Ashes - Book 2 (New Adult Romantic Suspense) by Leslie Johnson Read Free Book Online

piece of paper “… Salt Lake City for his surgeries. He’s getting some pins in his ankle, but they say he’ll be okay after a while. They wanted to send you a thank you something or other so I gave them the station’s address.”
    I smile and, damn it, feel a little frog creeping up my throat. “I’m glad he’s going to be okay. That ankle looked nasty.”
    “Gage. You did good. All the way around good.”
    The damn frog was getting bigger and I tried to cough it up so I could speak. But the bell starts clanging and I jump up. What a cliché — saved by the bell.

Chapter 8 — Beth
    Splash!
    A wave of water cascades over me, waking me up from a mid-morning nap. I didn’t mean to fall asleep in the pool, but I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open. Onyx, of course, is my alarm clock once again.
    “You mangy mutt,” I chide her gently as she swims around my raft and tries to climb on. “No!” Too late, I hear the air begin to hiss from the plastic and seconds later I’m lower in the water. This is the fifth … no, sixth time I’ve had to patch my float. I really need to find a dog-proof raft.
    I roll into the water, sinking to the bottom, watching Onyx’s black body swim above me. She tries to dive to me and gets about a foot underwater before floating back up. Silly pup. One day I’ll get her to the bottom.
    She begins to bark; the sound is soft as it vibrates through the water and down to me. Where she was swimming in circles above, she’s now heading toward the side of the pool. I follow her direction and see the shadow of a shape on the edge.
    Not Stephanie. A man?
    I push up from the bottom, gasping for breath as my head pops above the surface. I quickly wipe the water from my eyes and look around.
    Nothing.
    No one is there.
    Just Onyx, still barking, now out of the pool and running, full force toward the — oh please no — open gate in the fence.
    I call her name, but she ignores me. I call her again, but she’s out of the fence before I can pull myself from the pool.
    “Onyx!” I’m screaming at her now and running as fast as my blistered, bare feet will carry me. I can no longer see our precious dog. I can’t even hear her anymore. I’m not sure which way to search.
    Stephanie bursts through the front door as I reach the front of the house. “There!” she yells, pointing across the street. I see the dog, just a flash of black before she’s bounding around a neighboring house.
    “Shit!”
    I’m running, dripping water, my bikini top threatening to pop above my boobs. I don’t care, I’d streak naked after that dog. I love her. She’s my buddy. My alarm clock.
    A horn sounds.
    Brakes scream.
    A yip from Onyx fills the air.
    Please no. Please no. Please no.
    We race around the house and to the next street over. No! Onyx is lying in the road. The driver of a car is out and hovering over her. He looks up, his eyes huge and sees us running in his direction.
    “I’m so sorry. He came out of nowhere.”
    Then we’re there and Stephanie is on her knees, kneeling behind the hurt dog.
    I’m sobbing, praying, bargaining with the universe to please let the sweetest soul on this planet be okay.
    She’s whining. Oh thank God … her eyes are open. She looks terrified and in pain, but hopefully not mortally so. There’s no blood and she’s trying to get onto her feet. She falls back down, whimpering pitifully.
    “I’ll get my car,” I tell Stephanie and start running back to our house.
    “Get my purse and phone,” she yells behind me and I scream an okay, then I dash across the street, my heart hammering in my chest and my feet on fire.
    Bursting into the house, I pull a sun dress over my suit and snatch up purses, phones, keys and a few towels I’d been too lazy to fold. I find a pair of flip flops and thrust them on my feet. I remember to lock the front door and then set the alarm before slamming out of the back. I’m in my Jeep and roaring up our driveway in less than three