Bed of Bones (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Five) Read Online Free Page B

keeping things under wraps—you know the protocol.”
    “What things ?”
    “If I told you, it wouldn’t be under wraps now, would it?”
    “The chief called me personally,” I said.
    He rested a hand on his hip, mocking me. “What do you know—he called me personally today too.”
    “Maddie has clearance,” I said.
    “Not on this one, she doesn’t.”
    Without the presence of the chief, we were gridlocked, a fact Coop relished. He thumped on the hood of the car with his fist. “If the chief wants to grant you two access to the scene, it’s on his watch, not mine. Until then, back this thing up.”
    “Can you at least tell me where the chief is?”
    “I’m not your errand boy. Call him yourself.” Just as Maddie placed her finger on the button to put the window up, Coop added, “What are you doing here anyway, Sloane? Shouldn’t you be at the hospital?”
    Maddie smiled. “At least we know where Giovanni is now. Thanks, Coop.”
    He rolled his eyes. She jammed the car into reverse, spun around, and punched the gas, making a spectacle of herself as she peeled out. For a girl like Maddie, there wasn’t any other way.
    “You know,” she began, “Coop’s the type of guy that could turn a sane, rational person into a cold-blooded killer after a single conversation. And yet he saved your life awhile back.” She swayed her head back and forth. “I’ll never understand.”
    I did. It was his job. Nothing personal.
    The chief’s secretary, Mary, called Maddie on her cell phone. Mary said he’d been tied up all day. He asked Mary to arrange a meeting with us at the station later today. Maddie pressed her for more information and learned the joint terrorism task force was assembling a team. Soon they’d be on their way to Park City.
    I tried Lucio again. Still no answer. But now I knew where Giovanni was, and I hoped, alive.

CHAPTER 5
    Daniela was the first person I spotted after stepping through the revolving door of the Summit Medical Center in Heber. She rose from a chair, embraced me. I said, “How is he? What happened? Why was he even at the…” And then I stopped. One look at her tear-stained face, and I knew she was in no condition to answer my questions.
    A knot jolted my stomach. The look on her face was one of loss. It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. I wanted to grab her, shake her. Scream.
    Please let him be alive!
    Instead, I held her and whispered, “Are you okay?”
    She shook her head.
    “What can I do to help?” I asked.
    “Nothing.” She picked a hair band out of her back pocket and whipped her long, dark locks into a loose bun. “How could this happen—to him of all people?”
    Did she mean it? Surely, she had some indication of the kind of danger the family business put him in.
    She aimed a polished, black fingernail at me. “I’m going to find whoever did this and make him understand what happens when you mess with a Luciana.”
    Spoken like a true Mafioso. I glanced at Maddie, who had spent the last two minutes beating the life out of the plastic panel on the soda vending machine with her clenched fist. She put the money in, the machine spit it back out. After several failed attempts, Maddie placed the dollar on her pants, ironing it flat. She prayed out loud to anyone listening for it to work and stuck the dollar back in so delicately, for a moment it was like the machine was a life-size version of the game Operation. This time, it didn’t just spill back out, it shot out. She threw her hands in the air and glanced at Daniela. “I guess I didn’t want soda after all. I’m going to find a cup of coffee. Want to join me?”
    Except for engaging in idle chit chat at one or two of Giovanni’s dinner parties, Maddie and Daniela hadn’t spent much time around one another. In any other instance, Daniela would have refused the offer. But crisis mode changed people, often times opening the dusty, closed windows we all hide behind.
    Daniela nodded. I tried not to show