Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2) by Angela Roquet Read Free Book Online

next door that could easily fit through the ventilation duct she’d managed to find.
    An elevator at the far end of the hall captured her attention, and she knew if she sat there long enough, it would deliver Saunders. She didn’t want to think about what he’d do with her then.
    There was a door at the other end of the hallway. A sign above it read Stairs. Lia looked back down at her ankle. The monitor was gone. And St. Louis was a big city. Saunders would have one hell of a time finding her in a place like that, at night no less.
    The numbers above the elevator lit up, displaying that someone was on the move. Two… Three… Four…
    Lia stood and ran for the stairs. She pushed through the door and stumbled down to the first landing. She caught herself on the railing, almost busting her chin, but she kept going, whipping around each corner. She was dizzy and breathless by the time she reached the main floor.
    Saunders was probably cussing up a storm by now and naming a bullet after her. She gulped down several breaths of air before slipping out a side exit into an alley.
    A light rain sprinkled around her. The air smelled like diesel and garbage, but there was a wet, fresh scent overlaying it. She didn’t savor it for long. A cruiser was parked at one end of the alley. She could see the red letters across the back of the white trunk. She turned away from it and ran in the opposite direction, her bare feet slipping across the slick blacktop.
    The alley spat her out in front of a gas station. The harsh lights induced a headache, and a horn blasted as she accidentally stepped out in front of a moving car. She shielded her eyes with one arm and looked around, trying to get her bearings. A man cut across the parking lot, heading for a semi. Lia ran to catch up to him.
    “Sir! Sir,” she called, trying to hide the desperation in her voice. “Could I catch a ride with you? Just for a short while.” She glanced over her shoulder, back toward the alley, and then gave him a pleading look.
    The man frowned as he took in her dirty hoodie and bare feet, but his eyes softened when they fell on her face. He gave her a slow nod. “Get in,” he said, nodding at the passenger door of his truck.
    “Thank God.” Lia heaved a sigh of relief and climbed inside.
    As they pulled out of the gas station, she shot a cautious look down the alley. The cruiser still waited at the other end. Part of her hoped that Saunders had discovered the wolf and gotten what he deserved. Another part worried that maybe the wolf had just been a hallucination.
    If that was the case, Mandy was possibly dead now, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her heart ached with guilt, but it was soon overridden by self-preservation.
    “Where you headed?” the trucker asked as they merged into traffic.
    A sign ahead pointed them toward Interstate 44.
    Lia pressed her cheek against the window, letting the cool glass sooth her flushed skin. “You ever heard of a place called Spero Heights?”
    “Yeah.” He nodded. “That’s near Springfield. My wife likes to go up there every year for the Cheese Festival.” He stole a quick glance at her. “My route takes me right past it. We’re about three hours out.”

 
    Chapter Eight
     
     
    A pile of open journals crowded Dr. Delph’s desk. Most of them were wrapped in cracked, leather covers, and written in ink so faded that he had to use a special light and magnifying glass to decipher their delicate script. He hadn’t been this desperate in some time, but the fruits of his labor were less than rewarding.
    He’d reread the cryptic interpretations of the Seven Sages and all 147 Delphic maxims. Then he poured over every Pythia and priest of Apollo journal in his collection. The scarce answers he’d managed to discern were not comforting.
    So far, the only reason he had found for an oracle to lose their foresight was if the future involved either their imminent death… or a new love interest. He scoffed at