Judgment Day (Templar Chronicles Book 5) by Joseph Nassise Read Free Book Online Page A

hung up before the dispatcher could say anything more.
    “What was that all about?” Cade asked, as Riley ended the call.
    “Father Corrigan from St. Martha’s called about a boggart infestation. Echo’s next up on the roster so we get the job.”
    Boggarts were semi-malevolent household fairies that didn’t like to interact with humans and, as a result, usually kept to themselves. But if you did anything to rile them up, their mischievous nature came out, and they went from harmless little sprites to complete nightmares in the flip of a switch. Annoyed boggarts were known to rearrange furniture, curdle milk and other dairy products, make items disappear and even cause minor accidents like slips and falls. Living in a house full of enraged boggarts was like walking through a mine field; you never knew where and when they were going to strike next!
    Riley knew from previous experience that Cade hated boggarts and that he thought using elite strike teams like Echo to deal with them was a waste of time and resources; so it was a safe bet that Cade wouldn’t try to accompany him when he left.
    Turns out he was right.
    “Better you than me,” Cade said with a look of distaste as he rose from the table. ”Let me know if you hear anything new.”
    “Will do.” Riley hesitated, then said, “Take care of yourself, boss.”
    Cade gave a wry grin. ”Don’t I always?” he said over his shoulder as he headed for the door.

CHAPTER SIX

    Outside in the parking lot, Cade looked around, trying to spot the truck that Riley was using. Only senior commanders and those of higher rank were allowed to own their own vehicles, so Riley had to be driving something from the motor pool. That made the search easy for there couldn’t be that many black SUVs with tinted windows and fake government plates in the parking lot of the diner.
    There was only one.
    Cade made a mental note of where the Expedition was parked and then hustled over to his own car, a nondescript four-door sedan. He was parked between two larger vehicles a few rows behind and to the left of Riley’s vehicle. He didn’t think his former teammate would be able to see him if he happened to look that way, but Cade wasn’t taking any chances. He leaned the driver’s seat back until he was almost lower than the edge of the dash, leaving him just enough room to see over it. He put the keys in the ignition, but didn’t start the car.
    Riley came hustling out the diner’s front door moments later and practically ran for his truck. Cade watched him pull out of the parking lot, then started his own vehicle and followed at a discreet distance.
    Sure is in an awful hurry to deal with a bunch of boggarts , Cade thought to himself in amusement. Then again, he could afford to be amused because he’d known Riley was lying the moment he’d mentioned Father Corrigan. Cade had spoken to the man just yesterday and he’d made no mention of having any difficulties of any kind, never mind an infestation of angry little sprites. Riley had been trying to get rid of him, which was a very un-Riley-like thing to do, and Cade wanted to know why.
    Cade followed him through town and then north for twenty minutes along state route 7. When Riley turned off onto Huntington Drive, a smaller two lane road with little traffic, Cade hung back, not wanting to give himself away given the scarcity of other vehicles. He let the distance between them widen to a few hundred feet, and as a result almost missed it when Riley turned off the paved road altogether. If the other man hadn’t hit his brakes just as Cade was driving past the entrance to the narrow forest track Riley had turned onto, Cade never would have known where he’d gone.
    As it was, the sudden flash of red from the truck’s break lights caught Cade’s eye at the last second. He drove past, not wanting to give himself away, continuing on for another hundred yards or so until he found a place to pull over. Leaving his car by the side of