Charged - Book One Read Online Free PDF

choice. I looked around for a few
minutes, but decided it wasn’t safe to stick around too long, so I
snapped my holster and left with my now very wet clothes.
    There was no point in patching the wall now; plenty
of people knew I took the box. If there was anything else at
Richie’s, I’m sure it was gone. I wanted to follow Kye the minute
she left, but my injury made that impossible and I was pretty sure
she knew it. She wasn’t really Richie’s girlfriend, but the woman
claiming to be. This, I was positive of.

CHAPTER 8
     
    WHEN I GOT BACK, I searched the apartment and looked
for Zero. He was still there and it appeared that there hadn’t been
any unwanted visitors. I had to ice the knee for a couple hours
because of the weight I’d put on it. It felt like a small knife was
stuck in it and I still needed three more surgeries to get full
movement back.
    After I’d thrown the clothes in the dryer, I fed Zero
as I thought over my day. This was the busiest day I had in months,
although it was starting to look more like a giant jigsaw puzzle in
which I was missing more than a few pieces.
    I thought about Kye. It was a bad idea for her to be
at Richie’s alone and unarmed. What was she thinking? And what else
was she looking for in Richie’s apartment if she knew I already had
the box? Had I missed something? I closed my eyes and scanned the
women’s faces that I saw in the laundromat, but none of them looked
like the type she would be working with. Plus, there was something
off about Kye that I just couldn’t place. The way she moved,
possibly.
    After a few hours of contemplating, I shoved the box
inside of a half-eaten Chinese takeout box in the fridge, believing
a little cold wouldn’t bother it. I also put a chair up under the
front doorknob for extra security, in case someone wanted to visit
me in the middle of the night. Finally, I put the revolver under
the spare pillow next to mine — like I always did. I grabbed Zero,
cradling him in my left arm and decided to tell Aaron everything in
the morning.

CHAPTER
9             
     
    I DRAGGED MYSELF OUT OF BED AROUND SEVEN. I barely
slept at all. It was just stupid that I stayed here. But no one had
invaded the flat. All was safe, all was secure. The box was still
in the fridge. After a half a pot of coffee and a shower, I grabbed
the box and headed to Aaron’s shop, knowing he was open at seven
every morning.
    When I got there, he locked up and we headed to
Barney’s and I told him about my night.
    He listened attentively about my place being wrecked
and meeting Kye. When I was finished, he sat back, taking in all
the information and asked the waitress for another coffee.
    In order to figure out what the hell was going on, I
knew I had to tell Aaron the whole truth. I needed his help. So I
gave him the short version about Richie.
    “The victim was Richard Stakes. His sister asked me
to look into his murder. Richie and I… we were friends when we were
kids. Went to the same school, lived next door to each other. It’s
the way he was killed that bothers me. Someone basically sliced his
head open and tore out his brains and was smart enough not to leave
any evidence. Richie wasn’t anyone important, a pot smoker who
couldn’t see the difference between right and wrong on a
petty-theft level.”
    Aaron raised his eyebrows for a second and let out a
long sigh.
    “Do you think this is related to you somehow?” he
said.
    “I can’t see any connection. I hadn’t spoken to
Richie in twenty years, except for a few chance encounters.”
    “Do you believe Kye? That the box belongs to
her?”
    “I don’t know, but she’s definitely hiding
something.”
    “And Marie?”
    “She’s blatantly lying. I don’t think she even cares
that Richie’s dead.”
    Aaron paused and rubbed his forehead for a
minute.
    “Okay. We need to find out what it opens.”
    I was hoping he would say that. I slid the box across
the table over to him.
    “I’ll give it