Paint It Black Read Online Free PDF

muttered, “Shut up. My defroster’s broken and I haven’t had time to get it fixed yet.”
    “Hey, I ain’t complaining. It’s a nice ride.”
    I made a face at him, then threw the car in gear and squealed the tires when I roared toward the exit of the lot. When I rounded the corner of short-term parking, I had to hit the brakes hard to keep from mowing down a maintenance man. Cougar bounced off the dash, smacking his arm into Grady’s cell phone.
    “Can I use that thing?” he asked.
    “Sure.”
    He lifted it from the holder and squinted at the tiny buttons. “These things get smaller and smaller. How the hell do they expect you to dial out?”
    He stole one of Grady’s plastic-wrapped toothpicks from the visor to punch the number in.
    “Hey, Kim, it’s Jason,” he said. “Look, can you do me a favor? You heard about Angel. Yeah. No. I don’t know. The thing is, we’ve been called out and I hate to leave him alone, in case he wakes up or something. His mom’s coming in soon, but—you will?” He exhaled. “That’d be great. Thanks. I owe you one.” He laughed. “Okay, so more than one, but you’re not supposed to be keeping track.”
    I tried not to listen, but couldn’t help myself. Cougar’s relationship with the beautiful DEA computer tech had been the topic of water-cooler conversation for weeks. Were they a couple, or weren’t they? Inquiring minds wanted to know. Listening to his easy conversation, I guessed rumors of their breakup had been greatly exaggerated.
    Dating Cougar had to be like dating Brad Pitt. How much self-confidence would a woman have to have to go out with a man that good-looking? But this was Kimberly Lausen we were talking about. Runner-up for Miss New Jersey. For all I knew, she had dated Brad Pitt.
    Cougar hung up with her and called Ubi. For the next ten minutes, they relayed locations back and forth.
    “Necie!” Cougar shouted. “He’s coming right at us.He just turned off Kaighn Avenue and onto Route 70.”
    My stomach flip-flopped. All of a sudden, it hit me—really hit me. Only a couple of miles separated us.
    We were going to get Frank Barnes.
    He was the reason I was there, the reason I’d joined the DEA in the first place. I should’ve been excited. I should’ve been happy. But I simply felt numb.
    “What?” Cougar barked. “Okay, okay … we’re there. Necie, turn around.”
    “What? I thought we were going to beat him to the airstrip.”
    “Turn around, turn around. He’s spotted the tail and took a right. He’s about to hit Union Street. We need to get him before he hits 541. They’re setting up a roadblock, but I don’t know if they can get there fast enough.”
    Checking the rearview mirror, I jerked the wheel and slid the Porsche into a U-turn. Horns blared as I raced west on the eastbound shoulder. Cougar clutched the dash until we finally made it back to a median ramp. He exhaled when we crossed over into the correct lane. Adrenaline shot through my veins, and I laughed at his wide-eyed expression.
    I was beginning to like Grady’s car.
    “Country boy,” I teased. “You’ve never driven the wrong way down a four-lane?”
    “Where I grew up, we didn’t even have four-lanes,” he replied shakily. “I learned to drive in my daddy’s cowpasture.”
    I turned onto Jones Street and rocketed past a semi and a taxi. “How many are with Barnes and what are they driving?”
    “Just him and a driver. They’re in a silver Jag.”
    Shifting gears, I said, “Let’s see if Grady’s toy can live up to its spec sheet.”
    Cougar groaned when I floored it. He kept shooting worried looks at the speedometer.
    “There they are,” I said. “So, what are we going to do now? I don’t have a strobe in here.”
    Cougar grinned and checked the clip in his Glock. He did the same for my gun and laid it in my lap. “Pull up beside them. I’ll flash my badge. Maybe they’ll pull over when they see they’re dealing with some crazy chick in a