Eight in the Box Read Online Free PDF

bag in her right hand. A muffled voice said, “Run your shit!”
    She was being robbed.
    Maybe worse.
    Give him the bag, she thought. Isn’t that what they taught her in that self-defense class? Give up your wallet, your purse, your keys, your car. Give him whatever it is he wants so he doesn’t hurt you. But what if he wasn’t going to rob her? What if he was going to throw her in the car and kidnap her? What if he planned on killing her? What if he was the man who’d killed those women? What else did they teach her in that class? Fight! Fight like hell. And make lots of noise.
    Andi spun around to her left, leading with her elbow, catching him squarely in the jaw. She let her momentum carry her as she followed with an immediate right cross to the side of his head, the whole time screaming as loud as she could. She didn’t get his face with the keys like she’d wanted to, the hood of his sweatshirt protected him. Before he could react, she swung her right foot up and kicked him in the groin. Her pointy shoes came in handy, maybe the best weapon she had. He was hunched over, clutching himself, gasping for air, and she was getting ready to give him another boot when she heard more footsteps running toward them.
    Even in the poor light she recognized Connie’s familiar frame running toward them. She stepped back as Connie hit the mugger with his shoulder, knocking him down hard onto the asphalt. Connie stayed with him, putting his knee in the man’s back to hold him down before jerking off his hood.
    With a jolt, Andi Norton recognized Nick Costa, who lay moaning, trying to breathe, blood running from his split lip.
    Connie hopped up. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked.
    Nick spit blood. “Trying to have some fun with Andi. Figured I could scare her.” He was fighting to catch his breath.
    “You idiot!” she yelled. “You did scare me. What’s your problem?” She swung her bag at Nick, hitting him, and he yelped.
    “I guess you figured wrong,” Connie said. “Are you all right?”
    Nick nodded his head, unconvincingly.
    Connie helped him to his feet. “You just got your ass kicked.”
    “Yeah, and I’ll be sure to tell everyone about that in the morning,” Andi said. “As if I don’t have enough stress getting ready for my first trial, you have to pull this crap.”
    “I’m sorry, Andi,” Nick said, getting some wind back. “I understand your being angry and all, but I think you and your goon here”—he nodded toward Connie—“have punished me enough.” He wiped the blood from his lip and stared at it for a moment before licking it off his fingers. “You’re one tough chick.”
    She shook her head, stunned that he would pull such a dumb stunt. “I did give you a pretty good beating, didn’t I?” she said, trying to play it off.
    “I learned my lesson,” Nick said. “I won’t be harassing any more pretty redheads in deserted parking lots.”
    “You’re lucky she’s wearing a skirt or she really would have tuned you up.” Connie laughed.
    “Ain’t that the truth.” Nick coughed.
    A wave of accomplishment swept over her. She’d handled a dangerous situation. She’d impressed Connie. She smiled to herself, turned back to her car, started it up and backed out of her spot. It felt good to see them both jump out of the way. She leaned out of her window, blew a kiss at Connie and said, “I’ll talk to you later. And you, Nick, need to come up with a creative story to explain what happened to your face.” She accelerated, leaving the two of them looking after her.

 
    CHAPTER 9
    S tanding in his garage, Connie unlocked the dead bolt on the heavy wooden door and bumped it open with his hip. He’d bought the 1960s ranch with the attached two-car garage a couple of years earlier as a fixer-upper. Thanks to the summers he’d spent working for contractors during college, he was a pretty decent carpenter, plasterer and painter. He’d recently finished fixing up the basement so