The Blood Guard (The Blood Guard series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

you thrown off the train.”
    “Is that really what you want?” He drew his dirty blond hair behind his ears, scratched the stubble along his chin, and said, “Look, where’s the harm in it? No one is going to give an old lady a hard time for losing her ticke t — m ost people just aren’t bred that mean. They’ll think she mislaid it, and they’ll give her a pass. Meantime, I helped her with her bags, an d — ”
    “Tickets, please.”
    I hadn’t even noticed the approach of the conductor. Without thinking, I found myself passing my ticket over. The man punched it, gave it back, then slid a green tag into the shelf over my head.
    “Is it long to Washington?” the thief asked, handing over hi s — I mean, the old lady’ s — t icket.
    “Oh, just under three hours. Time enough for two teenage boys to get into trouble.” The conductor’s smile beneath his gray, bushy moustache appeared kind. “Mind that you don’t.”
    “Yes, sir,” said the thief.
    And then the conductor moved on.
    “I was just an accomplice to a crime,” I muttered. I was completely useless unless someone like my mom was telling me what to do. No wonder she got me out of the way.
    “Don’t worry yourself,” said the thief. “I’m fine, you’re fine, the old biddies will be fine. It’s survival of the fleetest.”
    “Fittest,” I said. “The phrase is ‘survival of the fittest. ’ ”
    “You’ve got a lot to learn, Evelyn Ronan Truelove.” The thief extended one of his grimy hands. “Jack Dawkins, at your service.”
    My heart hammered. Everything my mom had done to get me safe, everything I’d gone through, and I’m so stupid that I sit down right besid e—
    “Don’t go getting all pale around the gills,” Dawkins said. “You didn’t ask me the time . You were supposed to ask so that I could tell you it is twelve minutes to midnight.”
    I collapsed against the seat. “Why didn’t you say something when you saw me outside?”
    “Didn’t know for sure what we’d find in that station.” He shrugged and looked thoughtful. “Makes no sense they’d be after you. But something very strange is going on.”
    “After me ,” I repeated.
    “Yes, but don’t worr y — i f they’d taken you before you got on the train, I’d have swooped in and saved the day.” His face broke into another bright smile, and I found myself smiling back.
    “They almost caught me in the bathroom.”
    “No kidding!” He laughed. “Who do you think it was shouting about security? And may I say, well done slipping out the bathroom window like that. I don’t know how you managed, but it threw that bunch into a panic.”
    “Thanks.” For the first time all day, I felt a tiny bit proud of myself.
    There was a sudden noise, like an animal howling from underneath the seat.
    I clutched the armrest. “What was that?”
    “My stomach, Ronan. That’s how it tells me it’s hungry.” He stood up and shooed me forward. “Come on. There’s got to be a café somewhere on this lousy conveyance.”
    As he led the way down the aisle, the train rocke d — a tiny jostle, not all that big a dea l — b ut somehow it sent Dawkins sprawling face-first into the midst of a family on vacation. He practically fell upon the father, who helped set Dawkins back on his feet.
    “Sorry!” Dawkins said, straightening the man’s coat.
    At the far end of the car, Dawkins rotated his hand and revealed a sleek black wallet he’d lifted from the man’s jacket. Fishing out a wad of twenties, he dropped the wallet into the trash slot and said, “Onward! I’ve got an emptiness within me that no number of hot dogs will be able to fill.”
    A few minutes later, Dawkins ordered what he called “a snack”: eight hot dogs, as many hamburgers, five candy bars, two huge plates of gooey nachos, a couple of bags of chips, and six diet sodas. “I’m watching my weight,” he said with a wink.
    The dining car was lined with blue vinyl bench seats facing each