat, and Sidney reached back to scratch her nose, keeping her eyes on the road ahead of her. “It’s all right, girl,” she said, as much to reassure herself as the dog.
    The visibility was bad, but Sidney finally spotted the turnoff for the marina through the driving rain. The lot was nearly empty; she didn’t even see Cody’s truck. Had she come all this way for nothing? The lights were on in the main office, and since she was there, she decided she might as well find out.
    Throwing the hood of her light jacket up over her head, she opened the door and motioned for Snowy to exit, and the two of them ran across the puddle-filled lot to the front door of the office and quickly entered.
    Cody’s dad looked up from a stack of papers on his desk.
    â€œHi, Mr. Seaton,” Sidney said, removing her dripping hood. “Is Cody around?”
    â€œNo,” he said, standing and taking the papers to a file cabinet on the other side of his desk up against the wall. He pulled open the first drawer and dropped the stack of papers into it.
    Snowy walked across the room to greet the man who slammed closed the drawer and turned, holding his hand out for the shepherd to sniff.
    â€œAnything I can do for you?”
    â€œThat’s all right,” Sidney answered, feeling very uncomfortable. Cody’s father had never been one of the most talkative of