Evil Harvest Read Online Free Page A

take a good sniff to notice it.
    Rafferty took a step back. “I’m taking you back to the station, Charles. I want to hear your story, and I mean all of it. If I don’t think you’ve told me everything, I have a Tazer in my office and I can use it on some very unpleasant places on your body. Tell me the truth and we won’t have a problem. Got it?”
    Dietrich nodded.
    Rafferty motioned him ahead with the revolver, and they headed down the alley.

C HAPTER 3
    Jill glanced at Matt as they sped down Elmwood. He narrowed his clear blue eyes and seemed to take aim, as if the car were a torpedo and there was a ship to sink in the road. What if he was a psycho? Nah, he was just wound like a jack-in-the-box after their encounter. So was Jill, the muscles in her neck feeling like tangled barbwire.
    Her hand crept down to her belly. The blood had gone sticky in spots and although there was a lot of it, the wound would amount to nothing more than a bad scratch. The shirt, however, was a loss, unless she clipped it and brought it back as a crop top. Or a dust rag.
    She took another glance at him. Good-looking in a college boy sort of way. Close-cropped hair, nice flat stomach and a fine set of blue eyes. Looked like a guy who might bag your groceries, help you to the car and say, “Have a good day, ma’am.” Looked innocent enough at first glance.
    He peeked in the rearview mirror and braked. She watched the speedometer needle drop from fifty-five to thirty-five. The engine rattled and knocked. The only sound in the car was Jill’s breathing.
    “We were a pretty good team back there,” she said.
    “I’d say we’d get the gold in the run-for-your-life Olympics.” He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “What were you doing out at that hour?”
    “Jogging,” she said. “I usually do it in the morning, but today I overslept.”
    “It almost cost you your life.”
    She couldn’t disagree with him. If he hadn’t shown up when he did, there was no telling what would’ve happened. She had been jogging on Elmwood when she heard the metal door screech and fly open with a bang. A man darted toward her, quicker than she had ever seen someone move. Jill was no slowpoke, but before she knew it, he had his arm across her throat and dragged her into the warehouse. Her throat still felt raw from the attacker’s grip.
    “So what happened?”
    She told Matt the story, adding, “And when you got there, things started getting weird.”
    He looked at her belly. “Do you want me to take you to the hospital for that?”
    “Eight hours there was enough.”
    He looked at her quizzically and then looked back at the road.
    “I’m an R.N. at Lincoln Mercy. We should be taking you there for that ankle. I banged you pretty good with that crowbar.”
    A smile curled up at the corner of his mouth. “Nothing that crutches and hours of painful physical therapy won’t cure.”
    “That’s rotten,” she said, but laughed anyway. It felt good, drained some of the tension. “You should have yourself checked out. I can go with you and have one of the docs look you over.”
    He shook his head. “Hospitals give me the willies.”
    “Typical man.”
    She gave him directions to her house on Wharton Street.
    Normally she would never invite a stranger into her house, but he had helped her out of the worst jam of her life, and he looked like he needed some repair work. A purple-yellow bruise was beginning to swell on his cheek, and she knew his ankle must have been killing him. “At least come upstairs and let me have a look at you. Maybe do a little first aid.”
    He shook his head again.
    “You sure you won’t let me pay you back? Dressing your wounds is the least I can do for you.”
    Matt blew out a stream of air. “I should call my aunt and let her know I’m still alive. Would a free phone call be included in the deal?”
    “I think I could manage that. And after you call your aunt, I should call the police. We really should have