Evan Arden 02 Otherwise Occupied Read Online Free PDF Page B

one of those protein shakes, I headed off to bed.  Odin followed, whining slightly.  I gave his head a rub, but he just kept looking at me.
    I peeled off my shirt, dropped my jeans, and tossed all of it into the hamper next to the dresser.  My watch and keys went in one of those little ceramic bowls for such things, which made them clang against the set of dog tags on a chain coiled up at the bottom of the dish.  With a heavy sigh, I lay down in the bed and stared at the ceiling until my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer.
    On my stomach…unable to bring my knees to my chest to try and right myself.  There’s something cutting into my wrists – wire or those plastic ties – I’m not sure which.  It’s pitch black, and I can’t even hear anything around me.  The sand below me is cold, and I think I might be underground.
    Minutes.   Hours.  Days.
    I can’t tell the difference.  I try to swallow, but I don’t even have enough saliva left to do that.  I’m going to die of dehydration, and I wonder if it’s a blessing.
    Footsteps.  Loud voices speaking in Arabic.  I can’t make out enough of the words to make any sense of it.  I hear and feel a presence beside me just before I’m grabbed by the neck and forced into a kneeling position.  Water is poured over my face, and my mouth opens to receive it before it can choke me…
    Sweat was pouring into my eyes as I woke with a start.  My breath was coming in short, staccato gulps, and my hands were shaking.  Odin was there beside the bed, whining slightly.  I should have reached down to him, but I couldn’t move.
    Why?  Why now?  I had barely thought about any of it in over a year.
    I wiped sweat from my forehead before I shuffled over to the bathroom to wash my face.  I stared at myself in the mirror and kind of hated what I saw looking back at me.  I was pale, and it made my dark blue eyes stand out in my face like I was in shock or something.
    Maybe I was.
    I reached up and rubbed at the back of my hair.  It was getting to be kind of long for me, and I decided midnight was as good a time as any to give myself a trim.  The clippers were in the linen closet, and within a few minutes I had a haircut that would make any Marine officer proud.  It was very short around the sides and the back with just a little more on the top.
    It also seemed to make my dark blond hair look a lot lighter and kind of reminded me of how it would look in the summer when it got all bleached out in the sun and from the chlorine in the community pool.  I shaved my face while I was at it, too.  I hated having a face full of itchy scruff.
    Odin sneezed behind me, and bits of hair flew up into the air.  I brushed some of the hair bits from my shoulders, but I started to itch anyway.  Once I cleaned up the mess I made on the floor, I jumped in the shower to get the rest off of my skin.
    I found myself out on the balcony staring across the buildings towards Lake Michigan.  I was wide awake, and I knew sleep wasn’t going to come very easily.  It was just a bit past one in the morning, and I didn’t have any early morning plans other than some more research and the usual jog with the dog.  I thought about ordering a pizza, but all the good places that delivered would be closed.
    Some company would be nice.
    A few minutes later, I was in the Mazda, heading to a particular street corner.
    Her pimp was there, but I didn’t see Bridgett.  I had been telling myself the whole way over that I was coming out to get a hooker, not that particular hooker.  That didn’t seem to stop me from looking for her as soon as I pulled up.
    “Mister Arden!” the pimp called towards my open window.  His collection of ridiculous gold chains hung down, and I tensed a little.  If it scratched my car, I’d kill him.  “Pleasure seeing you again.  You going to become a regular of mine?”
    “Depends,” I said noncommittally.  “Where’s Bridgett?”
    “Blowing some dude in the