01 Summoned-Summoned Read Online Free PDF Page B

eying me up and down. She does that a lot. It's unnerving.
    “Daddy sending you on another mission?”
    “Yeah. Wanna take this one?” I offer the papers and envelope as I head toward her.
    She laughs, but it's also unnerving. Everything about her is unsettling, ever since we were kids.
    She pops her gum. “Afraid not.”
    I push past her into the foyer, passing underneath one of the two massive white staircases, and head toward a set of exit doors.
    “Dimitri?”
    I glance back. She has her head tilted, still running her eyes up and down like she's grooming me in her head. She probably is.
    She smiles. “Don't waste my inheritance, okay?”
    I scoff, repressing the shudder, then let myself out. I expect Silvia to follow, but she remains inside where she belongs. 
    A white Honda Civic is waiting in the carport, engine idling. Low key. That's how I roll.
    I slide in, drop the file into the passenger seat, and pull out to head toward Phoenix.
    Her inheritance. That's what Silvia calls me. 
    If Karl thinks of me as his guard dog, then Silvia considers me her puppy.
    And she's just itching to get her hands on me.
    ***
    On the drive home, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I fumble with one hand to pull it out without swerving lanes, then tap the accept button and put it to my ear.
    “Dim's Mortuary, you slice 'em, we ice 'em.”
    “You're gonna need ice after I finish beating the crap out of you.”
    It's Syd.
    “Yeah, about that . . . ” I flip the blinker and exit the freeway. “Work called.”
    “What the fuck, Dim? Did you go out the window?”
    I slow to a red light. “Wait a second, you went back inside?”
    “No shit. I needed my purse. Keys, driver license, you know, those minor things.”
    “Ah,” I say, because how else am I supposed to respond? Next time I will have to remember to lock the door.
    “You're a jerk,” she says. “I'm coming over tomorrow, and you're making this up to me.”
    “Can't, sorry. Gonna be out of town for a few days.”
    “Doing what?” She sounds unamused. “Is the celebrity traveling?”
    “That's one way to look at it.”
    She huffs. “What happened, anyway? First off, I didn't hear a phone. Second, you were gone when I went back inside. What's up with that?”
    “What's up with what, Syd?”
    “Were you hiding? You weren't hiding, were you?”
    I raise my voice. “You're breaking up! I'm approaching a tunnel!”
    She growls. “You're a terrible liar. Are you going to tell me what the hell happened?”
    “What happened when?” 
    I turn into my neighborhood. Almost home. Thank you, Flying Spaghetti Monster. I can't wait to get in a few hours of shut eye before I start this wish. Before the dull hum in my brain grows too loud to sleep.
    “This evening, Dimitri! What happened this evening?”
    “ No hablo ingles, ” I say, then hang up the phone as I pull into my driveway.
    I expect to see Syd standing on my front porch, but she's not. Chances are high my tires will be slashed in the morning. She's that kind of girl.
    I grab the case file, lock the car, and strode up to the front door. My phone vibrates again as I step into my living room. I glance at the screen and sigh. It's Syd.
    Of course.
    I answer. “ Comprate un bosque y pierdete. ”
    “Yeah, I took high school Spanish, too,” she says. “Get lost in your own damn forest, jerk. I'm coming over.”
    “No, you're not. I told you, I'm heading out of town.”
    “Well, let me send you off right.”
    I glance around the living room. Nothing seems to be out of place. Maybe Syd kept her paws to herself this time.
    I push open the door to my bedroom and flop down on the bed, facing the ceiling. Truth is, I won't be summoned while I'm on a kill. Not to mention, I have a few hours to piss around before the hum starts demanding action.
    I can totally handle the hum for another round with Syd.
    “You have fifteen minutes to get here,” I say.
    “I'm already pulling in.”
    She hangs up.
    I look at my