Into the Blackness (Blackness Series Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

your gifts?” Jess says through a tipsy smirk.
    “I don’t think Nick Cooper has any interest in my gifts. He practically shut down at the idea of havin’ to share a bed with me.”
    “Really?”
    “Yup,” I pop my p remembering the pale shade his face turned when I told him about my last op.
    “You think he’s gay?” Jess asks with a furrowed brow.
    “I don’t know. He could be.” I shrug. I don’t care if he is. Actually, it would make this next year even easier if he is. He never checked me out or acted suggestively toward me. Jake was sweet and genuine in his compliments. Someone has taught that boy how to swoon the ladies. Look out Maybelle High School, Jake Johnson is coming to town.
    “No sex for a year. That sucks, Kat.” Jess pouts on my behalf.
    “I’ve gone longer.”
    “Did it close back up?”
    “No,” I say through a chuckle.
    “I’m glad you’re not takin’ those ops anymore. It’s not good for you,” Jess says seriously with a little sadness on her face.
    “I knew the job when I started. There have only been a handful like that, but I’m glad to be done.”
    “Be safe this time, Kat. These people look like Stepford , but they’re really a fuckin’ horror movie.”
    “I’m not alone this time, Jess. I can take care of myself and with Nick and Jake with me, I’ll be even better. No worries.” I rub a comforting hand across hers.
    “Shane said a year, maybe more,” she huffs.
    “We work until the job’s done. If the Bookers have lasted this long it’ll take time.”
    “You’re gonna miss the wedding,” she whispers.
    “I’ll be there in spirit in one of those hideous pink dresses you’re forcing your bridesmaids to wear.”
    “They’re really bad. I can’t be upstaged on my big day,” she says definitively.
    “That logic is baffling.”
    “You love me,” Jess states with a mischievous smirk.
    “You know I do.”
    “Okay, let’s say goodbye now so I can cry all night and make Shane feel really bad for hours on end.”
    She stands up and pulls me to my feet squeezing me tightly around my middle. I constrict around her even harder knowing I’d wear one of those ugly fucking dresses if I could be by her side. A sob breaks through her chest and I steel the emotion bubbling within me. Only one of us can crack at a time and this time it’s her turn.
    Jess tips her head up to peer at me through wet lashes, a small smile playing on her lips.
    “See you soon, Jess,” I whisper.
    She nods unable to speak for fear of tumbling into a state of uncontrollable blubbering. I let her go and leave her home without looking back because I have the same fear as Jess.
    As I slide into my sheets, I release the tension of saying goodbye to my friends for the millionth time, knowing my life works this way. I hate saying goodbye, but I love my job. I’m brilliant at my job. Agent Kat Russell is who I’m meant to be.

    Welcome to Maybelle the ornate sign reads as we pass by in my white BMW SUV. The town is something out of a postcard. The streets are lined with towering full green trees. Lawns are manicured to perfection in front of colonial and Georgian houses. As Jake and I drive down Main Street (because these people are imaginative), we enter the downtown space with Nick following behind. The store fronts are homey and inviting with a good deal of foot traffic on the sidewalks. There are cafés and restaurants all locally owned, not a Starbucks in sight.
    As we move through the small quaint downtown and beyond a lush park, the roads begin to turn and sweep with the landscape giving way to sprawling estates. I follow the GPS only a few minutes further before it informs me I’ve reached my destination. I pull in the driveway of a massive colonial palace.
    “Holy shit,” Jake mutters.
    “I second that.”
    We smile at each other and put on our Maybelle faces. Jake is wearing a turquoise polo shirt and khaki shorts with leather sandals. He looks cute and fifteen. I’m