Read Online The Soul Summoner (The Soul Summoner Saga Book 1) by Elicia Hyder - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Elicia Hyder
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coincidence."
My skin began to crawl. I really hated the word 'coincidence'. "Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked.
He leaned toward me. "Because you can help me."
"No offense, Nathan, I realize this is your sister we are talking about, but you just promised me that you're not trying to pull me into criminal investigation," I reminded him.
"I know, I lied to get you to listen to me," he admitted. "Sloan, what if this is a serial killer?"
I pushed the photos back toward him. "Then I really don't want anything at all to do with it!"
"Can you just tell me if they are alive or dead?" He picked up the photos and moved to the seat next to me before fanning them out on the coffee table. "That's all I'm asking for."
I cut my eyes at him for several moments before begrudgingly leaning forward and taking a closer look. My eyes moved slowly from face to face until I settled on one that was very familiar. I tapped her picture. "I went to school with this girl." I said. "I remember Adrianne telling me about someone we went to school with who disappeared while I was away at college."
He nodded his head. "Leslie Ann Bryson. She disappeared in 2009 after getting off work at Chili's Bar and Grill."
I shuddered. "Are there any more girls from around here?"
He shook his head and pulled out a legal sized sheet of ledger paper. It was a timeline. A map was glued to the bottom of the sheet with red "X" marks and numbers scrawled on it. There had been two disappearances in Raleigh, two in Greensboro, two in Hickory, two around Winston-Salem, two around Statesville, and Leslie Ann Bryson in Asheville.
A light bulb flickered on in my brain.
I pointed at him. "You didn't move here for your girlfriend," I said. "You moved here because you believe the next victim is going to be from around here!"
He just stared at me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why isn't this the FBI's problem?"
He closed the folder. "Well, the FBI just recently started looking into this as these cases being possibly related."
I closed my eyes and pressed my palms over them in frustration. "Nathan, why the hell did you have to come to Asheville? My life was so much less complicated before you showed up! Do you even have a girlfriend?"
"Yes. I didn't lie about that."
I smirked and shoved him hard in the shoulder. "Does she know you're using her as an alibi to be some kind of vigilante with a badge?"
"I'm not using her," he argued. "And I did move here for her. I don't know the next abduction will happen here. I don't even know if these crimes were all committed by the same person."
I pointed at him. "But you suspect it and you are using her. And now, you're trying to use me." I got to my feet and began to stalk across the room.
He followed and grabbed me around the waist before I could throw the front door open and insist that he leave. He pulled me back against his body and rested the side of his face against my hair. "Sloan, I'm just asking you to think about it," he said quietly in my ear.
His pheromones were making my head foggy and I suspected he knew it. I wrenched his arm off of my mid-section and pulled on the front door handle. "Go away, Nathan," I said as I pointed to the street.
His shoulders slumped and he moved toward the door.
"Wait," I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his shoulders straighten and his eyes widen with hope. I walked back to the living room, gathered up his files, and closed the folder. I rejoined him at the door and shoved the folder into his chest, forcing him backward over the threshold.
"Now, go away." I slammed the door in his face and tumbled the deadbolt.
* * *
Surprisingly, I didn't see Nathan at all the rest of the week. I thought for sure he would be waiting at my office door when I arrived for work the morning after I expelled him from my house, but he wasn't. He didn't call or text either. Not that I was disappointed.
On Friday after work, I met Adrianne at 12 Bones Smokehouse for dinner and
My skin began to crawl. I really hated the word 'coincidence'. "Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked.
He leaned toward me. "Because you can help me."
"No offense, Nathan, I realize this is your sister we are talking about, but you just promised me that you're not trying to pull me into criminal investigation," I reminded him.
"I know, I lied to get you to listen to me," he admitted. "Sloan, what if this is a serial killer?"
I pushed the photos back toward him. "Then I really don't want anything at all to do with it!"
"Can you just tell me if they are alive or dead?" He picked up the photos and moved to the seat next to me before fanning them out on the coffee table. "That's all I'm asking for."
I cut my eyes at him for several moments before begrudgingly leaning forward and taking a closer look. My eyes moved slowly from face to face until I settled on one that was very familiar. I tapped her picture. "I went to school with this girl." I said. "I remember Adrianne telling me about someone we went to school with who disappeared while I was away at college."
He nodded his head. "Leslie Ann Bryson. She disappeared in 2009 after getting off work at Chili's Bar and Grill."
I shuddered. "Are there any more girls from around here?"
He shook his head and pulled out a legal sized sheet of ledger paper. It was a timeline. A map was glued to the bottom of the sheet with red "X" marks and numbers scrawled on it. There had been two disappearances in Raleigh, two in Greensboro, two in Hickory, two around Winston-Salem, two around Statesville, and Leslie Ann Bryson in Asheville.
A light bulb flickered on in my brain.
I pointed at him. "You didn't move here for your girlfriend," I said. "You moved here because you believe the next victim is going to be from around here!"
He just stared at me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why isn't this the FBI's problem?"
He closed the folder. "Well, the FBI just recently started looking into this as these cases being possibly related."
I closed my eyes and pressed my palms over them in frustration. "Nathan, why the hell did you have to come to Asheville? My life was so much less complicated before you showed up! Do you even have a girlfriend?"
"Yes. I didn't lie about that."
I smirked and shoved him hard in the shoulder. "Does she know you're using her as an alibi to be some kind of vigilante with a badge?"
"I'm not using her," he argued. "And I did move here for her. I don't know the next abduction will happen here. I don't even know if these crimes were all committed by the same person."
I pointed at him. "But you suspect it and you are using her. And now, you're trying to use me." I got to my feet and began to stalk across the room.
He followed and grabbed me around the waist before I could throw the front door open and insist that he leave. He pulled me back against his body and rested the side of his face against my hair. "Sloan, I'm just asking you to think about it," he said quietly in my ear.
His pheromones were making my head foggy and I suspected he knew it. I wrenched his arm off of my mid-section and pulled on the front door handle. "Go away, Nathan," I said as I pointed to the street.
His shoulders slumped and he moved toward the door.
"Wait," I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his shoulders straighten and his eyes widen with hope. I walked back to the living room, gathered up his files, and closed the folder. I rejoined him at the door and shoved the folder into his chest, forcing him backward over the threshold.
"Now, go away." I slammed the door in his face and tumbled the deadbolt.
* * *
Surprisingly, I didn't see Nathan at all the rest of the week. I thought for sure he would be waiting at my office door when I arrived for work the morning after I expelled him from my house, but he wasn't. He didn't call or text either. Not that I was disappointed.
On Friday after work, I met Adrianne at 12 Bones Smokehouse for dinner and
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