The Switch Read Online Free PDF

herself against the wall.
    “Phone,” I grit out.
    She gasps, and her hand holds the bulge in her pocket even more firmly. She’s not moving, unwilling to give. I get it. She’s hiding something, and whatever she’s hiding is worth making a stink of it.
    The ringing stops for just a few moments before it starts up again. Her hand moves frantically over the bulge in her pocket. I remove my hand from the wall and take one of her wrists in each of mine, bringing them above her head. I hold her small wrists in place with one of my hands. She tries to jerk her hands free, frustrated and annoyed.
    “And don’t even think about kicking me in the junk. I’m not above hog-tying your ass. Got it?” I glare down at her.
    She gives me her best innocent smile. “Trust me, Officer Guilliot. Your junk is the last thing I want to hurt.”
    “Uh huh,” I murmur as I wiggle my hand in her jean pocket and pull out the obnoxious device.
    The screen reads VICTOR CALLING. I cast a slight glance Shelby’s way and slide my thumb across the screen. Before I can bring the phone up to my ear, I hear the deep, angry rumble of who I’m assuming is Victor.
    “Where the fuck are you!”
    For a brief moment I consider identifying myself as a police officer. In my head, I tell this Victor guy who is screaming obscenities at Shelby. I check her face, and it’s fallen. This is the most vulnerable I’ve seen her look in the short time I’ve known her. Perhaps, also, the most absolutely real I’ve seen her, as well. Vulnerable and real, and something about this makes my attention snap back to the phone. Anger rises in my chest, and a protectiveness I hadn’t expected fights to the surface.
    “And who the fuck are you?” I snap into the phone.
    Shelby’s eyes go wide, fearful, and her chest heaves in terror. She shakes her head from side to side and keeps whispering the word no again and again.
    “Shelby?” The character on the other end is startled . His breath catches, and then he launches into a tirade that I can’t even quite recite. His voice shifts from a well-trained American accent to something more European.
    “Try again, fucker. Now , you wanna tell me who the fuck you are and why the fuck my girl is standing here freaking out?”
    “Your girl?” he asks. “So why don’t you tell your girl that she has exactly thirty minutes to get her ass here, or her girl won’t live to see tomorrow. And you tell that bitch there’s a change of plans. I don’t just want the diamond. Now I want her . So whatever you think you’re doing with her, you better do it fast, because I can promise you she won’t fail Becca.”
    My blood runs cold, I’m unsure what’s going on, and the line goes dead. I shove the phone back in my pocket and tighten my grip on Shelby’s wrists. Nothing really makes sense at this point. All I know is I was eating a fucking po’ boy, a damn good po’ boy to boot, and then this chick runs in looking for a hero. And what do I fucking do? I run off with her, jumping into the role of hero without a second thought. Then? Then I get a gun pulled on me by the same supposed damsel in distress. Now her . . . boyfriend, pimp, boss, whatever . . . is bargaining for her and the life of another girl.
    “Wait,” I say more to myself than to anyone else. My eyes scan Shelby’s face, her furrowed brow, her skin pale. Eyeing the little jut of her chin, I’m distracted by a sliver of shine that catches the light from around the base of her neck. Without thinking, my hand snakes out and grabs at the shiny object around her neck. The white gold chain is heavy in my hands, its weight substantial but not enough to account for the weight in my hand. I give it another soft tug and find a large purple diamond hanging from the bottom of the chain. I slowly pick up my jaw from its place on the floor and shake my head in anger.
    “ The diamond,” I say, astonished. Never could I imagine I’d have something so valuable in