The Wolf's Daughter (The Tala Chronicles 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the key
in the lock. It clicked.  She started to open the trunk...but stopped.
    Someone was downstairs.

Chapter Four
     
    She peeked out
the grimy round window. A burgundy Cadillac hugged the curb. Tala walked to the
stairway. “Who’s there?”
    A man in a black
suit appeared in the downstairs doorway. Hulking build. Dark hair with some
gray around the temples. Piercing eyes. He cracked his knuckles. “You must be Tala.
Your mother told me a lot about you.”
    She folded her
arms. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?”
    “Hmm. Who am I?
That’s an interesting question.” He flashed a feral grin. “And the answer is so
much more than just my name. But all you have to know, my dear, is your mother cut
a deal with me for the contents of the house. I gave her money. She gave me a
key.”
    “I don’t know
anything about that...and I’m not your dear .”
    “Your ignorance means
nothing to me. I have a receipt, my dear .” He held up a crumpled piece
of paper covered with script, numbers, and coffee stains. The man put his foot
on the first step.
    “Don’t you dare
come up here.” She fisted her hand and then dug for her pocketed cell phone.
She drew it out.
    He took another
step. “She also said she wanted to sell the house to me, but I didn’t want to
spend the money then. I’m willing to take it off your hands now, though.” The
man took two more steps.
    “Oh yeah, think
again. As a matter of fact, if you don’t get out right now, I’ll call the
police.” She held up her cell phone, ready to punch in numbers.
    He glared at
her, and took another step.
    “I’m warning
you—”
    “You’ll hear
from my lawyer.” The man cracked his knuckles again. Then he turned and stomped
away, calling back, “ My dear .”
    The first thing
she did was call information. Tala got the name of a locksmith and arranged for
him to change the locks. Then she went downstairs to make sure the man had left.
The car was no longer at the curb. But what did that mean? He could have moved
it and come back to the house. She searched everywhere on the first floor.
    And what if he’d
gone to the basement?
    She didn’t
relish the idea of going to that moldy underworld. Tala couldn’t think of an
alternative, though. She couldn’t shake the idea she wasn’t alone. How could
she ever fall asleep wondering if... She hobbled to the basement door, Maeve
following. When she opened it, a wall of mildew hit her.
    Maeve spat.
    She fumbled for
the light switch but found a curtain of cobwebs. Shrieking, she rubbed her hand
on her jeans. “I hate cobwebs. I hate cobwebs…and I hate what lives on them.” Oh
great. If he were down there, now because of her big mouth, he knew
she was coming. Her fingertips moved over the cement Braille, and this time
found the switch. Naturally, the bulb had blown.
    She scrounged
around looking for a bulb or a flashlight. Tala found a flashlight in the
pantry, but the batteries didn’t work. In all her foraging, she hadn’t come
across any batteries. That clinched it. She wouldn’t go to the dark basement.
    And where was
the locksmith? He’d said he’d be right over.
    When she
returned to the attic, she went back to the trunk. Tala wasn’t sure if the man’s
receipt would hold up, but she knew she had a lot of work to do. She opened the
top quickly this time. She rummaged through the old-fashioned clothing,
high-buttoned shoes, fringy flapper outfits, and somber long black dresses with
tucks and embroidery. Disappointed she didn’t find anything of interest, she
turned her attention to a box in the corner.
    It was the kind
used to store files. It called to her, compelling her to examine it. Tala removed
the top and surveyed the pieces of old newspaper sticking up out of the
folders. She went for the ones that looked the oldest, the sepia ones.
    The first ragged
folder she pulled out reeked of mold. Tala opened it and flinched. A picture of
a body tied to a tree. The head barely