[Anita Blake Collection] - Strange Candy Read Online Free PDF

noise. What had woken her? There was a sense of urgency, as if she had forgotten something.
    She sat up, brushing strands of dark hair away from her face. She called out, not really expecting an answer, “Rachel?”
    The only sound was ocean, a purring roar along the sand.
    Adria slipped on a pair of jeans that lay rumpled by the bed. Her nightshirt flapped almost to her knees, a man’s extra large. She padded barefoot over scattered fitness magazines and clothes. The living room stretched perfectly neat, like a magazine cover, where no one lived. Rachel’s neat and tidy hand was visible everywhere.
    Adria’s hand brushed the music box on the end table. It sang a few forlorn notes. The music boxes were Rachel’s hobby. She called them her vice.
    Adria walked across the thick white carpet to the short hall. It led to the bathroom and Rachel’s bedroom. The door stood ajar, moonlight spilling into the black hallway. Adria froze, pulse thudding against her throat. The urgency she had woken with turned to fear. They had shared the house for almost two years. In all that time Rachel had never left her door open. She had a habit of listening to music as she fell asleep. The sound would leak through the house if the door were open.
    No sound. The rushing sea seemed muted in the hall. Adria paused, almost touching the door. “Rachel?” Silence. “Rachel, can you hear me?”
    Adria touched the door; it swung inward. The bed was rumpled, pale sheets turned to silver by the moonlight. Rachel’s clothes lay neatly folded on the back of the room’s only chair. Even her shoes were toes out, heels touching, just waiting to be put on again.
    The drapes flapped in the wind, cord slapping the screen. Adria jumped then laughed, but the laughter sounded wrong. So quiet. She walked to the window. There was always a chance Rachel had gone outside, though that was more something Adria would do than Rachel.
    The beach was a narrow whiteness, heavy and pale under the moon. The ocean rolled gray and silver, white foam riding the waves, as it whisper-roared, eating away at the shore. Rocks gleamed dull black as the surf swirled and blew white spray up into the air. During the day Adria had jogged every inch of the beach but moonlight made it an alien place.
    Adria heard something, a moan, a muffled cry. She wasn’t sure if it was the sound of pleasure or pain. Adria smiled to herself. If she went out there and Rachel had a boyfriend on the beach…Adria turned back to the room. No, there were no other clothes. If Rachel had undressed, so would he.
    Rachel had only brought two men home in as many years. Both times, she had given Adria advance warning. Rachel was not a casual person in her surroundings or her relationships.
    Adria checked the open bathroom, but she knew, could feel, how empty the house was now. She was alone, alone with the sea. And Rachelwas out there somewhere. Adria began listening to her own heartbeat. It was impossibly loud. Something was very wrong.
    She slipped on a pair of deck shoes and opened the sliding glass door that led down to the beach. She left it open behind her; a vague thought that she wanted someone to know where she had gone.
    The night air was cool; she shivered in the thin shirt. She debated on going back and getting a sweatshirt, but no, she needed to find Rachel.
    Rachel’s footprints started at the bottom of the steps. They led down near the surf, where the sand was firm, wet, and easier to walk in. Water swirled shockingly cold around Adria’s ankles. The water was crumpling the edges of the tracks, sweeping them away. Adria began to jog, hoping to trace the prints before the sea took them. She fell into a familiar easy stride, arms pumping, breath deep and even. It felt good. Her fear faded in the face of something so ordinary.
    The only sounds were the rush of waves and the slap of her feet as she ran. Moonlight gleamed along the shore, showing