A Destined Death Read Online Free PDF Page B

expire. “Me too.”
    He leaned forward attentively and crossed his arms in front of him, resting them on the table. “Have you thought any more about what you really want from your life?”
    The question threw me off balance, and all my questions returned to me in a burst. “Tell me who you are? What’s your name? Where do you live? Did you steal this necklace? And why would you give it to me?”
    A charming smile crossed his handsome face. “I am as anxious as you are, Elizabeth, but we must both learn to take things slowly.”
    Despite his vagueness and lack of answers, I found myself appeased. More than appeased, I was delighted at his use of the word “we” as if we were a couple.
    “I must go.”
    A loud crash in the kitchen made me turn away from him for only a moment but when I turned back the bell on the door rang, and he had vanished. The contrast hit me hard, like I’d just stared at the Mona Lisa and then turned to a plain wall. “Damn it!” I huffed under my breath.
    Normally, Brenda gave me a ride home after a late shift but I was too upset to wait for her to get off. I decided to walk, hoping the fresh air would clear away the confusion and discontent swirling in my head. By Tina’s estimation, Mr. Interested should have asked for the necklace and taken off, never to be seen again. Instead, he’d given me another someday promise. What was that? Why couldn’t he just ask me out on a date, say for Saturday? “Not someday,” I muttered aloud on the empty street as I treaded through the sprinkles.
    Picking up my pace, I pulled my raincoat around me, not minding the warm raindrops. I was too deep in thought to bother with them.
    “What I really want from my life,” I grumbled, continuing my inner quarrel. Who really knew what they wanted from life? My plan was a dream that stemmed from what I liked to do. What did he want me to say? What should I want? My frustration spiked when I realized I had let a man I barely knew make me doubt my own future.
    Slowing, I found myself blocks away from home, and the only thing between my house and me was the long underpass that tunneled below six lanes of traffic. Months ago, the pass closed to all cars, and the inner lighting was out, leaving it completely dark. I’d forgotten about it when I started walking but now the shadows loomed angrily from underneath causing me to stop at the sight of it. I considered going around, but that route took me twelve whole blocks out of the way.
    The sprinkles stopped, diminishing into a mist that prickled my senses and made the hair on my arms stand on end. I knew I was being ridiculous. It was a good neighborhood and nothing hid in those shadows but scared mice. I took a step forward but stopped when I heard laughter.
    “It’s all right, girly, you can come and party with us.”
    I backed away but when my arms instinctively dropped to my waist to get ready to run, my coat fell open, and I realized my mistake. Pulling it closed, I quickly tried to cover the necklace. “Um…no thanks. I have to get home.”
    “Ha ha, she has a curfew,” another voice joked.
    “Shut up!” a dark-haired teenage boy called behind him as he stepped into view. He wore jeans and a black tank top that exposed a very muscular torso. “It’s all right, baby. Don’t mind them. I’ll walk you through here safely, just take my hand.”
    He reached out his hand to me, but I backed further away. “I’m sorry,” I called. “I’ll take the other way.”
    “Very funny, lady. You don’t wear rocks like that in my neighborhood and not get noticed.” He laughed, a harsh, threatening sound that sent shivers snaking down my spine. One by one, a group of six young, muscular boys started to advance. “I mean, how obvious can you be? I just saw this big, fat paycheck walking right toward me! Hand it over, baby, and we’ll let you go wherever you want.”
    “She’s not your baby.”
    The voice that startled everyone and stopped the kids in