Guardian's Joy #3 by Jacqueline Rhoades Read Free Book Online Page B

noticed it, but didn’t ask myself why, in a place
like that, she was wearing leather.” Instead of wondering what she
would look like without it.
    “You noticed a girl with too many clothes
on?” Dov shook his head sadly. “You really do need to get out
more.” He saw Canaan frown and shrank back in his chair.
    Nardo told them about seeing her leaning over
the body, chasing her between the warehouses and cornering her. He
didn’t tell them about the stalking; his attempt to terrorize
her.
    “She thought I was a vampire.” He watched
their eyes widen. “I was angry, okay? I thought she was the killer.
She said it was one of us, a vampire I mean, who killed the girl.
She interrupted the kill, that’s probably why there was so much
blood.” He explained how he covered her when the demon came over
the wall.
    “Here’s the weird thing. I think she was more
shook up about me than she was the demon, like she knew about them.
And it gets weirder. While I fought, I kept catching glimpses of
her from the corner of my eye. She was watching every move, but not
like an innocent. She wasn’t terrified. She was watching like
someone waiting for an opening, waiting to take a shot and then I
think she took it. My back was turned to her and suddenly, that
demon lit up like a friggin’ Christmas tree. Dov and Col showed up,
I took its heart and Joy was gone.”
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 7

    JJ thought about making a list of the things
she’d done, so she wouldn’t do them again and another list of
things she needed to do, if she could only remember what those
things were. It didn’t really matter anyway because she couldn’t
hold a pen. Hell, she couldn’t hold a fucking sandwich. She was
afraid to heat up any more soup after she burned the bottom out of
a pot. She’d fallen asleep while the stuff bubbled away on the
stove.
    She resorted to eating anything she could
pour, two handed, from the package, which was okay since she wasn’t
particularly hungry. It was the thirst that was driving her up the
wall.
    The house felt cold, but the thermostat said
75 0 and with all the pills she was taking, she couldn’t
have a fever. She might feel better if she could shower, but that
was out of the question. Even if she could bag her hands, how was
she going to wash? The light from the television gave her a
headache and when she tried to read, the words would blur. Great
time to learn she needed glasses.
    There was nothing to do about any of it
except sleep it off and try again later. She took more pills, two
of each color, and settled back on the sofa. Her neck was stiff,
probably from sleeping with it at an odd angle, but it took too
much effort to climb the stairs to her bed. It would all be better
in the morning.
    The cat paced back and forth in front of the
sofa, mewing and hissing in anger.
    “Sorry kitty, I promise I’ll let you out next
time.”
    *****
    Canaan had been listening to Nardo’s
self-recrimination since they got out of the car and he was tired
of hearing about it.
    “Nardo, I’ll say this one more time. This
wasn’t neglect of duty. You couldn’t have prevented that girl’s
death and you had every reason to chase that woman down. If you
think about it, you were closer to the truth than the rest of us
would have been. You knew right off it wasn’t a demon kill. Now
that’s the last word I’m going to say about it. We’re done with it.
Move on. That’s an order.”
    Canaan turned to follow a small group of
women who’d just emerged from the theater. One of them looked back,
wide eyed and frightened, and hurried the others along. He kept his
hand gestures large, not for emphasis or Nardo’s benefit, but to
put the women at ease. Bad guys wouldn’t draw such attention to
themselves.
    “What I need from you is some kind of roster…
data base? Is that the word I want? I need names, addresses and/or
phone numbers of the members in the area that we know of outside of
the Sanctuary. It’s something that