Lone Rider by Lauren Bach Read Free Book Online

blow. It wa s the act of a coward. Michaels never saw it coming.
    Snake stepped back , letting Michaels fall to the ground, his body convulsing, his life’s blood discoloring the floor. It seemed to take forever, but finally he stopped moving.
                  Tess watched, unable to move, unable to think, paralyzed by an appalling, drug-fogged torment. With awful certainty she knew Michaels was dead and for the first time in her life, the prayers she’d learned by rote in Catholic grade school failed to come.
                  “You asshole! You could have done that outside!”  Bogen shouted. “Take him up to Scab Point and dump him in the lake. Make sure you use plenty of concrete this time. And don’t let anyone here see you. Then get back and find Haynes. We’ve got business to take care of.”
    Snake leaned over the body and withdrew his knife, drawing the blade across the knee of his own jeans before returning it to the sheath on his belt.
                  “What about our deal? I fixed the problem. Do I get the girl?”
                  “Hell no , ” Bogen shouted.
                  Snake started swearing.
                  “You don’t get it, do you?”  Bogen interrupted. “All you’ve done is cr eate a new problem. If Michaels was the rat, I doubt he’s working alone. Once he shows up missing, the heat could get unbearable.”
    “I can handle it.”
    “I’m starting to doubt that. You’re getting careless. Don’t let it be your downfall. Now get out. And find Haynes.”
                  When Snake grabbed for Michaels’ body, Tess closed her eyes, trying to inhale fresh air, fighting the urge to be ill. A man had been murdered right before her eyes , and his body was going to be tossed into a lake.
                  An icy sweat broke out across her forehead. Did that same fate await her? Would she be beaten and stabbed , too, or would they merely weight her down with concrete blocks and heave her into a lake? Since a childhood boating accident Tess had an unnatural fear of water. The thought of being trapped below the surface, dead or alive, was unthinkable.
                  Woozy, she moved as far away from the door as possible and lowered her head to the floor. She no longer resisted the effects of the drug, letting her body shut down. The anesthetic blackness of unconsciousness beckoned , and this time she did nothing to fight it.
                  Then there were hands on her shoulders, shaking her. She blinked as light poured in the pantry and illuminated Bogen’s menacing hulk. He slapped her hard, twice. “Wake up, bitch!”
    Instinctively she drew back , filled with a new fear and loathing.
                  Bogen shoved her against the wall. Then he leaned back against the doorframe. “Can you hear me?”
    She tried to nod, her whole body shaking.
    “Against my better judgment, I’m giving you to Haynes. Just don’t think you’re on Easy Street. Haynes will tell you when to eat, drink, sleep, piss. And you’ll do everything, and everybody , he says, whether you like it or not. You’re his property to do with as he pleases. Unless you cause trouble.”
                  Bogen kicked her foot, assuring he held her attention. “I can take you back if I decide you’re a problem , and , believe me, you wouldn’t like that. Do I make myself clear?”
                  Tess nodded, praying her relief wasn’t too obvious. More than anything she wanted to see Dallas again. To leave this hellhole and try to forget the awful act she’d witnessed.
                  “Don’t ever cross me, lady! You’ll get burned. I know thousands of ways to make you hurt, make you wish you were dead.”  As if to drive home his point, Bogen bent over and leaned in close, removing his sunglasses to reveal a horrifying scar that extended above and