Die and Stay Dead Read Online Free PDF

top of the notebook. She stared at me with her tail swishing back and forth, as if daring me to risk the clawing of a lifetime if I tried to take it.
    “Bad kitty,” I muttered.
    My smartphone chirped in my coat pocket. The screen showed me it was Bethany calling. I went back into the living room and answered it. “You know, if you keep calling me at other women’s homes, people will get the wrong idea.”
    “I was just checking to see if everything was all right,” she said. “I thought you’d be back by now.”
    “Everything’s fine,” I said. “Calliope is just freaked out and needs some company. I get the feeling she doesn’t have a lot of friends.”
    “Well, while you two are becoming besties, see if you can find out why she was in the park,” Bethany said. “Her clothes tell me she wasn’t out jogging, and I can’t stop thinking about that knife she had. Something’s not adding up.”
    “Great minds think alike,” I said. “I already asked, but so far she’s not telling me anything.”
    “Do you think Calliope is dangerous?”
    “No, I don’t get the sense she wants to hurt anyone. I think she’s telling the truth about why Biddy kept her alive and let her keep the knife. She’s just scared and on edge.”
    At that moment, Kali jumped up on the couch and screeched at me. Not so much a hiss as a long moan of exasperation, as if my simply being there was making her crazy.
    “By the way, there’s a cat here you would really get along with,” I said. “You have a lot in common.”
    “I’m going to pretend you meant that as a compliment, even though I suspect you didn’t,” she said. “Just see what you can find out. I’ll meet you back at Citadel.”
    “Wouldn’t you rather get some sleep? You’ve been up all night.”
    “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”
    I ended the call. Kali watched me carefully from the sofa, in case I made any sudden moves. When Calliope came back into the living room, I noticed she wasn’t carrying the notebook.
    “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t mean to get upset with you. You’ve been so nice, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done. Really, I am. It’s just … there are some things I’d like to keep private.”
    “I understand,” I said. “There are things I don’t like to talk about, either. I just want to make sure you’re all right.”
    She groaned and rubbed her face. “I’m not. I’m not all right. I don’t even know where to start.”
    “Give it time, you’ve been through a lot,” I said.
    She shook her head. “It’s not just what happened in the park. That was awful, but there’s more. I think—I think someone has been watching me for a while now. At least a couple of weeks. Not Biddy, someone else. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t shake the feeling. I don’t go outside very often, I don’t like crowds, but when I have to go out I’m certain someone is following me.”
    “Did you get a look at them?” I asked.
    She shook her head. “No. But before everything with Biddy happened, it was getting worse. I couldn’t go anywhere without feeling like someone was following me. Watching me. I even started to feel like I wasn’t safe in my own home. Which is ridiculous, right? If you’re not safe in your own home, where are you safe?” She hid her hands in her sleeves again and hugged herself.
    I’d misread her nervousness on the street. I thought she was scared that Biddy might still come for her. Instead, she was scared about something else entirely.
    “Do you have any idea who it might be?”
    She shrugged. “I hate to even ask, but do you think you could come back tomorrow? Just to check up on me? It’s probably nothing, but it would make me feel a whole lot better if I knew you were coming back.”
    “Sure,” I said. “I can do that.”
    She smiled, relieved that I didn’t think she was crazy. She looked out the window at the brightening morning.
    “Maybe I