Forsaking (Vampire Assassin League Book 26) Read Online Free Page A

she smacked at the dust coating her overalls. Coughed. Approached the steps. She wasn’t even hesitating here. That should have raised all kinds of goose bumps.
    But before she reached it, the access gears started up again from somewhere deep inside. The space closed. The steps flattened one-after-the-other until it once again settled into place, looking just like a two-by-three foot section of plank flooring. Marielle stood at the edge of what had been a precipice, her work boots touching a seam she could barely identify amidst all the others. Only because she knew where it was.
    And she wasn’t telling a soul.

 

CHAPTER THREE
    “Isn’t it like, the coolest thing ever!”
    “They didn’t find much, Sharon.”
    “Oh yeah? You think you’re so smart. Why did they like, put crime tape stuff all over the front door then?”
    “Because the lock had been jimmied. That’s why we had to leave, remember?”
    “So?”
    “You hear...but you never listen. Isn’t that right, Marielle?”
    Marielle turned from contemplation of the desert outside the window. Five miles had never seemed to take this long while the twins hadn’t ceased discussing the possible murder at the old Harris Mansion. She now knew the name of the structure. And more. Because that’s all the girls talked of since they’d returned to the Number Eight Saloon. They were still debating it in their van.
    The back of the vehicle was walled off from the three bench seats in front. Back here, the windows were covered over with privacy film. The captain-style seats were large and comfy. They rocked, swiveled, and reclined. There was a small table that could be compacted down, a mini-kitchen complete with cooking surface and small refrigerator along the wall behind her. A sound system and television monitor covered the opposite wall. It was all kinds of plush, and beyond luxurious. The entire place probably turned into a sleeping area if needed. It was more proof that the twins got everything they could possibly want. Except attention. They were spoiled. And they were self-absorbed to an amazing degree.
    Neither twin had seemed to notice that Marielle was at ground level when they’d returned from the Harris Mansion. Nor that the scaffolding had collapsed. They hadn’t even asked of her welfare.
    “I’m sorry,” she replied finally. “What was the question again?”
    “Geez. You’d think like, a murder would get your attention.”
    “I thought you said they didn’t find anything,” Marielle answered. She wasn’t truly listening. It felt like she’d stepped through a portal of some kind. Things had been altered. Everything was muted. Off-kilter. Slightly out of focus. Everything except the image of that opening in the floor back there in the Number Eight Saloon. The one leading to all kinds of mystery.
    She’d never felt so odd in her life.
    “We said there wasn’t like, any blood. But they did find a bullet hole in the wall. Doesn’t that count?”
    “And don’t forget, there was an anonymous tip that came in.”
    “My. Police procedure has certainly changed. Or it wasn’t what I thought,” Marielle commented.
    “How so?”
    “I’m surprised they’d tell bystanders all this.”
    “They didn’t. The goons asked. And cops talk to other cops, or guys who used to be cops...or whatever. We know because we eavesdropped. Or...I did. I don’t know what Sharon was doing.”
    “I listened, too. And there’s like, probably a body out there somewhere! The desert is like, a big place, you know.”
    Yes. It certainly was
.
    Desert landscape loomed larger with every passing second. The land around Dobb Lake was vast. Desolate. Lonely. What the heck? She was feeling something akin to sadness here? Well. There was only one thing to do. Return. Open that aperture. Explore. The moment she could. It wouldn’t be easy. But it wasn’t that difficult, either. It was about five miles to Dobbin Creek. She didn’t dare take a cab, or anything that