The 13th Read Online Free PDF

silver-rimmed glasses slip down his nose so that he could peer at you over them, light blue eyes glinting with almost electric light over the metallic frames. Those stares could last for minutes at a time, as his hands continued filing papers, or reaching for the phone, or any number of other independent tasks. His gaze never wavered. It could be unnerving to the uninitiated, but Christy was ready for it.
    “It happens,” he finally said. “That’s not an excuse—you weren’t careful enough. But it happens. Don’t let it happen again.”
    “I won’t,” she promised, and popped a knuckle. Bad nervous habit.
    “What did you see while you were there?”
    “Not much,” she admitted. “I took the guy in and a nurse helped us into an exam room. The doc checked him out, said he was okay, and then showed us a couple of their new patients on the way out.”
    “And…?”
    “And nothing, really. Couple of thorazine flyers buzzing about the color of the air, I think. Hospital gowns and tranquilizers…that’s about all I got before we were out the door again.”
    “And the kid?”
    “I put his bike in the car and drove him home. Gave him a couple twenties to cover any damage to the bike, and gave him my number in case he had a problem. I don’t think I’ll hear from him though.”
    Chief puckered his lips a moment, and looked at a corner of the ceiling populated solely by cobwebs. Then he stood up and pulled a drawer open from the three-drawer file tucked in the corner directly in front of the door. When it slammed shut, he held a manila folder in hand. The chair complained as his 6′2″, 290-pound bulk crushed its cushion back toward the ground, but he squeaked it back toward the desk and passed the folder.
    “You’re still on this one,” he said. “You can’t do it undercover anymore, but maybe we don’t need that. For now, we’re just keeping an eye out in that direction. There’s something not quite right about this guy’s operation out there, I can feel it.”
    “What do you want me to do, Chief?”
    “Just keep your ears open, for now,” he said. “Take some drives out to Crossback Ridge when you can. And read the folder. It’ll give you the history of the place, and a couple notes I found regarding our new owner.”
    “What do you think’s up, Chief?”
    “I wish I knew,” he said. “Maybe nothing. But I always trust my gut. And my gut says otherwise.”
    He nodded, indicating her dismissal, and he had already picked up the phone to make a call before she’d risen to leave.
    “Hey, Harry,” he spoke into the receiver, voice a full octave above the plateau of the immediately preceding conversation. “What would you say to heading out to Autumwa this weekend and laying some lures on a few bass?”
    Christy slipped out of the office, glad that she’d escaped with so little censure, but still pissed that her first big investigation had stumbled right out of the gate.
    “Hey, Sorensen,” someone called. She glanced around and saw Matt Ryan grinning like he’d swallowed two thirty-eight double-Ds and just taken a short break for air.
    “Yeah, Matt.”
    “You know when they say fifty points for a biker, they’re not really serious.”
    “Ha, ha, ha.” She grimaced.
    “Did you at least smack him good with the car door?”
    “No dents, sorry,” she said.
    “So what’s the deal with Castle House? They really turning the place into a crazy house up there?”
    “’s what it looks like. Chief has a feeling about it though. So I’m on surveillance duty for a while.”
    “You know what they say—if you go looking for trouble…”
    “…It’ll find you. Yeah. Well I’d say it did find me today.”
    Christy sat down at the booking desk and logged in to the computer. She had to file a report on the accident before she went home. She opened up theform and started to type…but stopped after only a sentence. She hated reliving her stupidity.
    Abruptly she rose from the desk, and