Sinnerman Read Online Free PDF Page A

and my phone on top of my car and slid the note open. A series of words in all caps was scrawled in a diagonal pattern across the page in red pen that slanted upward from left to right on three lines: HELLO SLOANE MONROE
    SINNERMAN HERE
    LET’S PLAY
    My stomach lurched, and I felt like I’d eaten a bowl full of rocks for breakfast followed by a large glass of milk that had gone sour. I dropped to my knees and squatted next to my car while I pivoted around and canvassed the area, but I saw no one. No cars out of place and no people, anywhere.
    I took my phone in my hand.
    “Maddie, are you still there?” I said, in a whisper.
    “Sure am. You gonna tell me what’s going on, or what?”
    “I need to call you back.”
     

CHAPTER 7
     
    I folded the note and tucked it inside my bag and wondered if Sinnerman was off somewhere not far away with his eyes held fast on me at that very moment. If he was, I didn’t want him to sense the twisted knot that wrenched my insides. I slung my bag over my shoulder and fought off the urge to race back to the police station. Just put one foot in front of the other and take it slow, I told myself, and breathe. You can do this.
    Rose raised an eyebrow when she saw that I’d returned.
    “You’re not back for another round with Coop again, I hope,” she said.
    I shook my head.
    “Is the chief around?”
    She spun her chair to the right and leaned over and stretched her neck out like an ostrich and stared down the hall.
    “I can just make out the top of his head,” she said. “Looks like he’s in his office. Do you want me to!—”
    I shook my head.
    “That’s okay; I’ll let him know I’m here.”
    Nick was seated at his desk engrossed in some sort of silly war game on his computer when I went by, and he didn’t notice that I’d returned, which was fine by me. I entered through the open door of the chief’s office and tried to be discreet while I sealed it shut behind me. The chief had his cell phone fastened to his ear, and his eyes were honed in on something out his office window. He swung around and caught site of me and made a swift motion with his finger to keep me quiet while he finished his call. I moved to the chair in front of his desk and sat and waited.
    “Look,” he said into his phone. “I don’t care what you have to do—I want answers and I want them now. Call me back when you’ve got something, and until you do, there’s no reason to have this conversation, you got me!”
    He slammed the phone down, took a deep breath in and let out an exasperated sigh and then shoved the mess of papers to the side of his desk and curved his body forward over it. I hesitated. He wasn’t in the best mood, and the last thing I wanted was to make it worse, but there was no getting around it.
    “Do you have a few minutes?” I said.
    His eyes darted in my direction.
    “You wanna know something, kiddo?” he said, “I knew you’d pop up in my office today. And here you are.”
    I stretched my hand inside my bag and felt the slip of paper. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Nick who had discovered I was back in the station and perched inside the chief’s office. He shot up out of his chair like he was a pilot aboard Apollo 13 and had just been cleared for takeoff and sprinted for the door.
    “Listen,” I said to the chief, in a hushed tone, “I need to talk to you about something—alone. It’s important.”
    The chief, who by this time had also observed Nick’s speedy approach, shook his head and ran one of his hands through his overgrown mustache.
    “I’m not the playground monitor,” he said, “and this isn’t preschool, Sloane. If you two are having problems, you need to sort that out on your own.”
    “Please,” I said.
    It was the only word I could get out before Nick landed at the door and opened it and shuffled in. He glared at me and then the chief.
    “What’s she doing in here with you?” Nick said.
    “You ever heard of knocking,