Earth Angel (The Kamlyn Paige Novels) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Secret
sweat pants Cara had gotten me for my birthday. They were dark blue and said
‘Pink’ across the rear end in shiny metallic letters. It wasn’t something I
would have picked out for myself, but Cara had known that when she bought them.
She was such a bright and cheerful person and she hated that I always dressed
in monochromatic colors. It was just what I was comfortable in. I never liked
being the center of attention and certainly never bought clothing that
intentionally drew attention to my ass. With my job, sticking out was like
painting a big red target on my forehead. Sometimes, blending in meant the
difference between life and death.
    I grabbed a towel and started drying my hair
lazily. Somehow the mist had made its way into my hood through all the chaos,
drenching my entire head. At that moment, I was glad I was low maintenance when
it came to my appearance. Blow drying it and then piling on products was the
last thing I wanted to do right then. I could barely keep my eyes open. I had
no clue what time it was, but I knew it was late. I decided to wait to call
Cara till morning. I crawled into the overly used motel bed and took two
sleeping pills for a peaceful, dreamless slumber.
     
    *
     
    When morning came, I stretched my arms high above
me and jumped out of bed. If I’d had a dream I couldn’t remember what it was,
thankfully. I threw on a pair of tattered jeans I’d had since my senior year of
high school, and a plain white t-shirt before venturing out to find food. Even
though there were closer places to eat, I decided to return to the diner I had
eaten at the night before. My stomach gave a deep growl as I pulled on my
jacket. It was the only decent meal around as far as I knew and for some reason
I hoped to see John again. I knew better than to get attached to anyone I met
on the road, but I couldn’t help thinking about him. Every time I’d seen him,
his face looked exhausted from a long day of manual labor, but underneath I saw
a handsome, simple guy. It was something that intrigued me.
    Unfortunately and fortunately, John never came into
the diner. I ate a steaming plate of biscuits and gravy while thinking about
what he had said the night before. Normally, Mr. Jones’s incident would be an
open and close case of an old man having some sort of stroke and drowning in
his tub. A clear cut answer was never the real answer in my line of work,
though. There was definitely more to it. I shoved the last bite of biscuit into
my mouth before walking up to the counter to pay.
    Back at the motel, I decided it was time to call
Cara. I felt guilty for having waited so long to tell her about what I’d seen
the night before. If there was one thing Cara loved most, it was to hear she
was right. I knew she would be able to help me figure out who the young woman
was.
    “Well, you were right…it’s a haunting.”
    “I knew it!” she yelled into the phone, causing my
reflexes to pull it away from my ear.
    My hearing had been more sensitive than normal
after the shrill cries of my son’s murderer. Just another reminder of what I
lost and the pain it caused me.
    “Why didn’t you call me last night to tell me
this?”
    I could tell she had been up all night trying to
figure out how she could have been wrong. Her voice was elated, but knowing her
so well, I could hear an entire night’s worth of stress and no sleep underneath
the excitement. I told her about my encounter in the woods and the fact that we
had another victim. I thought I could actually hear the gears spinning in her
head as she considered all possible connections.
    “Then we’re looking for a link between Mr. Baker,
Mr. Jones, and a young Native American woman who died. I’ll do some research
and get back to you.”
    I knew her excitement wasn’t insensitivity to Mr.
Jones’ death, but more of a reaction to her love of research. She hung up
without waiting for a goodbye from me.
    Very rarely did I have time to myself since I
started