Mosquito Chase Read Online Free PDF Page A

a thousand bucks the first time, I hopped up on the stage. Got three months’ rent paid by the end of that one dance. I asked Simon what he thought about me stripping. He said he was okay with it, but only on the weekends. We moved in together soon after. Got engaged. And then … and …” She tucked her quivering bottom lip into her bite and closed her eyes. She exhaled and shook her head. “They said he owed them money.”
    “Who are they?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Can you describe them?”
    “I only saw the back of one guy, but I can clearly identify the other. The guy who … who shot…” She buried her face in her hands. I moved from my chair to the sofa next to her.
    “Angie.” She looked up at me. I hesitated and awkwardly placed my hand on her shoulder. “Just focus on the men for now. Tell me what you heard.”
    She exhaled and pushed my hand away as she said, “The man with the gun … he was tall and lanky, with horrible scars and pock-marks covering his cheeks. The other man was a bit shorter but much larger. They were both taller than Simon. The second guy had a slicked back ponytail.” She shook her head and continued, “They said something about money and product, I didn’t understand it all really, but I heard the name Mateo .”
    “Mateo?”
    She nodded.
    “Why were you in Alaska?”
    “I fled Atlanta and tried to hide out. Simon and I had talked about going there.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I felt like I owed it to us.”
    “Why did you leave?”
    “Maybe it was paranoia. I’m not sure really. I was comfortable there for a few months, and then I just felt like I was being constantly watched. So, I packed up my bags and headed down south. I was aiming for Florida, but home sounded better.”
    She was holding it together by a thread. I could endure a ceasefire for a little longer.
    “Can I fix you some breakfast? We can try to piece together the rest later.”
    She wiped her eyes and narrowed her stare. “Look, just because I’m broken down doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like you. You and your buddy Steven really fucked up my life here. I had nowhere else to go. I’ll be out of here today. I just needed help.”
    The name alone snapped me out of the crazy notion that I could actually be kind to her. I stood up, towering over her. “Let’s get a few things straight. Number one, I am not, nor will I ever be, Steven . Number two, you are not going anywhere.”
    She hopped to her feet, put her fists on her hips, and glared at me. “Oh, like hell I’m gonna stay here.”
    I stepped toward her, mere inches away from her nose. The air billowed from her flaring nostrils as I narrowed my stare. “I will slash your tires if that’s what it takes. The drug dealers who killed your boyfriend are after you. You’re pregnant with a dead man’s child. Your ass is staying here, and I’m staying with you. Got it?”
    Her eyes widened as she nodded. I walked around her into the open kitchen and grabbed the frying pan from the sink. I threw it on the stove and barked, “Now, how do you like your eggs?”
     

 
     

     
    I stared at the mangled, pale-yellow blob on my plate. I didn’t tell him what I wanted, so he made scrambled eggs. I raised my eyes up to stare at him across the table as he scrolled through his phone and shoveled down his eggs. I should have said benedict or at least sunny side up. I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. A square wooden table separated us, awkward tension filling the space in between. He was intentionally keeping his eyes glued to his phone, which was fine with me. I studied the way his jaw clenched and tensed with every bite; stubble covered his face, softening occasionally with the faint indention of dimples. His mouth opened as he forked one whole egg into his mouth. He shifted his phone, his bicep flexed. My eyes were drawn to the hint of that indiscernible tattoo peeking out from his grey Police t-shirt. It looked like a cone