Melody Unchained Read Online Free PDF Page B

super grunted and the door locks buzzed open. Zubrowski, Melody had said his name was, met him in the hall. Jerry hadn’t met the man before, but he knew the type. A wiry little balding guy with dirty fingernails, wearing grimy brown pants that were too big and had a tear in the knee, who reeked of sweat, oil and dust. “Yeah?”
    “I received a call from Melody Welsh. She said you told her you were going to change the locks on the apartment tomorrow.” Jerry held himself at attention in an effort to be imposing. Not sure why, because the guy didn’t have a legal leg to stand on. Still, it felt better to be as professional as possible.
    “She’s not on the lease. She can’t stay here.”
    “The rent is paid through the end of the month, Mr. Zubrowski. She needs time to clean out her grandfather’s things.”
    “And I need time to get the old man stink out of that place. Who knows what I’m going to find up there. Very least, I’m going to have to paint and clean the carpets. They were living in that apartment when I bought the building fifteen years ago.”
    Jerry blinked. They were living in the apartment? They ? “You mean Melody grew up there.”
    “No, she’s always looked about the same.”
    Maybe the super was a little on the cuckoo side too. Melody could not have appeared to be twenty years old for fifteen years. “Regardless, you can’t kick her out before the end of the month. The rent is paid and she needs time to deal with her grandfather’s things.”
    “He wasn’t her grandfather, either. Unless they come from some really screwed up family. She kept that old goat greased up until about ten years ago. Neighbors used to complain about the screaming, if you know what I mean.” Zubrowski winked.
    Sweat trickled down the back of Jerry’s neck. The images crowding his mind now came with a soundtrack. Just great. “I just need your word that you’ll let her stay until the end of the month.”
    “I’ll let her stay for the rest of her life if she’ll–”
    “Just to the end of the month.” What with the images and the soundtrack, Jerry’s gut seized into a cold, greasy ball at the thought of what Zubrowski had been about to suggest. Not Melody. He couldn’t let that happen to her.
    “If you insist.” The super shut his apartment door.
    As Jerry mounted the stairs, he decided Stella was right about one thing. Melody needed someone to watch out for her. Not everybody knew about Fair Housing, but most people didn’t start asking housing questions with him. If she couldn’t find her way around simple life questions, the world would eat her alive. No way was she a stripper from Vegas, with that much naivete. He’d met more jaded ten-year-olds. He knocked and Melody yanked open the door like she’d been waiting behind it for him.
    “Jerry!”
    “Hello, Melody.” Jerry took a step backward so he was more firmly in the hall. The sliver of apartment he could see looked pretty normal. Nothing magical in his line of sight. Brown upholstered furniture that had grown shabby in the two decades since it had arrived here. A round coffee table predating the other furniture by at least three decades. Clean. Very clean, but not magical in any way. Then again, she’d left her brass thing at his house. “I talked to the super. He’ll leave you alone.”
    “Thank you.” Melody lunged at him and threw her arms around his neck before he could dodge. He stumbled backward into the wall, carrying her with him. Melody’s hot lips covered his, and she was so soft. His eyes slid closed as she wove her fingers through his hair. Bliss, being touched, even plundered this way. It had been a long time.
    And she was still a victim. Jerry pushed her back. “Melody, please. A simple thank you will do.”
    “You want me.”
    Like that was a mystery. “I just wanted to stop and tell you everything was okay.”
    Melody poked her fingers inside his shirt between the buttons, grazing his skin with the backs of her