Charged - Book One Read Online Free PDF Page A

was perfectly symmetrical. There wasn’t a single line on
it. But, at this point, she was a suspect. And now I was certain
she wasn’t Richie’s girlfriend.
    I unsnapped my gun from its holster and tried to
determine whether she was alone or not. I knocked the revolver on
the door lightly and she turned around startled, dropping the few
papers in her hand. I kept the gun on her as I stepped into the
small room, motioning her to be silent and checked the bathroom and
storage room to make sure we were alone. There was no way she was a
new detective; she couldn’t have been more than twenty years
old.
    “Mr. Kagen, I assure you I am the only one here,” she
said, with what sounded like a sincere tone.
    “And you are?”
    “Kye,” she said, holding out her hand. Her body
language was all business. And there was nothing in her voice or
her stance that said she was twenty.
    Of course, she gave me no last name. Even though she
appeared to be unarmed, I didn’t shake her hand. I approached her
slowly, hoping the bad knee wouldn’t give, only to realize she must
have been five-ten and with those heels, over six feet tall. Even
so, I got six inches from her face and looked her right in the
eyes. I knew she wasn’t a cop. I knew all the cops in this city, or
at least I used to.
    “Kye, I don’t suppose you have a badge that would
allow you to enter a crime scene?” Technically, it wasn’t the crime
scene, but I knew if she was a new officer, she would’ve disclosed
it the minute we met and she wouldn’t be alone. Plus, the door was
already busted open the night prior, so she wasn’t exactly breaking
any laws at this point.
    She seemed a little too calm now. Why wasn’t she
scared? There was something off in her composure, but it wasn’t
fear. It was something I couldn’t pinpoint, hidden under a blank
expression. Something about the way her shoulders slumped for a
moment. The moment faded and she straightened herself quickly,
letting a small frown roll across her lips.
    “Mr. Kagen, the device you have is very important to
us and we’re willing to pay for it.”
    She knew I had the box. I had to shove aside the fact
that she was gorgeous and basically a kid. Her acquiescing stance
could’ve been deliberate. Her long, straight, brown hair glistened
under the dim light and her green eyes were mesmerizing like they
were almost too green.
    Ignoring her statement, I patted her down and stepped
back, putting the revolver back in its holster. In the dim light, I
couldn’t shake the feeling that she different. It was as if she
were too beautiful, too perfect.
    “Now, Kye, what is it that I have?”
    “A box. A little silver metal box. And whatever you
do, don’t give it to Marie Stakes; it doesn’t belong to her.”
    Her voice was confident. There was nothing playful or
childish in it. I wanted to correct her, telling her that the box
wasn’t metal, but I didn’t. Looked like metal, felt like metal, but
it wasn’t metal. Aaron made that clear.
    “So this box belongs to you?” I said this with
sarcasm, to let her know I didn’t believe a word she was saying.
Apparently, there were groups of people who wanted the box now. Or
was Kye the one who broke into my place?
    “It belongs to me and others,” she said, pausing
slightly, “I realize that me being here looks suspicious, but I
needed to know if he had any—”
    She instantly stopped talking, becoming conscious
that she was about to say too much. Unfortunately, I could’ve
filled in the rest with about twenty different options.
    “We will contact you in twenty-four hours.” She
gracefully maneuvered around me in the tiny apartment and hastily
walked down the stairs.
    What was Kye doing here alone? I could’ve stopped
her, handcuffed her and called the cops. I could’ve, but I didn’t.
My gut was telling me she wasn’t the problem. I shouldn’t have
pulled my gun on her, but with my place being wrecked and Richie
being dead, I didn’t feel I had a