Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens

Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: Twilight Is Not Good for Maidens Read Online Free PDF
Author: Lou Allin
Tags: Suspense
Temperate rainforest. Hardly any snow in winter except on the ridges, but cool summers rarely over twenty-five degrees Celsius.
    When she had been in her teens, solitary camping had suited Holly. Head out up one of the logging roads on her bike with her German shepherd and stay for the weekend. Her Coastal Salish mother had approved. Her father had worried himself sick until she returned for Sunday dinner.
    By the time they re-entered the cabin, from the distance came the familiar Doppler sounds of the ambulance. “About friggin’ time,” Holly muttered to herself.
    As Paul let them in, Bucky gave an obligatory woof. Maddie opened her eyes and sat up. Holly said, “Sorry about all these delays. It shouldn’t be long now.”
    Maddie shook her curls. “I’m fine, really. This is silly to get so many people involved when they’re needed someplace else.”
    Holly folded her arms to reinforce the protocol. “They’d have my badge if I didn’t take the precaution. They might want x-rays on your sore throat. You told me that you blacked out for a minute. That could be a sign of a mild concussion.”
    Maddie moved her jaw back and forth and felt a couple of teeth. “Nothing’s loose. And I’d know if I’d hit my head.”
    Holly used Paul’s phone to call the Sooke detachment to give them the update. Bucky had ambled over to Maddie on the sofa and was nosing her leg, his big bleary eyes sympathetic. The girl stroked his broad head. He almost grinned, demonstrating the loss of one canine tooth. Holly doubted if Paul had the income for dental care for himself or the dog. “He’s a good old boy,” the girl said, with a bit more cheer. “I miss my pup Finny in Timmins.”
    “You are a long way from home,” Holly remarked. “I know what that can be like, having been in The Pas on my first assignment. Similar weather to Northern Ontario. I bet you snowmobiled.”
    “I had my own little red Bravo,” Maddie said. “It rode like the wind.”
    Holly went out with Paul to direct the ambulance, pulling up in front of the green reflective metal house address. Every rural property had to have a standardized sign with glowing letters. Many people had such artistic, custom-carved signs that they were hard for fire and emergency personnel to see.
    “I’ve taken a statement, and arranged for her clothes to be collected,” she said to the two men who pulled up and got out with their kit. A minute of description of the assault clued them in. “I’ve told her that she’ll have to get checked here and at the hospital, too. Right now she’s coherent and calm, considering what she’s been through. Her throat’s pretty sore, though.” Taking their stretcher, they made their way to the cabin.
    An unmarked car pulled up behind the ambulance and one of the West Shore inspectors got out. Holly had met Russell Crew at a mandatory seminar on stun guns. She filled him in on what she had done and learned. He wore a leather bomber jacket over slacks and a sweater. Holly imagined that he wasn’t thrilled to be pulled out of bed this early.
    Crew lit up a cigarette and blew three concentric rings, admiring them. “We’re no strangers to sexual assaults in town. But here? Go figure. Guy must be a real nut.”
    She nodded. “Likes the fresh air. Let’s hope it’s the one and only. Crime should stay in the city where it belongs.”
    “Hey, why should life in La La Land be any different for you lucky dogs?” He stubbed out the cigarette, flipped it into the wet ditch, and headed for the cabin. “Stick around. We may need you. I’ve only got one man. It didn’t seem like much of a priority until I got the details from Sooke. I’ll introduce myself, have a look-see, and catch up with our vic at the hospital after they check her over here.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    Dawn was arriving on cue, though it seemed like an eternity. Holly sat in the park’s picnic area, which overlooked the ocean. Scarcely two years ago, after the typhoon,
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