Read Online The Iron Quill by Shelena Shorts - Free Book Online

enough for any vermin lurking in the potholes to hear me, and then sighed, surrendering to the rational thoughts that told me to back up. To the safe confines of my car.
    I was desperate, but not stupid. Once inside, I locked my doors and smacked the steering wheel with both hands.
    I felt like a chicken, a failure . . . selfish for not having the guts to march in there and demand the information I needed, but the gravitational pull from the opposite direction was stronger. Wes certainly wouldn’t go looking for a fight or conflict. Every bone in his body was kind, calm, and collected. Regardless of my frustration, I couldn’t go against the aura that surrounded who he was, who I needed to be if I was going to make it through everything that fate had to throw at us.
    After several reflective minutes, I made peace with my decision to find another way.
    Just as my engine revved, the sound of sirens in the distance reminded me of the dangers in the world, and I shuddered. An eagerness to leave rose within as I eased my Jeep out of the parallel space.
    Suddenly the sirens ceased, but several sets of headlights were coming down the narrow street, straight toward me. A glimpse into my rearview mirror was greeted by even more headlights approaching.
    I hadn’t seen another car the entire time I’d been there. That was odd. Curious, I slowed my Jeep and veered to the right.
    There were no yellow lines dividing the narrow road, so I came to a near crawl to prevent grazing one of the parallel-parked cars to my right or running head-on into the blazing stampede of approaching cars to my left.
    What in the world?
I asked myself as the first ones passed. Cop cars? Even though their sirens were off, I slid back into the first parallel parking space to see what the heck was going on. Three cruisers, three vans, and two ambulances went by.
    I turned around to peer out over my headrests and saw the cars stop in front of the alleyway leading to the fight club. Someone was either injured or in trouble, and I couldn’t figure out which, until it dawned on me that the emergency vehicles were silent.
    I watched as an entire SWAT team hustled out of their vehicles and stealthily moved into the alleyway. The same alleyway I had
just
backed away from. Talk about a huge feeling of relief, but there was no time to relish it. An icy jab shot through my spine as a loud pound shook my window.
    I jumped, nearly knocking my head on the roof of the Jeep.
Geez
! I whipped my neck around to see a uniformed officer standing at my window. Major flashbacks of Andy pierced my thoughts as I sat like a deer in headlights.
    The officer motioned for me to roll down my window. Naturally, I tensed and froze. “Miss, roll down your window, or I’m going to have to ask you to step out of the vehicle.”
    That was something I definitely didn’t want to do, so I pressed down on the switch, lowering the window in two-inch increments until there was enough space for him to talk.
    “May I ask you what you’re doing here?”
    “Um. I was heading down this street and I pulled over when I saw you guys coming. I . . . I was just curious.”
    I found myself pointing behind me, hoping he would understand my rubbernecking.
    “What brings you down this street?” he asked pulling out a flashlight.
    The blinding glare in my eyes caused my heart to jump out of my chest. My breathing became labored.
What’s wrong with me?
Oh, my gosh!
    “Miss?”
    “Um, can you please move that light? I’m sorry,” I nearly started panting. I wanted to throw my Jeep in gear and drive off faster than he could blink.
    I glanced at him one more time with pleading eyes, and the light moved away and very quickly, I saw a look of possible recognition in his eyes.
    “Oh,” he said. “Do you have ID?”
    I turned quickly, rummaged through my purse, and nearly tossed him my wallet. “Oh,” he said again seemingly more to himself than me. “Ms. Slone, what brings you to these parts this