Rusty Nails (The Dade Gibson Case Files) Read Online Free PDF

asked him.
    “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But Louise Hartwell sent it, and I’m sure she didn’t wrap it with love.”
    Once the elevator doors opened, he stepped out, carefully looking up and down the hall to make sure that no one was waiting on him. Thankfully, his floor looked deserted. Liz carefully unlocked the door to Dade’s hotel room, and he cautiously stepped inside, keeping low, his gun held out in front of him like a cross to ward off vampires. Nothing moved saved for the rustling curtains that hung above the roaring air conditioner.
    It was an ordinary sneaker box, they discovered, once the paper had been torn away, and Dade hesitantly tipped the lid off with the barrel of his gun, fully expecting something to jump out at him with fangs bared. A thin line of sweat ran down into his eye, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand.
    “Now I know how those bomb squad guys feel,” he said, studying the mound of white tissue paper. “So far so good, though. I don’t hear anything ticking, and I haven’t heard anything hiss.”
    Carefully, he eased the barrel of the gun into the crinkled up packing paper and pushed it aside. He nearly dropped the gun when he saw the noose.
    No longer worried about getting bitten by anything poisonous or accidentally tripping a wire, Dade reached his hand into the box and pulled out the thick length of rope. Liz’s eyes went wide at the sight. “I don’t understand.”
    “I don’t understand either,” Dade said as he pulled out the photograph of his dead sister, Jane, and another photograph of a man that looked so much like Dade that he had to be his father.
    “There’s more than money riding on Richard Edgemore’s bones,” the message on the back of one 5x7 glossy read. “The fate of your family’s souls depends on your success. I told you that you would cooperate. We could have done this the easy way. Blame yourself for that.”
    “This picture was taken a couple of days before Jane killed herself,” Dade said quietly. “The other was taken the week before my father left us. How could she have gotten her hands on these?”
    “I don’t know,” Liz said. “But why use this to threaten you? It’s not like your sister is in any real danger now. She’s dead. And what about your father? Is he dead too? You’ve never said much about him since we’ve been together.”
    “I don’t know if he’s dead or not,” Dade admitted. “I haven’t seen him or spoken to him in over ten years. I guess this picture tells me all I need to know.”
    “I’m sorry,” Liz said, hugging Dade close to her. “This is terrible.”
    “It doesn’t hurt,” Dade said. “He’s been dead to me for a long time. Still, he was my father, and I loved him once.”
    “I still don’t understand what kind of threat this could be.”
    Dade shook his head. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my line of work that you would have a hard time accepting. Believe me, death isn’t the end of pain for some people. For some, it’s just the beginning. I’m sure that’s one thing Louise Hartwell and I could agree on right now.”

Chapter 7
     
     
    Shaken by the contents of the package, Dade gathered up what few belongings he had left in the hotel room including the noose and the pictures of his father and sister. “It’s one thing to threaten me in a nightclub,” Dade said. “I can deal with that. It’s another thing altogether to threaten me and my family in the place I’ve been calling home. That’s where I draw the line.”
    “So you believe that she can do something to the souls of your sister and father?” Liz asked.
    “There’s a lot more to this woman than meets the eye. We’ve already established that. She may have more tricks up her sleeve. I can‘t afford to risk it.”
    “Just promise me you’ll be careful,” Liz insisted.
    “I promise,” Dade said. “Now, can you do me a favor and check me out of this flea trap while I load the rest of my things into