Blackout Read Online Free PDF

anything. Maybe she’s too wimpy for
that.”
    I looked out the window and saw an orange
car.
    Was that Cree? My friend Cree Penny? She was
my good buddy and Ben’s girlfriend. Why weren’t they together right
now? Because maybe Ben was in his room getting those pictures off
the Net. I opened the door before Cree could ring.
    The orange car belonged to her grandmother
but Cree was allowed to borrow it sometimes. Mostly if it was
important. She asked, “Is Ben okay?”
    “Why wouldn’t he be?” I said.
    “His phone is off. I got worried.”
    “He might be on his computer,” I said. “He
might be trying to get some horrible pictures off the
Internet.”
    Or not. That was up to Ben, but I really
hoped he could do it.
    Cree had pretty eyes, brown with gold flecks.
She had reddish hair, which she wore in a ponytail down to her
waist, and what they call an hourglass figure. That meant a slender
waist and curves where it mattered.
    “Not pictures of me,” I assured those popping
eyes. “Or of him.” Once again, I gave a full account of last
night’s goings on.
    She grabbed at her chest. “Oh, no!”
    Cree had met Kelsey about a year ago when I
was trying to straighten out Lakeside’s version of what happened
between her and Ben. Cree and I confronted Kelsey together. What we
found explained a lot but it also showed me how vulnerable Kelsey
was and still would be.
    “Do you think he got them off?” she
asked.
    Meaning Ben, of course. I didn’t know if he
even tried.
    Ben’s door was closed. It meant he was deep
in concentration. Cree knocked.
    “What?” he demanded, probably thinking it was
me.
    “Ben?” she asked, in her softest, sweetest
voice.
    The door opened. He stared at her.
    “Your phone was off,” she explained.
    “Yeah, I know. I was busy.”
    “What are you working on?”
    He glared at me. “Getting some pictures off
the Net.”
    “Oh Ben, thank you! Thank you!” I almost
kissed him, but that would be Cree’s job.
    My phone rang. I’d put it in my pocket so I
wouldn’t miss a thing.
    It was Glyn. “Maddie, I can’t stand it! I
just know she’s going to try something.”
    “Glyn, it’s not your fault. Whatever
happened, or is going to happen, it’s Evan’s fault. Will you get
that through your head?” It was sort of her fault, but she didn’t
need more recrimination.
    “It is my fault,” she insisted. “I should
have made her stop drinking.”
    “She wouldn’t have listened if she thought
she was having fun. She wouldn’t have known what a turd Evan is and
what he can do.”
    She started to say something, but I
interrupted. “I’m on my way. I’ll pick you up.”
    Cree and I rushed downstairs and into my
beat-up old Chevy. I turned on the engine and tested the brake. I
hadn’t trusted it since Evan cut it that time.
    “What was that for?” Cree asked.
    “Just making sure. I’m a little bit
paranoid.”
    “Can’t blame you. Do you think he really
meant to kill you? Then he couldn’t bug you anymore. I don’t think
he’d want to stop doing that.”
    Bugging was putting it mildly. “I don’t know.
Maybe he’s running out of ways to bug me. It’s all for the purpose
of showing his power, so killing me would be a more satisfying
ending than just walking away.”
    She considered that. “He really is a
shitface. How could you stand him?”
    “I couldn’t, after the honeymoon was over.” I
drove out to Lake Road, which eventually merged into Fremont.
    “That was right at the beginning,” I said.
“Before he showed his shitty side. Then he got all possessive and
insecure, and I wanted out, but his stupid male ego couldn’t let
go. Hey, maybe that’s it.”
    “What is?”
    “I was telling Rhoda about men having no
respect for women. She didn’t say it but it’s got to be a male ego
thing. They have to prove to themselves and to the other guys that
they’re the top dogs. I mean the top pigs. It’s not so easy if
women are their equals.”
    “What did