Beg for Mercy by Jami Alden Read Free Book Online

fleece hoodie and fast jog staved off the chill of late fall.
    She slowed to a walk in front of Dreesen’s double-wide. “Skeeter,” she said in a high whisper, “come on, boy.” Nothing. She called his name again, a little louder this time, casting a wary look around to make sure shehadn’t attracted anyone’s attention. Devany had lived in worse neighborhoods, but Redwood Acres had more than its share of scumbags and lowlifes. It was not a place Devany wanted to be wandering alone after dark.
    She heard a sharp bark in the distance and cocked her head, closing her eyes to make sure her beer-addled brain wasn’t playing tricks. Another high-pitched yip, followed by a series of barks that said Skeeter had found something interesting and wasn’t shutting up soon. And dammit, it sounded like it was coming from the woods all the way on the other side of the park.
    Devany took off at a sprint, wincing as every dog in the neighborhood joined Skeeter in a chorus of yelps and howls. Woozy from three beers, she could still hone in on Skeeter’s bark. By the time she got to him, she was panting hard, nausea churning in her stomach.
    One of the streetlights in this row of mostly vacant trailers had been smashed, and the remaining light did little to illuminate the trailers or the neighboring woods. She made out the white patches in Skeeter’s coat as he poised on his haunches in front of the last trailer, barking his head off. There was probably a raccoon on the roof or something, she thought as she walked slowly toward Skeeter.
    “Skeeter, come here,” she said in her softest, most beseeching tone. She crouched low to the ground and made kissing noises.
    Skeeter paused his barking for a second and whipped his head around to look at her. Then he charged up the stairs of the trailer. Devany yelled, “No,” and sprinted after him, but she wasn’t nearly fast enough to keep him from slipping through the front screen door, which hung partially ajar.
    She looked around to make sure no one was watching—not that anyone around auskely to get their panties in a wad over her trespassing—and followed the dog through the door. “Skeeter,” she whispered as she came through the dark kitchenette. The trailer smelled like mold and dust, and underneath that was a heavy, metallic scent Devany couldn’t place.
    She heard a scuffling sound from the back bedroom and picked her way through the dark living room and down the short hallway. Light spilled through the open bedroom door.
    Devany’s stomach clenched with nerves. “Is someone here? Hello?”
    She tried again when no one answered. “Sorry to bother you. I’m just here for my dog.” Skeeter let out a funny, warbling whimper.
    She crept down the hall and pushed open the door. Her view of the bed was blocked by the door, but she could see the dog standing on the floor in front of the TV. “Skeeter, get over here,” she whispered through clenched teeth.
    She snapped her fingers and called again, and her gaze skidded across the image on the TV screen and froze.
    A woman, naked and facedown, her head turned to the side so Devany could see her sightless eyes staring out from the screen. For a split second she thought it was a horror film, one with really realistic-looking effects. But why would someone break into an abandoned trailer to watch a movie?
    Then she stepped into the room. And she saw the blood.
    Striping the naked back of the woman on the TV screen. Pooling under the gash in her throat.
    Flowing like a river down the bedspread and staining the carpet two inches from Skeeter’s front paws.
    Her scream caught in her throat as her horrified gaze took in every detail of the bloodbath in the room and on the screen. Instinct took over and she ran over, snatched Skeeter in her arms, and ran like hell into the dark night.

    Megan jerked awake, discombobulated and surprised to find herself facedown on a couch cushion. She sat up, eyes sticky from having fallen asleep with