Read Online Zombie Patrol by Elizabeth Basque, J. R. Rain - Free Book Online Page B

couple.
    As they waited, Jared said, “So, what were you expecting to find?”
    “You mean here?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, I wanted to see for myself what my dad told me,” she said. “I never thought my Uncle Joe could be dangerous to anyone. I’m glad my dad took them to the doctors’ office.”
    “ If he took them to the doctors,” Jared said, for reasons he didn’t entirely know.
    “ Of course he took them,” she replied. “Just like you said upstairs. It makes sense. You have to make sense once in a while.”
    “Ha ha.”
    “Anyway, where else would they be?”
    “ They could be howling at the moon,” Jared said lightly.
    “ Stop it. Besides, it’s daytime.”
    Anna was getting paper plates out for them when Jared, on a wild whim, reached around her and tickled her. Anna squealed and faced him. “You’re in big trouble now!”
    She playfully pushed him as he grabbed her and held on, pulling her in close. The disorder upstairs momentarily forgotten, she lightly pushed him away and darted around the kitchen table. He chased her. Running around the table, laughing, he finally caught her and they ended up crashing to the floor. He rolled on top of her and locked her arms above her head.
    “ Stop!” she laughed.
    “ Make me.”
    Anna felt a rush of passion, something she’d been denying for many months now. But with him on top of her, looking at her with those big puppy eyes, well, she finally gave in to him. She was certain he was going to kiss her. She welcomed it. Wanted it. Her first kiss...
    * * *
    That moment, sweet and pure as it was, was suddenly broken by sounds from below. Not just sounds but...grunts and growls. Wild animals? Anna instantly knew that the noises were coming from the cellar.
    The romantic moment fled as quickly as it came.
    “ What’s that?” Jared was suddenly alert.
    “I don’t know,” said Anna, getting up. “But it came from t he cellar.”

Chapter Fourteen
    If I’d known Anna had gone home, and alone with Jared—a father’s greatest fear; that is, a daughter alone with a love-struck teenaged boy—I never would have gone with Carla. Anna’s actions set off a complex series of events that could have been avoided. But then again, maybe it was all inevitable.
    Carla took me to her base station, the Sheriff’s Department on Hollywood Boulevard. It was a fairly busy station on the cusp of true Hollywood, but Carla had a small cubicle of her own, where she kept track of the goings on in her jurisdiction, mainly, the observatory and its surrounding neighborhoods. Carla had a pretty sweet beat, compared to some of the other deputy sheriffs. Sure, she was required to keep tabs on the local gang and vandalism activities, break up the ritzy Los Feliz noisy parties, and she occasionally worked with crime detectives in the never-ending violence that ensconced the area. But she maintained a fairly local region. She couldn’t have had it much better.
    Carla inconspicuously led me to her cubicle and slipped out of her jacket. I sat in the small office chair meant for the occasional witness or colleague.
    “ Okay,” she said quietly as she booted up her computer. “What do you need, specifically?”
    “How about searching for an APB, for starters?”
    “Your brother?” she asked, not missing a beat.
    “Gee,” I said. “You must be a cop.”
    “Shut up. What’s his full name?”
    “ Joseph Bradford Carter.” I rattled off his birthdate and residence address as she entered the search. “ Can you check his friend, Mike?”
    “ What’s his last name?” She started typing again.
    “ Mendoza.”
    Carla looked at me. “Carter, do you know how many guys named Mike Mendoza there are? It’s like searching for John Smith.”
    I sighed. I next asked her to check any alerts or bulletins that might be coming across her desk. It took only a few clicks before she started nodding. “Bingo. There’s a warning about scattered illnesses in the military. Quote: ‘Yellow