Chasing Thunder by Ginger Voight Read Free Book Online Page A

out of here.”
    She shook her head. “He’s going to hurt her.”
    “No shit, Sherlock,” he snapped. He was instantly remorseful. “It’s my fault. I never should have brought you here. I never should have taken you from the bus station. You’re too fucking green. You’re going to get yourself killed. If you’re lucky, you won’t take anyone else with you.” He straightened her up and put a cold washcloth to her mouth. “I’ll get you out of here and we’re square. Go back home, baby. No matter what Mommy and Daddy did, it’s not as bad as what is going to happen to you here. Especially now that he knows your name. That was the stupidest fucking thing you ever could have done.”
    Billy pulled her from the bathroom and the master bedroom. Guards stood at the front of the house, so he redirected her toward the back door. There was a pathway through some foliage that concealed a steep drop-off covered with cactus and rocks. “It’s your best option,” he said when she hesitated. “Get out of here as fast as you can. Get to a road, follow it. If someone offers a ride, accept it. Do whatever you need to do, but get out of Hollywood before dawn breaks. You understand?”
    She nodded. She heard screams coming from the house. “Tammy—” she started, but he shut her down.
    “You can’t help her now. And if you stay, you’re next. You really want what is happening to her to happen to you?” She gulped and shook her head. “Get the hell out of here, baby.”
    There were tears in her eyes as she stepped through the door. With one backward glance, she said, “Tell her thanks. And I’m sorry.”
    He nodded.
    And she was gone.
     
     

2. THUNDERSTRUCK
    W hen Haley finally made it back to civilization, her bare feet were sliced open like a Thanksgiving turkey, torn up by cactus and dry brush from scooting down that hill as fast as her legs would take her. The remnants of the drug left in her system made this process a lot more complicated than it had to be. Each of her senses was heightened to the point of discomfort. Sounds were amplified until they roared in her ears. Every smell made her stomach lurch and the lights from oncoming cars nearly blinded her as she slunk down the hill. It seemed as though her brain was morphing and melting under the chemical influence, nearly crippling her with panic unlike anything she’d ever known.
    She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why people did drugs for fun.
    She was coated in dirt and dried blood by the time she reached the bottom of the hill. She followed the winding road toward the city. She accepted no rides. She was fearful that Isbecky would send his goons to bring her back. Surely it wouldn’t take very long to realize his newest conquest was missing.
    Then she remembered Tammy telling her that he took his time if his victim dared to scream. Had she started screaming to stall him?
    Had her only friend thus far made that kind of sacrifice for her?
    The thought would have sickened her with remorse had she taken the time to stop and think. But she followed Billy’s advice to the letter as she headed for the bright lights of the town below. She had to find a way to fade in with the crowds. Surely he wouldn’t scoop her up from the crowded Hollywood Boulevard.
    It wasn’t like she had a whole lot of choices. She had no money to go back home, even if that had been a viable option. Maybe she should have drowned herself in the tub back at Isbecky’s mansion. She was just as screwed now as she was then. But somehow she couldn’t find it in herself to stop fighting. That had to mean something, right?
    She reached the bottom of the hill. As dirty and ragged as she looked, most people paid her no mind at all. Dirty, homeless street kids in Hollywood were hardly newsworthy. Folks passed her by, looking through her as if she wasn’t there at all. Maybe they were afraid that if they made eye contact she’d ask them for money, but Haley wouldn’t have