"This time of morning, it's pretty easy to find a group of druggies all passed out together," Giovani was explaining as he drove his Corvette into one of the worst neighborhoods in town. "Before we go, we make it look like they all overdosed. No one asks questions. Hardly ever even makes the news."
Jack was sitting in the backseat, a tight squeeze, but he had given Rob the passenger seat, thinking there's no way he could climb into the back with those long legs. "Okay," he said, hesitantly. He hadn't had any problem sucking the blood out of the corpse in the morgue, but this would be different
Even before she opened her eyes, Cadence was very much aware that she was not alone. As her mind reached the outskirts of consciousness, she realized who it was that had his arm wrapped around her, and she felt an overwhelming wave of calm rush over her spirit unlike anything she had experienced since the day Jack had called her and told her he was sick.She wasn't quite ready to wake up, not yet, though she was looking forward to seeing Aaron. Still, the exhaustion that had knocked her flat last night wasn't quite done with her, and rather than force herself awake, she rolled over and put her
"Okay," Cadence said, trying to push the questions out of her mind. She knew him well enough to know that probing for answers would do her no good. Changing the subject she asked, "Is my breath atrocious?" She was very much aware that her breath was hitting him directly in the face. Since he hardly ever slept, bad breath didn't seem to be much of a problem for him, a fact that had her momentarily jealous."No, it's fine," he assured her, laughing. He honestly hadn't noticed, and with the possibility of kissing her very presently on his mind, he knew he wouldn't have minded tasting her mouth to
The trip from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Shenandoah, Iowa, should have taken almost two hours, but with Elliott behind the wheel, it took just over one. Cadence was finally starting to get used to traveling at such ridiculous speeds, and she was wondering if roller coasters might have lost their thrill forever.Her friends from home had been slightly disappointed that she had decided not to make the journey back with them. However, they were starting to get used to Cadence not being around. As much as they disliked her absence, they were each aware that something was different about her now. It was
Though the messages from Aaron did make her feel better, Cadence was still extremely upset about the phone calls. It seemed so odd to her that this impersonator could call her from a Lincoln phone number at a bar, and then an Omaha number. Unless, of course, the second number was a cell phone and the caller was a college kid. That would make sense. Still, what kind of a sicko did things like that? As much as she tried to put it out of her mind and go to sleep, his words kept crawling through her brain. "I'll be there soon." If she could deal with the likes of Barbarosa, she could handle just about anything. Nevertheless, the idea that some psycho pretending to be Jack was about to show up outside of her door was extremely unsettling, and she suddenly wished she was not alone.
Sylvia Grau was taking a break from nursing school, waiting tables at a truck stop on US 34, far enough away from her parents in Omaha that they didn't stop by the dingy little apartment she shared with two other girls, but close enough that she could drive up and drop off a load of clothes every once in a while. Sylvia, named for her grandmother, was a beautiful, petite blond, much stronger than she appeared, in every way one could imagine. Over the years, she had learned to speak her mind, much like Grandma Sylvie, and most customers who dropped by the greasy spoon either loved her or hated her.
Sylvia knew all of the rules about going out to one's car at night. She had done the same thing hundreds of times, and nothing even remotely scary had happened. She knew not to dig in her purse, to have her keys ready, and to be prepared to hit the panic button if necessary. Unfortunately, her car was so old, there was no panic button. She had other ways of defending herself, however, and though she was a bit distracted, thinking about the difficult customers she had served that night, she wasn't completely unprepared.She was definitely caught off guard, however, when the force of a body slam
"It's been, like, two days," Laney reminded her sister, who was still endlessly circling the blocks where they had previously seen Giovani's car. "Maybe he's moved on. Can we please try to get some assistance?""No!" Laura exclaimed. "We do not need any help. We'll find him."Laney was exasperated. "Well, what about that other guy? What if I get some information on him? If we knew who he was
Eliza's attitude had changed. She had been lucky enough to spend some time with Aaron since they had left for Billings, and she was happy to have had the opportunity to do so without Cadence in the way. Before Cadence had come into the picture, Eliza thought that all he really needed was some time and, eventually, they would be able to give their relationship another try. Now that Cadence was here, however, she knew that it was going to be much harder to win him back. And the thought of the two of them spending the night together, which she knew they had the night before, made her physically sick to her stomach. Eliza had a few tricks up her sleeve, but for some reason, none of her special talents seemed to be working, and she wasn't quite sure why....