Jailbait Read Online Free PDF Page B

the picture. Yeah, it has the white skulls.”  
    “Hey,” the other man says and punches Phone Guy in the gut. He grins at me, but the gesture is anything but friendly. My heart hammers in my throat and I frantically swipe my thumb across the screen of my phone. I sidestep, fighting the urge to turn and run. I need to maintain what little control I have over this situation, and there is no way I can outrun those men dressed the way I am.  
    “Nice dress,” the grinning man leers. “Seems like you’re lost, sweetheart. Party’s up there, right?” He points a gloved finger at the building. I take another step back, reaching behind me for the door handle. It’s not there.  
    Oh, shit.
    It’s a one-way door. Which I would have realized if I had been paying attention. There was no lock…for a reason. You can get out but not in. Sweat breaks out between my breasts. I have nothing to defend myself with, and I know I can’t make a desperate call for help soon enough.  
    “I can give ya a ride,” the grinning man goes on. He grabs his crotch and thrusts his hips forward. “A ride you won’t forget.”  
    Phone Guy hangs up, almost looking annoyed for being interrupted. I suck in a breath, on the edge of panic. I’ve taken self-defense classes. I can deliver a well-aimed blow and disable an attacker, giving me enough time to get away. But in this dress? No way in hell.  
    “No, thanks,” I say, then curse myself for the instilled manners. I don’t need to be thanking these men for anything. “I know where I’m going and best be on my way. My date is waiting for me.”  
    Grinning Man arches his eyebrows. “He can wait a little longer.” His eyes fall to my purse and my mind whirls with what to do. Throw my bag at him and run? I swallow the vomit rising in my throat, nerves on fire. I sidestep again, moving out of the light. “Where you going, sweetheart?”
    He advances, pulling a knife from his pocket. “Your purse. Give it here,” he demands, holding the blade at his side. Shadows are cast over his face, hiding his features. Light reflects off the metal in his hand and suddenly I can’t move. I can’t breathe. “You hear me, bitch? Give me your goddamn purse.”  
    I extend the designer clutch. Grinning Man snatches it from me and tears the clasp off in his haste to open it. My phone is still in my hand and I make a desperate attempt to type in my passcode and call for help.
    “Phone down!” the other man yells. Grinning Man holds up the knife and I let my phone clatter to the gritty pavement.  
    “This is all you got?” Grinning Man dumps my purse on the ground. It’s small, so I don’t know what he was expecting. “You look like a rich bitch. Where the fuck is your money?”  
    “Safe in a bank account,” I spit, mustering up my confidence. “That bag was worth over a grand until you ripped it.” I take another small step away, hoping I can lose myself in the shadows and run like hell.  
    “That ring,” Grinning Man snaps and lunges forward.  
    “No!” I yell in protest and swing my arms around, trying to stop him. He slams my head into the brick behind me, and a sharp pain goes through me, making me instantly sick. His nails tear open my flesh and the ring comes off my finger. I stumble back, head ringing from the blow, and feel like I lost part of me.  
    Suddenly a third man appears, and I can’t see his face in the dark. Boots crunch on loose pavement, and his leather jacket tells me he’s with the motorcycle men. I desperately suck in air when I hear the sound of a fist hitting a face. The Grinning Man hits the pavement, and my mother’s ring bounces from his grasp, rolling under the dumpster.
    Phone Guy goes down next, and then Leather Jacket Number Three rushes over and kneels down. His face is so close it’s hard to focus. He opens his mouth and says my name the same time someone else yells in the alley.  
    “Pepper?” Olson’s voice echoes off the tall brick