Obsessed (The Lizzy Gardner Series) by T.R. Ragan Read Free Book Online Page A

she knew Jessica didn’t have two cents, let alone two thousand dollars to pay her. But how could Jessica possibly know that she would visit the Franklin gang for the sheer sport of it?
    “The house will be the third one on the right after we make a left onto Castro,” Kitally said. “We’ve been on Franklin turf for five or six blocks now.”
    There wasn’t a fence, house, or mailbox that hadn’t been covered with graffiti marking the gang’s territory.
    They made a right.
    The street was reasonably quiet. A few houses were dark. Some had chain-link fences around their yards. Kitally pointed to a two-story home with a porch and a bench. Two young kids were sitting out front. One was smoking a cigarette. The other was playing around on his phone. Neither looked like he was much older than twelve.
    The kid with the smoke elbowed his friend as they came up the walk. Without a word between them, the other kid made his way to the front door. Hayley and Kitally stopped just shy of the porch and watched the kid knock once, wait, and then knock three more times.
    Hayley heard the rattle of a lock and chain, and then the door opened. Two giants came outside. One of them whistled like a bird. The kid with the phone went back to the bench and sat down.
    The bodyguards or whatever they were wore humongous football jerseys with the numbers twenty-three and eleven.
    Another minute passed before a scrawny guy in an unbuttoned plaid shirt appeared. His pale, skinny chest didn’t do his badass tattoos justice. His gaze fell on Kitally. “Hey, Kit. Thought I told you never to come around here again.”
    Kitally chewed her gum; she didn’t look too worried, although her shoulders tensed. “Hey, Wolf. My friend here wants to ask you a question.”
    Wolf didn’t look happy about that. A moment passed before he gestured for his two gargantuan subordinates to usher them inside.
    “This could get ugly,” Kitally warned Hayley as the two guys came forward and led them into the house.
    The door clicked shut behind them.
    No sooner had the deadbolt slid into place than Hayley recognized the sound of a round being loaded into a firearm behind her. She didn’t turn. In another moment, the gun’s barrel pressed against her temple. The place hadn’t been hopping to begin with, but it was deadly quiet now.
    Hayley shrugged. “Go ahead and blow my brains out, moron. I fucking dare you.”
    Kitally stopped chewing her gum, her eyes wide, her face pale, which was saying a lot considering she looked as if she’d never spent two minutes of her life in the sun.
    Wolf doubled over in laughter on the couch where he’d taken a seat.
    The rest of his minions, or whatever the hell they were called, looked around, gauging the moment, not sure how to respond.
    “So, you have a question, sweetheart?” Wolf turned both palms up. “Go for it. Ask away.”
    “Tell your gun-happy underling to lower his weapon first.”
    A nod from Wolf did the trick.
    “A twelve-year-old girl was shot and killed,” Hayley began. “A kid just doing her homework. One of your guys was the shooter. I need a name.”
    Wolf wasn’t smiling now. He gave his guys the eye, and it wasn’t a good eye—it was bad, definitely bad. Two of Wolf’s fingers on his left hand began to twitch.
    “When a guy walks into this house and starts asking questions,” he told Hayley, “he’s gotta jump in with a good beating. What do you think about that?”
    “Sounds like a dumb-ass ritual. I came here for a name.”
    He grinned, revealing distinctive gold grills. “Because I believe in equal opportunity around here, you’re going to have the opportunity to jump in, too. But it’s gonna be a little different for you. The fellas will show you how things work around here.”
    Wolf took a good look around the room, as if seeing most of the people hanging around for the first time. “Who ya gonna pick to take you in the back room first? Chuckles, the bald Korean standing in the