Dark Powers Read Online Free PDF Page B

gone to your place. Two days ago, when she left for the Crab Shack. She never came home that night.”
    “Her bed wasn’t slept in?”
    “No.”
    “Were any of her clothes missing?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “And you called the police?”
    “Not till the next afternoon.”
    “Why did you wait so long?”
    “I expected her to come home. And when I talked to Police Chief Judd, he said she probably ran away.”
    “You believe him?”
    “I don’t know what to think. That girl and I were rubbing each other the wrong way something fierce.”
    Sage could understand why. That was exactly her reaction every time she came home.
    Angel had switched her focus to Ben, looking him up and down with an appraising eye like she was considering trying to get him into her bed. “You going to introduce me to your friend?”
    He answered, “I’m Ben Walker from Decorah Security.”
    “Which is?”
    “A detective agency,” Sage answered. “I hired them to help me find Laurel.”
    “A detective agency with a fancy name,” Angel said. “Are they expensive?”
    “You don’t have to worry about that,” Sage snapped.
    “And Laurel hasn’t been to work since two nights ago?” Ben asked.
    “As far as I know.”
    “Any thoughts about where she might have gone?”
    “She got friendly with some of those waitresses that live down at Mrs. Borden’s. She could have crashed with them.”
    “A motel?” Ben asked.
    “A boarding house where women live who are working here for the season,” Sage answered. “Some of them are from Baltimore. Others are from out of the country.
    “Yeah, they jabber in languages you can’t understand,” Angel added, making Sage cringe again. It was a long time since she’d interacted with Angel in the presence of anyone besides Laurel. It wasn’t pleasant imagining what Ben must think.
    “We’ll check there,” Ben said as he kept his gaze on Angel. “Can we have a look at Laurel’s room?”
    “I’m on my way out.”
    “I’ve got the key,” Sage answered.
    Angel eyed Ben. “I don’t like having strange men in the house,” Angel answered.
    Sage could think of a cutting retort about the strange men she’d tripped over in the morning. Before she could say anything, though, Ben answered, “We’ll be out of here in no time.”
    Angel grudgingly stepped aside, and Sage led Ben toward the back of the house, trying to see the interior from his point of view.
    Angel had a bohemian style and a knack for working with other people’s cast-offs. An old chair was artfully draped with scarves. The sagging sofa was disguised with a comforter. And Sage remembered when her mother had dragged home the throw rug she’d found outside someone’s house on trash day. Of course, it had taken a couple of treatments to get the cat pee smell out, but now it was a colorful addition to the room.
    Sage led Ben down the hall to Laurel’s room, which was quite different from the little girl’s room at Gary Baker’s.
    “We used to share this room,” Sage said. “But when I moved out, she took it over.”
    There were still two beds, covered with light blue spreads. One looked like someone had climbed out of it and pulled up the covers in a hasty attempt to smooth them out. The other was piled with stuffed animals that Laurel had collected over the years. Bears, cats, a moose and even a couple of wolves.
    A dresser held a jumble of cosmetics and stands with earrings and bracelets. The walls were decorated with posters of hot male rock singers. And when Sage opened the closet, she found blouses, blazers, jeans and a few skirts on hangers, and more clothing lying in a pile on the floor.
    “If she ran away, it doesn’t look like she took her clothes,” Ben commented.
    “Or her makeup or jewelry,” Sage added.
    She crossed to the bed with the stuffed animals and picked up a brown bear wearing a cheerleader’s uniform and carrying pom-poms.
    “I gave this to her when she made the cheerleading squad in high