Read Online Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Piñeiro - Free Book Online
Authors: Caridad Piñeiro
Tags: FIC027120
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earlier.
“Are you sure that will hold her?” she asked, recollecting the force of Caterina’s earlier struggles.
Mick examined his handiwork, and tugged on the lengths of gauze he had braided for extra strength and tied to the legs of the bed. Recalling how Caterina had fought him, he had contemplated using handcuffs, but the sight of the ligature marks on her wrists and ankles had guilt-tripped him into finding a kinder way to confine her.
Guilt was not good.
It was affecting his judgment about Caterina, and he couldn’t afford that.
He also couldn’t afford not knowing what was going on with her, from the weird blood and supernatural healing, to her decidedly diminished mental capacity.
“Do you think you could run some tests for me?” he said, shooting a sideways glance at his sister.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t. Blood test. DNA analysis. Maybe even a full tox screen because something is definitely not right with your friend.”
A friend she was not, but his sister didn’t need to know that. “I’d appreciate anything you can do only—”
“It needs to be on the down low. I get it, Mick.”
He nodded, reached out, and placed his hand on Liliana’sshoulder. Gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I need you to be extra careful, Lil. Don’t come back to the house without checking in with me first.”
Liliana gestured to Caterina. “Are you sure you can handle her?”
Mick didn’t respond.
CHAPTER 8
“ S he’ll be fine,” Mick finally reassured his sister, but worried whether he could ultimately keep that promise.
This mission was turning out to have too many unexpected variables. Never a good thing when the only contingencies you had anticipated were whether your target would end up dead or alive.
Caterina wouldn’t end up dead if he could help it.
The question was, would Mick come to regret keeping her alive?
After Liliana had left to return to the hospital, Mick gave a last tug on the makeshift restraints and, with Caterina sedated, hurried from the guest room to the smallest of the bedrooms at the end of the hall. He had converted that room into an office where he kept a desk loaded with an assortment of computers he used to monitor the perimeter of this house, his office/apartment in Philadelphia, and any location he had decided to bug. On the wall opposite the desk was a large lateral file cabinet holding a varied collection of cameras and microphones he used for surveillance, and first-aid materials.
The closet beside the file cabinet had once been roomy, but now held a built-in vault that housed a cache ofguns, weaponry, and ammunition. The vault could only be opened with his fingerprint and a complex security code.
Mick sat down at the desk, powered up the monitors, and checked out the feeds from the various locations. The infrared cameras detected nothing unusual around the perimeter of the house. The remote video from his office/apartment areas showed it was still in one piece, and the control panel on the security system didn’t indicate that the area had been breached. The only activity anywhere had been his entry into this safehouse hours earlier.
The last monitor was blank until, with a few quick keystrokes, Caterina’s image appeared as she lay on the bed, her arms and legs tied to the bedframe legs and the headboard. A light sheet covered her, hiding the thinness of her bruised body.
His sister had tried to keep the bruises from him, but he had seen them when Liliana had bathed Caterina, much as he had taken note of the purpling marks on his sister’s own forearms.
Definitely not bruises from gardening, contrary to her assertions.
He recognized the signs of someone being manhandled. And since as far as he knew Harrison was the only man in Lil’s life, he had to assume Harrison had been the one to hurt her.
His stomach tightened with anger at the thought of anyone harming his sister. That it was Harrison doing it only made him angrier.
He had never liked
“Are you sure that will hold her?” she asked, recollecting the force of Caterina’s earlier struggles.
Mick examined his handiwork, and tugged on the lengths of gauze he had braided for extra strength and tied to the legs of the bed. Recalling how Caterina had fought him, he had contemplated using handcuffs, but the sight of the ligature marks on her wrists and ankles had guilt-tripped him into finding a kinder way to confine her.
Guilt was not good.
It was affecting his judgment about Caterina, and he couldn’t afford that.
He also couldn’t afford not knowing what was going on with her, from the weird blood and supernatural healing, to her decidedly diminished mental capacity.
“Do you think you could run some tests for me?” he said, shooting a sideways glance at his sister.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t. Blood test. DNA analysis. Maybe even a full tox screen because something is definitely not right with your friend.”
A friend she was not, but his sister didn’t need to know that. “I’d appreciate anything you can do only—”
“It needs to be on the down low. I get it, Mick.”
He nodded, reached out, and placed his hand on Liliana’sshoulder. Gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I need you to be extra careful, Lil. Don’t come back to the house without checking in with me first.”
Liliana gestured to Caterina. “Are you sure you can handle her?”
Mick didn’t respond.
CHAPTER 8
“ S he’ll be fine,” Mick finally reassured his sister, but worried whether he could ultimately keep that promise.
This mission was turning out to have too many unexpected variables. Never a good thing when the only contingencies you had anticipated were whether your target would end up dead or alive.
Caterina wouldn’t end up dead if he could help it.
The question was, would Mick come to regret keeping her alive?
After Liliana had left to return to the hospital, Mick gave a last tug on the makeshift restraints and, with Caterina sedated, hurried from the guest room to the smallest of the bedrooms at the end of the hall. He had converted that room into an office where he kept a desk loaded with an assortment of computers he used to monitor the perimeter of this house, his office/apartment in Philadelphia, and any location he had decided to bug. On the wall opposite the desk was a large lateral file cabinet holding a varied collection of cameras and microphones he used for surveillance, and first-aid materials.
The closet beside the file cabinet had once been roomy, but now held a built-in vault that housed a cache ofguns, weaponry, and ammunition. The vault could only be opened with his fingerprint and a complex security code.
Mick sat down at the desk, powered up the monitors, and checked out the feeds from the various locations. The infrared cameras detected nothing unusual around the perimeter of the house. The remote video from his office/apartment areas showed it was still in one piece, and the control panel on the security system didn’t indicate that the area had been breached. The only activity anywhere had been his entry into this safehouse hours earlier.
The last monitor was blank until, with a few quick keystrokes, Caterina’s image appeared as she lay on the bed, her arms and legs tied to the bedframe legs and the headboard. A light sheet covered her, hiding the thinness of her bruised body.
His sister had tried to keep the bruises from him, but he had seen them when Liliana had bathed Caterina, much as he had taken note of the purpling marks on his sister’s own forearms.
Definitely not bruises from gardening, contrary to her assertions.
He recognized the signs of someone being manhandled. And since as far as he knew Harrison was the only man in Lil’s life, he had to assume Harrison had been the one to hurt her.
His stomach tightened with anger at the thought of anyone harming his sister. That it was Harrison doing it only made him angrier.
He had never liked
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