Blood Flag: A Paul Madriani Novel by Steve Martini Read Free Book Online Page A

The fall onto hard concrete would certainly have injured him. She assumed there had to be another way into the cellar, but Sofia wasn’t going to waste any more time looking for it.
    “Give me a second.”
    Now that the door was open and Dingus could see the way out, he wanted to be there immediately.
    Sofia had to free up her hands to use the ladder. She slipped the phone back into her pocket. Then, holding on to the frame at the edge of the closet door, she carefully eased her foot into the gaping darkness beneath the floor. She felt with her foot until she found the top rung of the ladder, put her weight on it, and started down. The rest was easy. A few seconds later she was standing on the cold concrete down below, looking up at the square of light above her. Dingus jumped almost up to her waist. He pawed and scratched her legs as he barked.
    End of a perfect night, thought Sofia. She could have been out for drinks with friends. Instead here she was down in a dark hole trying to rescue a dog who was scratching her legs all to hell. She reached down in the darkness, got her hands around him, lifted him up, and tucked him against her chest, holding him tight with her left arm. Reaching out with her right hand she grabbed the ladder. Phantom vision from the fine nerves in her face sensed something up close as it penetrated the zone in front of her sightless eyes. It tickled the tip of her nose and the tiny hairs on her right ear. Sofia stopped for a second to scratch her face and rub her ear in case it might be a spiderweb. But it wasn’t . . .

SEVEN
    D id you give Sofia the day off?” It’s Monday morning and Harry is standing at the front counter in the office as I come through the door.
    “No.” Coffee in my hand, briefcase under my arm, I’m running late. It’s already after ten.
    “Well, she’s not here. She’s supposed to do the filings at the courthouse. Be nice to have them done before noon,” says Harry.
    “Where is she?”
    He shrugs a shoulder.
    “I’ve been calling her since just before nine. There’s no answer.” This from Sally, our receptionist.
    “Try it again,” I tell her.
    “I have. Several times. It rolls right over to voicemail. She’s either on the line talking or she’s turned off her phone.”
    “Well, check it again. Maybe she hung up,” I say.
    Sally punches the number for Sofia’s cell on the reception console at her desk, waits a second for the auto dial, then slowly shakes her head as she listens through the headset. “There’s no answer. Just ‘leave a message.’ I left one earlier.” She hits the button and hangs up.
    “Does she have a home number?” I ask.
    “If she does she never gave it to me,” says Sally.
    “Shoot her a text message,” I tell her. “Ask her to call in.”
    I glance at Harry. “Don’t look at me. You’re the one who hired her.” Harry is still searching for his own assistant. I suspect this could take a while. When it comes to the office Harry’s like a cloistered monk. He doesn’t like strangers invading the sanctuary of his secluded contrarian monastery down the hall, even if they’re trying to help him. Strike that— especially if they’re trying to help him.
    “It’s not like her to be late,” I say.
    “How would you know? You keep banker’s hours,” he says. “You’ll have to give her a little more time before she’s gonna have you properly trained.” Harry gives me an I-told-you-so smirk and goes right back to the question of the day: “In the meantime, who’s gonna do the filings?”
    “How about Selena?” Selena Johnson is Harry’s secretary.
    “She’s busy!” he says. Harry is giving me a message: Sofia is my hire. I created the problem, so now I own it.
    During all of this, Brenda Gomes, my secretary, has been standing, peeking over the wall of her cubicle like a spotter checking to see whose target’s been hit. As I lift my eyes she drops down behind her carpeted barricade faster than a doughboy