Trish, Just Trish Read Online Free Page A

uncomfortable under his scrutiny.
    Finally, he spoke. “A lot of people know
Zacharias… or Zek, especially anyone that deals with horse racing,
but more than anything, people are familiar with his sordid
training techniques. Nobody likes to see a horse abused, however
most people are too scared to challenge him. Zacharias is a sick
man with a lot of money, a lot of connections, and he’s
dangerous.”
    He paused, deep in thought. Then he sighed,
loud and drawn out, which only meant that his next words were not
going to bode well for me.
    “You challenged him, Trish. I mean, Jesus . You could never learn to keep your damn mouth
shut.”
    “What was I supposed to do? Torture the
horse more by letting him run the track just to please the asshole
owner who thought he could get away with it?”
    “Yes!” Tony shouted.
    I flinched.
    “If it’s a choice between your life and a
fuckin’ horse, then yes!”
    “But I didn’t know! I didn’t know who he
was! There are five of us on weekend rotation at the clinic so when
the call came in to check out an abused horse, I had to go. I don’t
keep up with that lifestyle; the races, the gambling or the people ! I knew that’s what you did, the world you lived in
so I wanted no part of it !” I yelled back and my body shook,
with both fright and frustration.
    I stood.
    “Just get out. I don’t know why you came all
the way to tell me this shit… I appreciate the notice about
Zacharias or Zek or whatever the fuck his name is, but I don’t want
you here anymore than you want to be here, so get out,” I
commanded.
    Tony stood then, ignored my request and,
walked the four steps it took to bring us together. I watched as he
pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, yanked up
my arm by the wrist and shoved the paper in my hand.
    “What is this?”
    “It’s the fuckin’ reason I’m not leaving
this house without you. Seems you have a thing for pictures,” he
said in a scary voice.
    I opened it with shaky hands and gasped when
I saw what was inside. It was a picture of me changing; topless,
wearing nothing but a pair of panties. The background was the
locker room of my gym.
    “How did you get this?” I whispered as my
breathing became so erratic that my chest brushed against Tony’s
every time I inhaled. The pressure from holding back my tears
burned my nose. I hated seeing myself in such a vulnerable
state.
    “I was in town for the race tomorrow. I
don’t usually come to them, even to see one of our horses, but the
trainer of the horse in this race got sick. I went to a bar earlier
tonight--”
    Yeah, probably to pick up a slut or two… or
three.
    “What the fuck?” he hissed, and I realized
then that I said my thoughts out loud.
    “Sorry,” I said in a rush. A muscle ticked
in his jaw and his eyes narrowed.
    “What I do is none of your damn
business.”
    “You’re right, I’m sorry, it slipped.”
    “Jesus,” he muttered before continuing. “I
ran into a guy that I hadn’t seen in years. He was wasted and kept
going on and on about some bitch that got Zacharias banned from the
track, though I had no idea who he was talking about until he
pulled out that picture. I didn’t give him a chance to say anything
else, but I was able to grab it before they kicked me out.”
    I closed my eyes at that revelation, but
they flew open when Landyn spoke.
    “So, you plan to keep her at your place?
Until what?”
    Tony sighed. “Zacharias is only out of
prison on probation. With his connections, probation for him is
like walking free, but since Trish here filed that report with the
police, his probation has been revoked and he’s wanted. From the
information my dumbass old acquaintance told me before I saw that
picture, Zacharias refuses to go back to prison and wants Trish
taken care of. If Trish is taken care of, the report goes
away.”
    “Taken care of?” I asked, even though I
already knew what he meant.
    “Killed.”
    “But there were other