Matters of the Blood Read Online Free PDF

restaurant.
    I was glad he was happy. He deserved it. I was equally as glad that the attraction was over. No anxiety, no thump of jealous heart. Maybe Carlton and I wouldn't be the best of buddies, but we could exist in the same small town without emotional angst. Things were looking up. Sort of.
    I sighed and looked at the clock above the cash register. It was nearing four-thirty, but I could definitely use another cup of coffee before facing Marty. My version of “soon” wasn't going to be the same as his. Tough. He'd live and all his clients were already dead.
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CHAPTER THREE
    "Sheriff-man making googly eyes at you again, m'hija? "
    Bea slid her petite curvaceous figure into the seat Carlton had just vacated, cradling a large coffee mug in one small hand and carrying a full pot of coffee in the other.
    "That's so not even close,” I said as she topped off my mug. “You know that's long over. He was telling me about—Shit, Bea, are those two working here?"
    The two stupidest criminals in the county had just walked through the kitchen door, out into the main caf?. The brothers stood behind the counter, side by side, sleeves rolled up past their elbows baring overly pumped armloads of tattoos. I watched as they served themselves coffee.
    Dusty Albright, the elder of the two by ten months, glanced in my direction. He'd probably heard me. The place wasn't all that big and I hadn't exactly been quiet.
    His dark bushy eyebrows contrasted with his neatly shaven head. He turned to face me, and I saw he held a chef's cleaver in his left hand, caressing it with his right as if it were his favorite toy, or worse, an intimate body part. His near-twin, Derek, stood silently beside him, no expression on his face.
    Wonderful, the two town idiots wanted to play the “whose dick is bigger” game. Any other day, I'd have been happy to just avoid them and concede the match, since I didn't have any manhood to wither, but Carlton's information had already put me into a mood.
    I stared straight at Dusty's muddy-colored eyes, keeping the lines of my body loose and relaxed, even though I did cross my arms in a sort of warning to back off. In my opinion, people like the Albright brothers should be treated as if they were unfamiliar animals, with caution and a little aggression—just enough to assert yourself, without appearing to be a direct threat.
    I had no idea what set them off, as far as I knew I'd never done anything to them. Considering the fact they'd both just gotten out of jail, it was probably just the fact that I had the balls to look at them without permission. In high school, Dusty had beaten a kid nearly to death for standing in front of his locker. My cousin had often been their unwilling victim.
    The silent pissing contest continued, neither Dusty nor I allowing ourselves to look away. What he didn't know was that I was perfectly capable of staring like this indefinitely—for hours without getting tired. Predator genes.
    Bea broke the edgy silence. “Go back to the kitchen, boys. Dusty, you need to finish chopping the vegetables. And Derek, weren't you finished with your shift?"
    Dusty licked his lips and gave me a smirk, punctuated by him mimicking a kiss. Without a word, but with widening grins, the two turned and passed through the swinging doors out of my sight.
    I stared at my friend across the table, not sure what I wanted to say.
    She looked down, delicate fingers stroking the sides of her coffee cup. With a sigh, she looked back up at me and crossed her arms.
    "I know ... bad idea, but I needed help and they needed a job to satisfy their parole,” she explained. “I'm running out of options, Keira. I hate the fact I had to hire those bozos because no one else applies for work. I can't compete with all those resorts opening up."
    More proof that progress wasn't necessarily always good. Until a few years ago, Rio Seco had enjoyed the anonymity of a small town buried in the depths of the