Creatures of Appetite Read Online Free Page B

turns waiting for her after her school functions and she never went anywhere without one of her parents close by.
    In addition, he’d started keeping his trusty baseball bat close by the bed when he slept, which made him feel better even though the house was bolted up tight at night. He had a shotgun in the house as well, most folks in Nebraska did, but that was kept locked up downstairs in the cabinet. He couldn’t very well leave a loaded shotgun lying around his bedroom because Wendy was in the habit of walking in her sleep and sometimes he and Kelly would wake up to find her snuggled in bed between them.
    They couldn’t take the chance that she might pick the weapon up, even in her sleep. As he listened at the door to the hallway, Bryan thought to himself, just for a brief moment, that maybe it was time to move the whole damn gun cabinet into their bedroom.
    He hoped Wendy had another case of the night-walks, gotten up to go to the bathroom for a glass of water or to pee, and that was all it was.
    “Bryan!”
    “Shhh!”
    Bryan slowly cracked the bedroom door open and looked out into the hall. Nothing. He opened it all the way and stepped quietly out into the hall, listening very hard to his house as it slept.
    A small night-light cast a bit of illumination around the hall and the rest of the second floor. Bryan tiptoed to the railing of the stairs and looked down into the first floor. Everything was quiet and covered in shadow. Nothing moved or made noise. Bryan walked quietly toward his daughter’s bedroom, hefting his bat to calm his nerves. Bryan slowly opened his daughter’s door and stepped in, bat held high.
    Under the blue glow of her Lilo and Stitch night-light, his daughter Wendy slept, curled up blissfully in her bed. Bryan breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his bat. He gently moved an errant blonde hair that had fallen into Wendy’s mouth and adjusted the covers on her bed. Can’t be too careful these days with all the insanity going on in the world, Bryan thought as he watched his daughter sleep.
    Bryan returned to his bedroom and his wife a few moments later, shut their bedroom door and tossed his bat back to its spot next to his closet.
    “Is she …” Kelly whispered.
    “Wendy’s fine, I just checked on her, sleeping like a baby.”
    Bryan yawned, put his glasses on the nightstand and crawled back into bed.
    “Is everything …”
    “Everything’s cool, I went downstairs, checked everything out, house is still locked up, nobody there, nothing to worry about.”
    “Then what was it?”
    “Just the house, houses make noise as they settle for the winter. Don’t worry, honey-bunny.”
    Bryan turned off the lamp next to the bed and settled back under the covers. Kelly snuggled up close to her husband. “My hero.” They cuddled for a few moments. “Bryan. Bryan?”
    “What?”
    “I’m thirsty.”
    “So go get a drink of water.”
    “You’re already up. Bryan? Bryyyan. I’ll make it worth your while. Bryan?”
    “Damn, Kelly! All right, okay.”
    Bryan grabbed his glasses and slid out of bed again, this time without turning the light on. He stomped over to his bedroom door and opened it.
    A tall man in black with a dark ski mask pulled over his head stood in the bedroom doorway. The Iceman.
    Before Bryan could speak or react, the Iceman quickly touched him on the side of his neck with an electric stun gun, which sparked upon contact with Bryan’s skin.
    Bryan collapsed to the floor without a sound, unconscious.
    Kelly turned toward the door at the sound of the Taser and squinted into the darkness of the bedroom before her.
    Without a word, the Iceman stepped into the dark bedroom toward the fallen man’s wife.
    “Bryan?” Kelly whispered.

Chapter Seven

    B ad winter weather blanketing the Midwest made for a bouncy flight on the Bureau plane. Thorne hunched over the case file in his lap, oblivious to the turbulence. Kane walked unsteadily down the aisle and sat in the seat