Trinity Read Online Free Page A

him. Between the light traffic on these dirt roads and the starlight from above, TJ gained confidence. The roar of the bike’s motor soothed him, grinding out all the other sounds into a steady white noise. The trees around him had new leaves; they flapped in the wind like a thousand little flags. He wasn’t the kind of guy to get sentimental, but this was one pretty night and—
    Something tan moved in the trees beside him.
    A deer? He smiled. Didn’t see them too often. Whatever it was slid out of his line of vision before he had a chance to get a fix on it. He remembered jacking deer with his dad as a kid, he missed that. You had to be real quiet, watch them at the lick then be ready to go when the lights went on.
    He hit a pothole, jarring his arms, and it got him thinking about the task at hand.
    How could she love Val? She just thought she did. Now that he was out, TJ suspected Val Slade wouldn’t be sticking around for too long. TJ was the kind of guy who sticks around. Yessir. He’d get her away from Val and get her away from her brother, didn’t sound like she needed either one of them. He tried to ignore what Val said, what Rich made him say he didn’t hear. Was TJ the only guy in town who hadn’t raped Kate?
    The cone of light the Suzuki threw out lit the bright green of the leaves, the only color in the grayscale of night.
    It didn’t light up the man in the road until it was too late. TJ made a little whispery gasp of surprise as he mashed on the brakes, hand and foot, and jerked the bike to one side. The back tire lost its purchase on the road and TJ went down, the gravel chewing into his skin, pushing up his jacket and shredding his jeans. The bike stalled; the ticking of its engine the only sound.
    TJ’s pulse pounded in his ears as he took a mental inventory of himself. Road rash, yep, but nothing broken. He was fine, the bike was probably fine…but what had—
    The man stepped into the light.
    He wore a light leather jacket and jeans, his hair and eyes were dark. The light, coming from below, played strange shadows on his face. His eyes were luminous pools.
    “You all right?” TJ asked, getting to his knees, plucking a little bloody stone out of his side. He wanted to ask what the fuck the guy was doing out here, but his momma raised him better than that.
    The man pulled a glass bottle out of his pocket. It looked like a mayonnaise jar. When lit from underneath, TJ saw something in it. Did the guy have a jar of tequila? That would explain a lot, as it was the only drink he could think of that would have a worm in it. TJ stood, wobbling. He’d thunked his head on the road, but not hard. He rubbed at it as he took a step towards his bike to pick it up. The gas cap didn’t stay on too well, and he wanted to get it up before the spilled gas got on the paint, but the man took a step towards him.
    No, TJ thought, in answer to his own question. This man was not okay. Without even meaning to, he took a step back.
    Uneasiness washed over him, dulling the pain in his hip and side. The man was so silent, so precise, yet something about the way he peered past TJ into the night unnerved him, made him turn too, looking for whatever the man thought was out there. The night felt warm, but now that he was off the bike, he caught a chill, a goose walking over his grave.
    No way he’d let some drunk city fellow scare him off from his own bike. He took another step forward, and the man did too. Now they were nose to nose. TJ opened his mouth to speak, but the man reached out, faster than TJ could prepare for, and grabbed his chin. Two of the man’s fingers were in his mouth and he could taste them, salty like skin, but there was also a formaldehyde under-taste to them. He stumbled back and started to fall, but the guy held him by the chin and TJ dropped down to his knees. He swung at the guy, hitting the cloth of his jacket, but the angle was wrong, and he swatted like a girl. He swung again; he wanted the