Don't Read After Dark: Keep the lights on while reading these! (A McCray Horror Collection) Read Online Free Page A

to the dungeon around her.
    “Puta, you haven’t figured it out yet?” Back sneered behind her, although the woman’s eyes never left Darion.
    Darion felt a slow smile turn his lips up. “Why? Because we’re all serial killers.”
     

CHAPTER 4
    Jake continued playing his game. Okay, not so much playing as getting his ass kicked. The damn thing was rated for 13 and up, and he couldn’t get past the seventh level. What did that say about him?
    Finally, though, he had some nonjudgmental peace and quiet. The janitor was long gone, taking his mop and condemnation with him.
    Then the sound of the bullpen’s door opening crushed his plans for an all-nighter.
    “Detective Braut?” a woman’s voice asked. He glanced up to find an older redheaded woman who kept herself put together entering the bullpen and heading toward his desk.
    “Only if you can tell me how to get past the ugly-ass monster on level seven.”
    The woman cleared her throat as she approached. “I think something’s happened to my friend,” she squeaked out.
    “So far, fireballs have been ineffective, and shock arrows are downright useless.”
    The woman, however, was turning out to be less than useful.
    “Um, Missing Persons can’t take a formal report for forty-eight hours, but Marion said that I might try you.”
    Of course Marion did. That sneaky chick. Guess he wouldn’t be hanging up on her anytime in the future.
    “And hand-to-hand combat?” Jake continued. “Against an eight-legged scimitar wielding beast? Not very likely.”
    * * *
    Suddenly, Nancy worried that she was in the wrong place.
    “I’m sorry, but you are Detective Braut, correct?”
    The detective apparently lost whatever battle he was waging on his phone and finally looked up at her. It wasn’t until then that she realized he was bald. Attractive, with deep brown eyes and a playful tug at his lip, but bald. Not that she had anything against that. Patrick Stewart was always a turn-on.
    “That’s what the badge says,” the detective said as he rotated his thumb around. “You’ve got until my thumb cramp goes away to convince me that I should care about your friend and her possible predicament.”
    Nancy took a deep breath. She somehow thought this would be easier than it was.
    “Evie...” It was hard to speak her name. Nancy felt so guilty. What had she been thinking, going off with Phoebe and Cassidy? She should have walked her friend home. “Evie’s new to town and, well… shy. I think the idea of heading over to Dietrich’s—”
    The detective interrupted and, for the first time, seemed interested in her story. “For appletinis?”
    Nancy took another step closer. The detective did not rise—however, he did keep rotating that thumb, so she did have a little more time.
    “Um, yes, she left, and we were hailing a cab and I turned my back for a second…” The detective’s eyes glazed over again. Nancy didn’t have much time, so she hurried on. “I caught something out of the corner of my eye.” That didn’t seem to pique his interest either, and his thumb was slowing, so she rushed. “And I haven’t been able to reach her. I even went by her place, but she’s not answering.”
    Finally, the detective put down his phone. “Okay, did you consider that she didn’t want to be disturbed? Say, because she was having sex?”
    Nancy shook her head. “She doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
    “That doesn’t rule out having sex, my dear. Self-service? Girl-on-girl—”
    Nancy put up a hand to stop his line of thought.
    “Look, you don’t know her like I do.” She reached down and touched his wrist. “Something awful has happened to her.”
    The detective breathed out heavily. “Okay, fine. After you say this ’something awful’ incident, you went to investigate and…”
    * * *
    “Well, um…” the woman sputtered, and even though his thumb was feeling pretty good about now, he let her finish. “The taxi pulled up, and…”
    Jake looked askance at