KICK ASS: A Boxed Set Read Online Free PDF

and quinces , they didn’t stay up beyond midnight.
    Suddenly sensing a presence behind her, Marisela dived across the bed, tucked into a roll that knocked the lamp off the end table, but landed her out of the line of fire. She hated to shoot blind. What if her parents had come home? What if neighbors had heard the gunshots and had come to investigate?
    “Who’s there?”
    “Don’t fire, Ms. Morales. We’re not here to hurt you.”
    “Could’ve fooled me.”
    She glanced to her side. The window was far to her right. No way could anyone sneak up behind her again. She didn’t dare look over the mattress, so she quietly flattened herself to the floor, attempting to peek beneath the bed. True to her mother’s form, not even a dust bunny hampered her view. She could see two polished shoes in the doorway. One foot lifted to step forward.
    “Unless you want your toes blown off, you’ll back up. Slowly,” she said.
    In the distance, sirens sounded. Not unusual for this part of town, but not typical, either. Her neighborhood had no code of silence for criminal activity. They might not have loads of money, but the residents looked out for their own.
    “Hear that? You’d best beat it,” she warned. “I’d hate to have to explain three dead bodies in my house.”
    “I’m sure you would. I’m also sure you don’t want to try and explain five.”
    Marisela had no head for math, but this guy sounded different. Calm. Educated. Maybe even a hint of an accent lilting the clear threat against her parents.
    She came up from behind the bed, her gun pointed at his chest. He held out his hands, showing that any weapon he had was at least safely tucked away. For now.
    “Who are you?”
    “My name is Max.”
    She stood, certain that though this man looked perfectly harmless, he was likely nothing of the sort.
    “Great to meet you, Max,” she said, forcing the fear out of her voice. “Where are my parents?”
    “Safe. For the moment.”
    Marisela swallowed, her vision swimming again. God, if he hurt them… She blinked the fog away.
    “Prove it,” she demanded.
    He turned his palm, produced a card and tossed it on the bed. Her father’s driver’s license.
    “That doesn’t prove anything. You could have lifted his wallet.”
    “True. It also doesn’t prove that if I do have him that he, and your mother, are alive and well. You have no choice but to believe me and take a chance. One that could save their lives.”
    “I could wait for the cops, let them sort out your story after they book you… for trespassing? Breaking and entering? Maybe a little attempted murder?”
    He nodded, a tentative but practiced and eerily sharp smile on his lips. “I hate to admit I’m expendable, Ms. Morales, but the truth remains. Are your parents? I don’t believe my associates can guarantee their safety if I’m arrested.”
    She swallowed hard. She could take care of herself. But her parents wouldn’t stand a chance against professionals. Especially sloppy ones.
    “What do you want?”
    “There’s someone who wants to make your acquaintance.”
    Inhaling loudly, Marisela filled her lungs, trying to tamp down the anger shooting through her veins. “Couldn’t this someone have just issued an invitation? Something engraved, maybe? Little R.S.V.P. action?”
    Max, nondescript in a plain, but well-fitting suit, chuckled at her sarcasm. Good. He didn’t need to know she was scared spitless. This man wasn’t some ordinary thug. His confidence at her inevitable compliance was tangible, and yet, he wasn’t cocky. He knew what she didn’t know—plus everything she did, which wasn’t much.
    In the darkness, she couldn’t judge his hair or eye color. He bounced on the balls of his feet, which combined with her blurred eyesight, made it hard to judge his height. If she had to describe him to the cops, she wouldn’t do a very good job. Probably his intention. A man like him could easily get away with murder.
    “Tonight’s