Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

“It’s the part you play. It’s what you’re good at,” he said gently. “I’d be more concerned if you enjoyed it.”
    “I don’t need a pep talk, Delph.” She rolled her eyes. “I know what I signed up for when we put roots down here. But I have the pups to think about now—pups that you put in my charge. Try not to forget that when you and Pierce are gettin’ all extra ambitious about saving the world.”
    Dr. Delph nodded and took a sip of water to clear the lump in his throat. The Fates had warned against keeping the pups, but they deserved a safe home just as much as anyone else in Spero Heights. Seeing the way their arrival had mended Selena’s fractured heart was just an added bonus, even though she was right about the extra care he and Graham needed to take. Orphaning the pups a second time would be a cruelty even the Fates couldn’t forgive.

 
    Chapter Five
     
     
    Lia woke with a shuddering gasp. A distant memory of a particularly violent carnival ride surfaced. Her head still ached, along with her face and shoulders now, and she smelled vomit. It was matted in her hair.
    “Don’t worry. You didn’t get any on the new ride,” Saunders said. He stood at the end of the ratty sofa she was sprawled out on, fiddling with her left foot. She felt a pinch near her ankle and sat up, instantly regretting it when her head swam.
    “What are you doing? Where are we?” She squinted around the dank room, taking in the stained carpet and uneven ceiling. A sink, refrigerator, and oven were crammed together in one corner, marked off by small patch of cracked linoleum. Not far from that, a rickety card table sat beneath a hanging light fixture.
    The rest of the space was filled by the couch and a small television perched on top of a dresser in the far corner. A rusty air conditioner protruded from the only window, and it let out a rattling cough as it whirred to life. The noise was enough to make Lia wince, and the moldy, chemical-laced breeze it blew across the room made her throat tighten.
    “Home sweet home,” Saunders said. He nodded at the window unit. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll splurge next summer and get a new fan for that thing.”
    As loud as the air conditioner was, Lia could still hear ambulance sirens in the distance. “ Where are we?” she asked again, dread twisting up her insides.
    Saunders chewed his bottom lip as if considering whether or not to tell her. Then he hooked his thumbs in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “St. Louis. The SLCPD made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
    Lia’s head throbbed and her cheek felt swollen where it had hit the table before she’d passed out. The taste of acid intensified in the back of her throat and her eyes began to water. “St. Louis County’s population is over a million. Are you trying to kill me?”
    “I know I’m asking a lot.” Saunders raised an eyebrow and pulled a bottle of pills out of his breast pocket. “But I got something to make up for it.”
    Lia’s tongue went dry. Whatever he’d doped her with—likely Rohypnol—didn’t even come close to satisfying the itch in the back of her brain. But she wasn’t so desperate that she’d completely lost her mind.
    “Fuck your pills,” she hissed, clutching the side of her head. “They don’t work on vegetables, which is exactly what I’ll be if you don’t get me out of here.”
    “Come on now.” Saunders rattled the bottle. “This is the good stuff. I took it off the last dealer I busted.” He raised a hand at her horrified face. “Don’t worry. I turned in just enough to evidence so the lab rats could check it out. I’m telling you, this shit is better than heroin.”
    “Will it raise the dead?” she snapped. Something cold scraped against her leg and she glanced down. Her new shoes were missing, and a bulky, black contraption was strapped to her ankle. “What the hell is that?”
    Saunders sighed and set the bottle of pills down on the card table.