Someone to Watch Over Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

for a girlfriend.” Stacey pushed his fresh beer down the bar to him and turned to the next customer.
    The rest of the night flew by. The crowd ebbed and flowed with the band breaks. The traffic was enough that when Stacey took her swollen feet and aching back out to her car, home was all she could think about. The sight of Lance leaning against her car sent irritation shimmying up her spine.
    “How about breakfast?”
    Tired down to her toenails, she snapped, “I don’t know how else to say this, so here goes. No date. No breakfast. Grow up and take no for an answer.”
    She unlocked her car and threw her purse across to the passenger side. She got in and slammed the door. Jonathan walked past and waved, but waited until she drove away.
    Minutes later, a vehicle roared up behind her, its headlights almost blinding her. Based on the angle of the glare ricocheting off her rearview mirror, she guessed it to be a car. It moved closer, so she sped up a little. But the car matched her speed. Then it slowed and turned down a side street.
    What was that? Drunk driver? Her body shook, cold from the inside out.
    Paranoid to a fault, she drove through the apartment complex’s parking lot twice, checking the cars for Ray. Because of him, she’d learned how easy a person could misinterpret an innocent customer service smile.
    Finding nothing disturbing, she parked and went inside.
    She opened the fridge and stared at the contents. Not hungry but needing to eat, she decided on cereal, snacking while she got ready for bed.
    She hoped she’d made her point with Lance. No doubt, he’d give her a wide berth from now on. The last thing she needed was trouble with him.
    After a nice hot shower, Stacey crawled in bed. She stretched her legs and wiggled her toes, celebrating not having on tight jeans and boots.
    ****
    Someone pounded on her front door, dragging her from a deep sleep. Panic seized Stacey’s lungs, making breathing an effort. Other than her landlady and two bosses, no one knew how to find her. The loud racket started again, only this time, it sounded like the world was coming to an end.
    Grabbing her robe, she hurried to the door and peered through the peep hole. A chill rushed across her arms and down her spine. Two cops standing outside the door at nine o’clock on a Sunday morning couldn’t possibly be bringing good news. She tightened her belt and opened the door.
    “Stacey McKinney?”
    “Yes. What’s wrong?” Nerves knotted painfully in her neck.
    The older man offered his ID. “I’m Sergeant Kelly. This is Officer Barnes. The owner of the Rockin’ Boot provided us with a list of employee names.”
    She glanced up from his badge. “Something happened at the bar after I left?”
    “May we come in?” The sergeant ran his hand down the front of a wrinkled white shirt.
    “Of course.” The circles under both men’s eyes made her think they’d missed a lot more sleep than she had. She waved them inside and led them to her small kitchen table.
    “You spoke with Lance Pierson last night?”
    “Yes. A couple of times. He was walking toward his pickup the last time I saw him.” She returned the detective’s ID. “Why? What’s he gotten himself into?”
    “I’m sorry to tell you, he’s dead.” He pulled out the small kitchen chair, turned it backwards, and sat. “You may have been one of the last people he spoke with.”
    “What? How? He was fine when I drove away.” Stacey gripped the countertop to steady herself. Her heart ached for his family.
    “What can you tell us about the last time you saw the deceased?” Detective Kelly set a small recorder on her table and waved her to a chair. “Do you mind if record our conversation?”
    Whoa. The word ‘deceased’ sent shock waves rolling through her system. It was so final and cold. As if when a person died they ceased being a person and became a thing. Her heart raced, her stomach cramped, and her mother’s death flooded her memory. What the