Black Ghost Runner Read Online Free PDF Page B

looking down at herself. She was in her panties and bra with her hair undone.
    Beth slowly got up and padded barefoot out to the living room. Noble was in the kitchen, eating cereal from a large mixing bowl.
    She heard his voice sounding so normal. “Good, you’re awake. Get a shower. We need to make it to the bank when they open.”
    Beth looked at him, then looked at the door of her apartment that drew her eyes to the jacket hanging over the weapon. She looked down and realized she was standing there in just her thin underclothes. This was when she saw the mark on the top of her left breast.
    “You bit me.” It came out in a whisper, but anger was building behind it. Anger was good. It helped with the fear.
    She felt his eyes on her, but he continued to eat, not answering the obvious.
    “You bit me, you bastard.” Now, she was letting the anger grow. Maybe she could get mad enough to stop this whole weird business.
    In her anger, she watched him as he finally turned to rinse the large bowl, evidently having finished off all the cereal. He looked over his shoulder. “Sorry, it was a one-time thing. Got carried away. Do you need help with the shower, or can you manage? We are leaving in twenty minutes.”
    By this time, he had turned back around, folding his arms across his chest. Beth remembered him smothering her against that chest in many different ways. To keep her from talking, to feel her breasts flattened. No, don’t think about that.
    Beth looked at him for only a moment longer, then finally turned to go back in the bathroom. She gathered clothes as she went. She locked the bathroom door. She was surprised, as this was the first time she had ever done that. She had never had guests in the small apartment.
    Beth made the shower a short one, tying her hair on top to keep it dry. She put on fresh underclothes and a loose shirt over a pair of jeans, all actions quick. She came out leaving her hair up with the banana clip she had used, then slipped her feet into a pair of sandals and grabbed her belt purse that she was surprised to see on the table next to her bed. Her cell phone was also lying there so she slipped it into a back pocket, pulling the shirt over it.
    Taking a deep breath, she went back into the living room. He was leaning on the wall near the door with the jacket under his arm. Beth knew he had the weapon wrapped up in the leather. He held out her keys. She just looked down at the floor as she went past him, taking the keys as she stomped out the door.
    There was not much traffic on Saturday morning, so they got to the bank before it opened. She found a quiet spot in the parking lot in the shade under one of the large trees the bank was smart enough to protect. They sat there in silence, watching as a couple of bank workers pull in and enter through a side entrance.
    Beth was getting really nervous. She needed to talk or do something. “Can I ask you some questions? I mean, will you tell me the truth?” She wasn’t looking at him, just at her hands clutching the steering wheel.
    She felt the jeep move as he shifted to look at her. “I will tell you the truth if I can answer.”
    “Is the money in my account stolen? Will I be implicated in some money laundering scheme?” She did glance over at him this time.
    Beth saw a slight smile as he nodded. “The money is clean. Believe me when I tell you not only that it is clean, it can’t be traced back. I would suggest you draw out the fifty thousand. Put it somewhere safe. Forget that you saw me.”
    Beth sat in silence for a few more minutes, rolling over the information repeatedly in her mind. She was good on computers and knew there were hackers out there that scared the US government. She supposed that the money could be clean, that he didn’t want IRS to know about it. Yikes, IRS would know it had hit her account. Taxes. What were the taxes on Two Hundred Fifty Thousand? He said the taxes were paid, what did that really mean?
    “I am going to