Evil Harvest Read Online Free Page B

called already, but—”
    “No police,” he said. “Not in this town.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” She brushed hair off of her forehead.
    “They’re crooked. The chief’s the worst one.”
    “I take it you’ve dealt with them before.”
    “Yeah. Just let’s leave them out of this, okay? Maybe I can explain it to you some other time.”
    That was weird. She hoped that he didn’t have some sort of record, maybe for kidnapping and raping joggers. Looking at him, she dismissed the thought. He looked weary, and incapable of doing her any harm at this moment. There were purple bags under his bloodshot eyes, as if he hadn’t slept well. Maybe he hadn’t. She decided to drop the matter of calling the police for now.
    “Can I ask you something? Something weird?”
    This night couldn’t get any weirder , she thought.
    “Were you dragged into that building by a man?”
    “Actually, it was an Ethel Merman impersonator.”
    “I’m serious.”
    “Yeah. It was a guy.” Despite her joking, her heart thudded and she could almost feel the guy’s arm tightening across her windpipe. His forearm had been sweaty, and she remembered the slimy dampness of his skin pressed against her throat. “Why do you ask that?”
    “Did you see what was chasing us? You had to have heard it.”
    “I didn’t get a good look at it, but yeah, I heard it.” She just didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. Things like that could blow holes in the fabric of your sanity. She’d always had a healthy appetite for all kinds of novels, science fiction and horror included. But to think they had been chased by something that should exist only in a movie or a book blew her mind.
    “Where are you going with this?” she asked.
    “I can’t explain it all right now, just like not calling the cops, but I have my reasons. I want to tell them to you. But not right now. I hope you don’t think I’m nuts,” Matt said.
    “A little odd, but not nuts.”
    “Did you get a look at the guy?”
    “He was tall, blond and pale. For some reason I noticed he had thick lips. Don’t ask me why.”
    “It’s funny the things you remember.”
    “There was something else about him.”
    “What’s that?”
    Jill thought about not telling him, thinking that maybe she had imagined it. “He smelled funny. It was almost like, I don’t know—I can’t put my finger on it.” She frowned, frustrated at her inability to describe the odor accurately.
    “Like rotten eggs, maybe sulfur?”
    “Yeah! When he had me in that armlock, the smell was so strong that my eyes started to water. How did you know that?”
    He watched the road.
    They approached the corner of Wharton and Elmwood. It was nearly midnight and the pizzeria on the corner was still open. A white sign with purple letters proclaimed PIZZA MAGIC : WHEN ORDINARY PIZZA ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH . Next to the lettering was a cartoon chef complete with a floppy hat and curly mustache drawn over his lip. A few teenagers stood at the pinball machines, swerving and juking as if body English would influence the little silver ball.
    Matt still wasn’t talking. He had insider knowledge and didn’t want to give it up. He would, Jill vowed silently.
    “You know something about what was in that warehouse, and I wish you’d tell me. I’m having trouble accepting the fact that we might have been chased by the bogeyman—I think if I admit it to myself I might go a little bonkers. At least if you admit it too then maybe I’m only half a crackpot.”
    “Not right now,” he repeated.
    “When?”
    “Soon.”
    “Promise? I know we barely know each other, but we need to talk about this,” she said.
    “I promise.”
    They turned down Wharton, drove under the canopy of leaves created by the maples that lined the street. She told him to start slowing down and pointed out her house. Like most of the houses on the street, Jill’s was a double, with a large porch upstairs and down. He turned into her