Blue Maneuver Read Online Free PDF Page B

my sneakers. The backs folded under the weight of my heels but I didn’t care. I didn’t have too far to go to get home.
    Oscar hissed.
    “Oscar, really. I don’t feel up to dealing with your male-diva attitude now.” I set my hand on the door knob just as the hair on the back of my neck prickled.
    A moment later, a hand covered my mouth and a body slammed me into the door. I hit my forehead. Stars danced in front of my eyes before winking out.

Chapter Three
     
     
    I jerked awake and the world started its mad tango. Again. Cotton batting shrouded my thoughts while stray memories struggled to poke through. This wasn’t quite the do-over I’d imagined, especially if it cost my meeting with Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Latino. Light colored my eyelids pink right before the air conditioning unit kicked on. Cold air washed over me and mingled with the scent of cat litter.
    Happiness trickled through my confusion. So I wasn’t in the park and Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Latino had carried me home.
    Behind me, a cat meowed.
    Relief relaxed the tension biting into my shoulders. That’s right. I’d been in Vivian’s apartment to feed her cat. My tongue slipped over the fuzz coating my teeth and I swallowed the sourness in my mouth. I’d given the darn cat the bottled water and had walked to the door when…
    Silence rang inside my head.
    Oh snap. I must have passed out again. Now, I’d have to visit the doctor. Mentally I tried to tabulate my savings but the gauzy swirl spit random numbers at me. Hoping to still the whirling, I reached up to grasp my head.
    Except my hands didn’t move.
    What the heck? Opening my eyes, I glanced down. Bands of blue light bound my wrists to the arms of the cane back chair. What in the world? I blinked. Nope, still bands of light. I tried to lift my hand. Nothing doing. Fear coiled low in my stomach. Leaning forward, I noticed similar manacles chained my legs to the front of the Vivian’s dining room chair. This was not good.
    Vivian would be mad at the abuse of her antique furniture. A chill wormed down my spine. The heck with Vivian. How had I gotten here? And where had these light thingies come from?
    “Ah, you’re awake.” Low and throaty, the man’s voice resembled a growl more than civilized speech. Movement whispered behind me.
    Oh, God no! The hair on my neck pricked. Instinct drove my knees together despite my bound ankles. A shadow drifted across the wedge of light seeping through the thin part in the curtains. How had this happened? I was normally so careful. I turned my head. Bile rose in my throat, choking me.
    “You can’t pass out. We haven’t had any fun yet.” One large hand cupped the back of my head as he walked to the front of my chair.
    His hold was firm but gentle. Maybe he didn’t plan to harm me. Idiot. He’d fixed me to a chair like a photo in a scrapbook. Whatever he was up to couldn’t be good. I jerked on my left hand. The motion transmitted through the wood and into my body but those funky light cuffs didn’t give an inch.
    He grasped my chin and turned my head toward him. Green eyes stared at me.
    Ah shit! I flinched at the mental cursing. Who cared about a swear jar contribution? Mr. Parks and Rec Supervillian made no attempt to disguise his identity. Yet hope bubbled up at the clear maroon firebird embroidered on his breast pocket.
    Maybe he wasn’t here to rape me.
    Maybe he was here about some mischief my parents had gotten into. Heaven knew their protests for the cause of the day always accompanied a lecture on Big Brother’s ubiquitous oversight and the length of its evil tendrils. It also explained the light manacles. The government hoarded its technology and made up lame excuses to keep their secrets—things like Sasquatch, the Jersey Devil, and alien abductions. I tried to move my wrist. My belief had become incontrovertible fact.
    Now I just had to remember the details and I’d start with my kidnapper. His blond hair was cut with military precision