Edge of the Season Read Online Free PDF Page A

about Cassie’s age. He pulled at the hand of the frazzled man dragging him from the store.
    “You’re not gonna do that to me, are you, kid?” she asked the girl beside her.
    Cassie pulled her eyes from the cupcake display in front of her. “Can I have a cupcake?”
    Dani eyed the kid outside the glass doors, who still cried while his father lifted him into his arms. She did not want a crying child on her hands. “Sure. Which one do you want?”
    Cassie’s eyes got huge. “My mom never lets me have one.”
    Dani frowned. “Why not?”
    Cassie shrugged.
    “Well, it’s Christmas. Let’s have one and then pick something out as a present for you and your older sister.”
    Dani thought the kid’s eyes were going to fall out of her head they got so big. “You’re going to let me pick my own present?”
    “Sure. Why not?”
    “I like you.”
    Dani laughed. “I like you too, Cassie. I don’t spend a lot of time around kids, but you seem okay.”
    “Thanks. Can I have the one with pink icing and sprinkles?”
    As Dani dug in her purse for her wallet, a man in khakis and a dark jacket bumped into her, shoving her sideways. She felt a tug on her purse. “I’m sorry, miss,” he said.
    She whirled to him, but he already had his back to her and was moving away fast. His crown of brown hair was soon lost in the crowd.
    She hadn’t liked the tug on her purse. As a former pickpocket, she knew how easy it was to snatch things. She opened her purse. Her wallet was still there. She paid for the cupcakes and dismissed the incident. Within seconds, pink icing covered Cassie’s face, hands, and coat. Dani hoped the coat was washable.
    After she’d wiped the girl’s face and hands, they strolled through the store to the front doors, where a man in a toy soldier’s outfit greeted customers.
    An old-school phone rang nearby. Dani glanced around.
    “Your purse is ringing,” Cassie said.
    That wasn’t her ringtone. She opened her purse and saw a small burner phone inside. She pulled it out.
    A heavy feeling settled on her.
    “Aren’t you going to answer it?” Cassie asked.
    She didn’t want to. The phone continued to ring.
    She swallowed, opened it, and put it to her ear. “Hello?”
    “Merry Christmas, Danielle,” the clipped male voice said in her ear. His British accent made him sound like Sherlock Holmes. “I’m so glad you took my call.”
    She frowned. “Who is this?”
    “I am known as the Huntsman,” he said. “I’m supposed to give you a Christmas present from an acquaintance of yours. So I’ll be playing a game with you this evening.”
    She sighed. Just what she needed: a crazy person on top of everything else. “I’m hanging up now.”
    “I wouldn’t do that.”
    “And why not?”
    “Do you see the red dot on the little girl’s forehead?”
    She spun to Cassie. A circle of red light sat just above her right eyebrow. Dani’s heart stopped. It looked like a laser sight for a rifle.
    She grabbed Cassie and hauled her into her arms, making the girl drop her cupcake. Cassie started to cry as Dani ran farther into the store.
    “What the fuck?” she yelled into the phone. “Who the hell are you?”
    “You’re not playing fair, Danielle.”
    “I’m not playing anything,” she snarled. “How the fuck do you know my name? You know what? It doesn’t matter. I’m calling the cops.”
    “If you do that, then I’ll have to set off the bomb.”
    She stopped moving. What kind of nightmare had she fallen into? “Bomb?”
    “Yes.” The man almost purred the word. “I planted a bomb in the store.”
    “Tell me where it is,” she demanded.
    “Well now, that wouldn’t be any fun.”
    “None of this is fun.”
    “On the contrary, I’m quite enjoying myself already, and we haven’t even started our game.”
    Dani looked around. She needed to keep this guy talking until she could get help. Where was Alyssa? Cassie still sniffled in her ear about the lost cupcake. “I’ll buy you two