Particles of Obsession (A Shadow of Death Romantic Suspense Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

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    “This is the one you want,” he said. “It shouldn’t even be in the self-help section, but they put it there because there’s a few chapters where the author gives advice.”
    “You’ve read it?” I asked.
    “My mother wrote it,” he said. “I’m from a family of chemists. I don’t think it should be that shocking my brother became an addict. He did have a knack for mixing chemicals early in life.”
    “What about you?” I asked. “Are you an addict?”
    He looked me up and down, a slow smile spreading on his face. “Not to drugs.”
    His name was Alex Shirokov, a name with so many sharp edges that when my tongue pronounced it, I could feel it get sliced. I liked the taste of the blood.

Chapter Three

Mira
    J ohn left for another class an hour ago, but he said he’d return as soon as it was over.
    This wouldn’t make me so anxious if I hadn’t seen two police cars pass by his house. I pace in front of the wall with the sticky notes and index cards. One of the index cards says, kill your darlings. I wonder if the killer has been in this house and saw that index card or if John had said it once during a class.
    Of course, if the killer has been to this house, it means I’m not as safe as I had thought I was.
    I stare at his other notes. What if I could put my whole life story up like this? Just write every important event of my life onto an index card and put it in order? Would my life be boring? Would the only interesting parts be tragedies? Would my love life look like a roller coaster of swelling hope and discarded trust?
    I shouldn’t be dwelling on these kinds of things. I should be thinking about what I’m going to do to earn money if I don’t end up in prison. Earning a living writing isn’t likely, but I don’t have any other options right now except for working for my parents at their magic shop.
    Too bad it’s not as easy to disappear as magicians make it look.
    John’s front door opens. It slams shut and John rushes into the room, breathless.
    “The school is locking down,” John breathes. It looks like he ran the whole way home.
    “Locking down? What does that mean?”
    “I’m not supposed to go in to work, and the students have been told to stay in their dorms.”
    “Why? What else has happened?” Because the way things have been going, it’s obvious something else has happened.
    “Mira…it’s Kiona.”
    “Kiona?” I ask. “Victoria’s roommate?”
    “Yes,” he says. “She’s gone missing, and a threatening email from her was sent to the school yesterday. It’s just been reported that a gun she owned that was secured in her parent’s house is now missing. She must have gotten spooked by the police or us, and she’s on the run now.”
    “You think she’s the killer?”
    “Think about it,” he says. “She knew Victoria—they were roommates. Because she knew Victoria, she also could have known Alex through her. As for her motive…I don’t know. Maybe she was jealous of Victoria and decided to go after more people to throw us off. Maybe Alex brainwashed her into doing things. I really don’t know, but she’s run away with a weapon and she was angry at the school.”
    I tilt my head. It makes more sense than anything we’ve come up with.
    “Why was she angry at the school?”
    “She was going to flunk out,” he says. “She has a 1.3 GPA and she hadn’t even taken her finals yet. Maybe the stress got to her.”
    “These murders don’t seem stressed induced,” I say. “They seemed well-planned.”
    He sits down beside me. “Come on, Mira. Why else would she run?”
    “Did you know her at all?” I ask.
    He shakes his head. “I’ve never had a class with her. I only vaguely knew about her from Victoria. Victoria always spoke so highly of her…but maybe Kiona was obsessed with her, and that obsession turned deadly.”
    “You sound like a movie preview now,” I say. “Well, should we go to the police with this information?”
    “What do you