Cold Snap

Cold Snap by Allison Brennan Read Free Book Online

Book: Cold Snap by Allison Brennan Read Free Book Online
Authors: Allison Brennan
Tags: Suspense
down and arrested everyone. The other kids were automatically put into the system. No one competent was there to protect their rights. It wasn’t even someone in the house who’d gone in shooting, it was a gang who wouldn’t let their members leave. The group home was a second chance, but even when kids want the opportunity, others try to stop them.
    “I realized that these kids, through little fault of their own, had been dealt a shitty hand. They were doing what they could to survive, but if there wasn’t someone there to help—help legally—they would learn that no one cared. They’d become the future criminals, the drug addicts, dying young because they lost all hope.
    “I can’t live knowing that there are so many kids who are without hope. You’re right, we had an amazing childhood. I hate myself sometimes because I used to complain that I had to wear my sister’s hand-me-downs, which were themselves secondhand clothes. I had to share my bedroom my entire life with two of my sisters. Three hotheaded Cuban girls in the same room? It was hell … but nothing compared to what these kids go through. They’d be happy to have hand-me-downs, a warm jacket, a hot meal. My mom never let us go hungry. We were always tight for money growing up, but we always had a home and dinner on the table, fresh fruit in the refrigerator, a library card, and shoes that fit.”
    She stopped at a red light. “So I went to Gary Feliz, whom I had interned for, and told him we needed a pro bono division. He put Madeleine Starr in charge of the program, and I became her intern, then worked for her when I graduated. Maddie is just like me, but cares even more. Because she had been one of those kids.”
    Patrick pointed to his rental sedan on the next corner. She illegally double-parked, and said, “Be quick.”
    She didn’t look at him, and Patrick had the distinct impression that she regretted spilling her guts. But he was glad she had. Now he understood Elle, and that gave him the information he needed to get them out of this situation without bloodshed.
    He opened his trunk. He threaded his holster through his belt, then holstered his Glock. He slipped a backup clip in his pocket, then grabbed his laptop. While he was at it, he pocketed his jammer. Back in Elle’s car, she said, “I hope you have a permit for that.”
    He ignored the hostility in her voice. “We need a plan, and don’t tell me to wing it. I want to know why you think Lorenzo will help you.”
    “I don’t.”
    “Then what are we doing?”
    “I’m going to the teen center. It’s Saturday, it’s open until midnight, so we have a little time. I’m hoping to spot one of Lorenzo’s kids, someone we can follow to his place. Once I know where he is, I can sneak around and see if Kami is there.”
    “That’s an awful plan.”
    “You have a better one?”
    He didn’t, because he didn’t know the layout of the teen center and he had to assume that a drug dealer like Lorenzo would have armed thugs. They often used underage kids because the system dealt differently with fifteen-year-old killers than eighteen-year-old killers.
    “When we get to the center, you can look for Kami and ask around, but don’t follow anyone. There’s an active warrant for Lorenzo. If we—”
    “How do you know that?”
    Patrick glared at her. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”
    “He’s a drug dealer. There’s always a warrant for him.”
    “You didn’t answer my question.”
    “It’s irrelevant.”
    It wasn’t, but Patrick let it slide—this time. “If we see him, we tell the cops where he is. We’re not confronting a guy who knows the cops want him.”
    “If I turn him in, he won’t tell me where Kami is!”
    “And why would he tell you now? Why do you think he even knows? Dammit, Elle, what aren’t you telling me?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Bullshit.”
    Her jaw clenched and unclenched. “I plan to offer Lorenzo my help. Help him with the bench warrant. It was a

Similar Books

Absence

Peter Handke

Jarmila

Ernst Weiß

The Call-Girls

Arthur Koestler

Lighthouse

Alison Moore

Penguin Lost

Andrey Kurkov

The Doctor's Daughter

Hilma Wolitzer

Sword of the Silver Knight

Gertrude Chandler Warner

Beautiful Broken Mess

Kimberly Lauren