Copper by Iris Abbott Read Free Book Online Page A

of everything you remember about the incident,” Copper told her.  “Don’t leave out any detail no matter how small you think it might be.”
    “All right.”  Marla took a deep ragged breath and started talking.  Ten minutes into it, her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh no, the box!” She gave the roomful of people a crestfallen look. “I didn’t plan on going back until the start of the next school year, so I cleaned out my room this evening. It’s why I was so late leaving. The box has all my personal items in it, and I just left it laying on the ground.”
    “Don’t worry about that right now,” her sister said, putting a comforting hand on Marla’s shoulder.
    “Someone will go back to the school and look for it after we’ve finished getting all the information we need to start an investigation,” Copper promised. “What happened after you dropped the box?” he asked trying to get her back on track.
    Marla could feel five pairs of eyes on her, and she hated it.  She wrapped her arms around her body to try and stop the slight tremor she couldn’t seem to control any other way.  There weren’t really any words to express the terror she felt when bullets were zinging around her, and she was fearing for her life.  She didn’t really know what to say, so she stuck to the bare facts.
    “I heard a loud popping noise. It scared me so badly, I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” she admitted.  “It took me several seconds to figure out someone was shooting at me.  I guess I’m pretty lucky, whoever it was must not be a good shot.”
    Copper snorted at that. “Not funny,” he growled out.
    “No, it really isn’t,” Marla agreed.  She finished describing the events as she remembered and ended with the terse exchange with Copper before she blacked out.
    Natalie shot daggers at her boss.  “That is so not what I wanted to hear.” She glared at all of the men in the room. 
    “I’m not going to apologize for being suspicious,” Copper said, returning Natalie’s glare.  “Your sister’s never been here alone before. And you know how meticulous we are when it comes to guarding our garage and workspace.”
    “I don’t blame him,” Marla told her sister. “And you shouldn’t either.  You’ve mentioned several times how cautious everyone around here is when it comes to the garage and custom bike specs,” she reminded her sister.
    “I understand,” Natalie finally admitted. “Security is always tight around this place. It’s the main reason I sent you here.”
    “Now for the hard part,” Mercury interrupted.  “Marla, do you have any idea who might want you dead?” Mercury didn’t mince words.
    Marla sucked in a deep breath of air.    She opened her mouth but no sound came out.
    “Really, bro? You don’t have to be so blunt,” Copper snapped at his brother.  He didn’t even try to hide his annoyance.
    Mercury sent him a look cold enough to cause frostbite even on the hottest Texas day. “Do you want us to mollycoddle her, or do you want to get the information we need to find the person who shot her?” He threw the words along with a smug smile at his older brother.
    Copper wasn’t fazed by Mercury’s glare.  He gave him a snarky grin before answering.  “I expect you to do both.”  The harsh tone of his voice said he meant business.  It made the other three men stand just a little bit straighter.  The tension in the room shot up several notches.
    Mercury’s cool blue eyes did a leisurely sweep from Copper to Marla and then back again.  The smug smile disappeared. He nodded his understanding at his brother. A silent message passed between the two men.
    Marla, who’d tensed up when Mercury and Copper first exchanged words, slowly relaxed.  “Thank you, Copper, but it’s okay.  Really.  I was there, got the wound to prove it. Nobody has to sugarcoat anything for me.  I’m stronger than you could ever know,” she insisted.  “I might look