Read Online The Hysteria: Book 4, The Eddie McCloskey Paranormal Mystery Series (The Unearthed) by Evan Ronan - Free Book Online Page A

right?”
    “You’re telling me you aren’t?”
    I shook my head. “I had people watching my every movement for a year while I was in the clink. I got used to it.”
    “Possession with intent. Early parole for good behavior.” He looked over his shoulder at Linebacker and Brunette. “We know so much about you, I think it’s time we introduced ourselves.”
    “Right, like these names are going to be real.”
    He ignored my barb. “My name is Patterson, everybody calls me Pater.” He gestured for the others to make their introductions.
    Brunette looked at him incredulously for a moment. He gave her a hurry-it-up gesture.
    She faced me. Her eyes were fierce. “I’m Manetti.”
    “And what do they call you? Filia?” Patterson smiled at my Latin.
    “No, Manetti.”
    “Makes sense.”
    Linebacker bopped his head at me. He was six-five, had a barrel of a torso and a face made of granite. “I’m Riehl.”
    “As in, the Real Deal?”
    He smirked. “I like that.”
    I looked at Pater. “Who are you with?”
    “The government.”
    “If you want my help, you need to be more specific.”
    “The federal government.”
    Pater was a cool customer. “I want out of here, wherever here is, I want my car, I want guaranteed safe passage, before I tell you anything.”
    “You have my word.”
    “I don’t think you understand, Patterson. I know this is my only bargaining (...only) chip (...ing) so (...chip) I’m (...I’m) not (...not) going to (... going to) I’m not (...I’m) listen (...not) ...”
    I didn’t understand how it was happening, but my words were echoing in my ears, almost as quickly as I could speak they were rebounding back at me. I tried speeding up, slowing down, keeping my cadence chaotic. Nothing worked. I couldn’t focus on what I wanted to say because I kept hearing what I’d just said. It was maddening. I degenerated into a babbling idiot. And eventually shut up.
    “We don’t have many human resources on my team, but boy, we do get some cool hand-me-down tech from DARPA, Mr. McCloskey.” Pater smiled, proud of his federal government.
    “I know a good attorney,” I said. “When I—”
    “If you want to make a call on your cell, go ahead.”
    I took my phone out. “No service.”
    “Oh right.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I’ll have to take down the jammer.”
    They had a cell phone jammer? I didn’t think those things were real. “Why don’t you do that. And while you’re at it, start giving me my constitutional rights back.”
    “Eddie, no one is keeping you against your will. If you’d like to leave, there’s the door.”
    He pointed at the door behind me, not at the torture chamber.
    “You were never placed under arrest.”
    “Bullshit, you knocked me out with something then put me in the vomitorium.”
    “The chemical agent Ms. Manetti used on you in the course of protecting herself—”
    “ Protecting herself ?”
    “—from a known ex-convict who’d just come from a knife-fight will be long gone from your system by the time you can get any kind of meaningful blood test. It probably already is.”
    “Yeah, but you put me in the puke room…”
    “Nobody knows we’re here, Eddie. And if anybody were ever to show up, we’d know they were on their way. Plenty of time to leave no trace behind. No one will lay eyes on that room as it currently exists unless we want them to.”
    “You’ve got somebody on the police.”
    He shook his head. “I’ve got something better than that.”
    “Something or someone ?”
    He didn’t answer. Instead he pointed at the door. “You’re free to go. Of course, you know we’ll be watching. So we’ll essentially find Megan when you do.”
    I looked from Pater to the other two. “You’re not going to scare me off like you did Chester Leonard.”
    Nobody said anything. Score one for Eddie. They’d stepped in when the private eye was looking for their agent and told him to take heel.
    “Wait. If you didn’t