The Devil She Knew Read Online Free PDF

nodded. “Thanks for the ride. Please unlock the door.”
    “Is this the first night you’ve closed the store?”
    She nodded again and wished he’d let her out of the damn truck.
    “And you plan to take the bus home after work?”
    “I’ll be fine.” She pulled on the door handle.
    “Do you have a cell phone?”
    She raised her eyes to him. She did, one of those pre-paid ones from a drugstore. It was all she could afford. “Yes, why?”
    “Keep it handy. You’re going to need it to call the police.” He shifted the truck into park and the locks sprang up. Without another word she exited the truck, slamming the door behind her. She didn’t turn around, but she knew the truck hadn’t budged as she moved up the short walk to the building’s front door. It was supposed to be a security door, but the handle was missing. She opened it without a glance backward and yet she sensed he was watching, his eyes boring holes into her back.
    Once inside, with her apartment door dead bolted behind her, she started to sob. This place was wretched, as bad as where she’d just come from. And now he knew where she lived. She’d never felt this lonely, or this alone, in her life. But her life wasn’t hers anymore. And this apartment was temporary, she reminded herself.
    She’d be here until she had to run again. Or until that monster hunting her was dead.

Chapter Four
    Relief washed over her in one long, deep sigh hours later when she walked into The Packing Place and clocked in. It was a slice of normalcy, a routine she could use to convince herself that she led an ordinary life.
    Wayne Keaseling stood behind the counter with Amber, Rosie, and Leslie, another female co-worker. Keaseling only hired women.
    He gave her a wide smile and extended his hand to shake hers. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled to attention as she placed her hand in his. He held onto it too long.
    “Well? How’s it going? Rosie says you’re doing well. This is your first time to close the store at the end of the day, right?”
    She nodded. Rosie stood beside him, almost at attention, and Amber stood behind them both, making faces to their backs. Off to the side, Leslie smiled, a silently amused observer.
    Rosie extended a clipboard. “This is what you need to know to finish the day, how to balance, close out the shipments, everything you’ll have to do. You should memorize it, although once you’ve done it as many times as I have, it becomes second nature.”
    Cassidy bit her lip, trying not to smile at Amber bobbing her head from side to side and mocking Rosie behind them.
    “Amber will help you if you encounter a problem, but I want you to do most of it yourself. You’ll be closing on your own pretty soon. We’ll review everything before I leave.” Rosie regularly worked a daytime shift; she refused to work nights or weekends.
    “Thank you.”
    Keaseling stepped forward and ran his hand down Cassidy’s back. She stiffened. “Of course, if you have any problems, you only need to call me.”
    She stepped away from his touch and pretended to read the pages on the clipboard. Leslie and Amber were attending to customers, so she turned to Rosie. Pointing to a line she said, “Will you explain this to me, please?”
    Having been effectively dismissed, Keaseling mumbled he was leaving for the other store and departed. Something about that man made her cringe.
    Cassidy suffered under Rosie’s tutelage until the woman clocked out at four. She’d received encouraging winks from Leslie and Amber whenever Rosie couldn’t see. Finally, it was just her and Amber to work the evening shift until they closed at eight-thirty.
    The tension in the store dissipated and Cassidy relaxed for the first time all day. The dinner hour regularly was slow and they sat in the back room together, grateful for the break. The customers had been nonstop today.
    “So how’d it go this morning?” Amber asked.
    Cassidy bit her lower lip and blinked when tears