Going Once (Forces of Nature) by Sharon Sala Read Free Book Online Page A

her again. He knew they were there to find a killer, not a new relationship, although it appeared Tate would be willing to rekindle his if the Landry woman would let him. However, there was no harm making friends with someone while working on a case, especially a woman as pretty as Laura.
    Nola was asleep when they passed the city limits. She’d fallen over onto Tate’s shoulder, and he’d let her lean all she wanted. If he didn’t think too hard about it, he could almost believe it was just like old times.
    Wade looked over his shoulder to the pair in the backseat, then frowned and pointed to Nola’s wrists. One of them was seeping blood through the bandage onto the leg of her scrubs.
    Tate nodded. They would get her bandaged up again at the gym.
    Beaudry glanced out the window as they drove into town.
    “All these strangers, all this chaos...it doesn’t even look like home anymore,” he said softly.
    Tate followed his gaze, looking at his onetime home with new eyes. He and his partners spent most of their time in places just like this. Crime followed chaos, and it had been that way since the world began.
    “Just drop me off at the station,” Beaudry said.
    Cameron took the turn at the bank toward the police station, let Beaudry out then drove to the gym.
    Nola woke up just as they neared the gym. She was stiff and disoriented, and Tate saw the panic in her eyes.
    “We’re back in Queens Crossing,” he said.
    She scooted away from him, then saw the bloody bandage on her wrist and frowned.
    “I have blood on my clean clothes.”
    “They have donated clothing at the shelter. I think they’ll have something you can wear,” Tate said.
    She shoved her long hair out of her eyes. “That’s good, and I think maybe I need to cut this stuff off.”
    Tate frowned. “Your hands will heal, and then you’d be sorry you cut your hair. You’re bound to have friends in the gym. They’ll help. I’ll help. You aren’t going through this alone.”
    “Yes, ma’am, Tate is right,” Wade said. “It will all work out. You’ll see.”
    “There’s a really nice lady named Laura with the Red Cross. I’ll introduce you,” Cameron added.
    Wade grinned. “Oh, yeah? Is she pretty, too?”
    Cameron glared. “Shut up, Luckett. This is about helping Miss Landry, so get your mind out of the gutter.”
    Wade chuckled.
    “I would appreciate it if the lot of you quit calling me Miss Landry and just stuck to Nola,” she said.
    “We’re here,” Tate said as Cameron pulled up and parked.
    Nola stared. “Where did all these people come from?”
    “Some with the Red Cross, others are volunteers and survivors of the flood,” Tate said.
    Her eyes welled. “The last time I was here was just a couple of months ago, for homecoming. Angie Durant’s daughter, Bonnie, was crowned homecoming queen. They would have been flooded out, too. I wonder if they’re here?”
    “Let’s go inside and find out, okay?” he said.
    Nola ignored the hand he offered and got herself out of the car, then walked into the gym with her chin up and stopped, shocked into silence by the sight.
    There were cots and sleeping bags in neat, crowded rows, and people everywhere. Tables stood against the back wall, loaded down with bottled water, and boxes and boxes of diapers.
    “Oh, my God!” she said.
    Tate put a hand in the middle of her back. “The good part is that you’re alive, not down in the morgue.”
    She shrugged away from his touch.
    He sighed. “Let’s get you signed in at the office, so they can get you settled.”
    A baby cried nearby, and somewhere farther down in the gym another answered with a cry of its own. She wanted to cry with them.
    Cameron was already in the office when they walked in. He smiled at Nola.
    “There she is,” he said. “Nola, this is Laura Doyle. I was telling her a bit about what you need. She’ll get you some clothes and food, and a place to sleep, okay?”
    Nola nodded as a pretty young woman with short