The Wrong Side of Dead Read Online Free PDF Page A

without a word. Thinking about him made her sad. She sure missed her baby-faced computer genius, someone she had believed was her friend.
    “But…what about my grandbaby?” the woman whined, her face knotted in a strange pout.
    Jess had used Junior as bait for an old girlfriend or someone from Eddie’s family. The gamble had paid off in spades. Even though she hated coming between a mother and her pride and joy, after meeting Momma Smart, she figured they deserved one another.
    That nut hadn’t fallen far enough from the tree.
    Cursed by a name he could never live up to, Eddie Smart was dumber than a heaping pile of pea gravel. And taking him out of the gene pool, in any meaningful way, was too much to hope for. Men like Eddie always found a way to breed.
    His original arrest had been in connection with an alleged assault of an old girlfriend. After taking his fists to that little snippet of a girl, Eddie didn’t like his odds with the court system, so he’d skipped. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be incarcerated long enough to do the world any good. As a Fugitive Recovery Agent, she’d seen this drama played out far too often.
    “Lady, just knowing Eddie could unleash his progeny on the world scares the hell out of me. But after meeting you? Well, it explains a lot.”
    The woman narrowed her eyes and pooched her thick lips, but she was done asking questions. She left the woman on the curb, still scratching her head over what had happened. Her boy walked slump shouldered down the sidewalk with his hands cuffed behind his back. She had her ride parked on the street, down the block.
    Jess had figured right. It appeared Momma Smart harbored regrets about Eddie being the only legacy for her efforts as a reproducing human being. She craved a second chance to redeem herself with a brand-spanking-new grandbaby, fresh off the line.
    Well, that wasn’t going to happen—at least not anytime soon.
    And Jess breathed a sigh of relief, empowered by the knowledge she’d saved a woman or two from the shock of waking up next to Eddie Smart, a man who single-handedly put the ugly back in coyote. She’d done her part for the sisterhood and earned some cash to boot.
    After she’d secured Eddie Smart into the back of the blue monster—an old Econoline van Seth Harper had loaned her three months ago after her car had been blown up—she ditched the pregnancy contraption in the front seat and climbed behind the wheel. She called in her arrest to the bail bondsman on the job, but when she was done, her cell phone rang. Caller ID pegged the incoming call as coming from her best friend, Samantha Cooper, a cop with CPD Vice.
    “Yo, girlie. What the hell ya doin’?” She grinned, grateful for the reminder that humanity wasn’t wholly defined by the Smarts.
    “Hey, Jessie. I know you’ve been looking for Seth.” Her friend got down to business, minus her usual smart-ass banter. Not a good sign.
    Getting a call from a cop regarding a missing friend sent chills over her skin, a wave of needle pricks that cut deep. Seth’s sweet face flashed through her mind, a contradiction to the way her gut twisted under the grip of a dark premonition.
    “Is he…is he still breathing, Sam?” It pained her to ask, but waiting for anything wasn’t in her nature, even bad news.
    “Yeah, he’s still with us, but he’s in a lot of trouble.” Sam gave her location, Pullman Station. “I’ll explain when you get here. Where do you want to meet?”
    “Booking works. I’ve got an arrest to drop off. I’m heading in.” Before her friend hung up, she asked, “Sam, I gotta speak to Harper. Can you arrange it?”
    “Already done. And Jess?” Sam’s voice grew more somber. “You’re gonna want to clear your plate. He’ll need your undivided attention. They’re booking Seth for murder.”

Cook County Jail
Chicago

    Jess couldn’t claim to know Seth Harper well, but she’d be willing to bet big bucks that murder wasn’t part of his