Prowlers: Wild Things by Christopher Golden Read Free Book Online

conversing with Wildside.
    I can't believe I missed all this Route 87 stuff , he typed.
    Neither can I. You're supposed to be the expert. : )
    Nobody's an expert on this stuff.
    Courtney swallowed and found that her throat was dry. She really knew nothing about this man — if he even was a man — but he was too valuable a resource not to pursue it further.
    I could use some help , she typed. Some friends of mine are going to look into it. Now that we've pinpointed this as a hot zone or whatever, could you see what else you can find out? It may be that there are suspects out there, or prime locations to start looking, that I haven't been able to figure out yet.
    There was a pause before Wildside replied.
    Wait. You mean your friends are GOING there?
    Courtney took a breath. Then typed: Yes. They've done this sort of thing before.
    Then I won't try telling you how crazy that is. Look, I can do whatever you need. I'll get on it now. If it comes to it, I can access satellite images of every square block of the lower forty-eight. All right, kinda exaggerating, but if I can help, you just have to ask.
    A smile stole across Courtney's features and she sat up a little straighter. You're something else.
    No, trust me, I'm not. I'm all human.
    LOL. That's NOT what I meant, Wildside.
    Promise me one thing? he wrote. When they came back, you'll tell me about it?
    Courtney stiffened, concerned for all their privacy, for their lives. Then she relaxed. It was a reasonable request, and she could easily do that without giving too much away.
    I will.
    And think about visiting me in Alaska?
    "Men," Courtney muttered to herself. Then she typed: I told you I'm involved with someone.
    Bring him , Wildside replied.
    She smiled at that. Somehow I don't think you two would get along.
    They said their goodbyes and she shut down the computer. There were four cell phones on the desk and Courtney snatched one up and clipped it to her belt. All four were programmed with the other three numbers, and only those numbers. She grabbed her cane and headed out of her room, then down the stairs into the restaurant. It weighed only a few ounces, but she knew that it would only ever ring if someone was in trouble, in danger. That was a burden that had nothing to do with physical weight.
     
     
    Bill had been on auto-pilot ever since Wednesday night. Though he would not allow himself to believe that Olivia was dead, he was certain that his niece was in trouble. The beast in his heart wanted to lash out, to rip and tear, to draw blood and force answers along with pleas for life. In the garage beneath his apartment building he had an old Harley that practically screamed out to him. He could get on it, ride down to New York, hit the underground and just start beating down doors and cracking heads until someone put him onto Jasmine or Olivia.
    But he could not do that. He would alienate the underground, possibly get himself arrested, even get Olivia killed. Winter had prevailed upon his common sense. There was a better way to go about it, quieter, more diplomatic, and Winter had offered his help. Despite the primal urges within him to lash out, Bill had agreed. Yet with each hour that passed without word from Winter, the tension grew within him, the predatory urges almost too powerful to combat.
    A day and a half had passed with no word and Bill spent that time dishing out beer and cocktails to customers he barely saw. He barked responses to other staff members. Only with Courtney was he calm. Her presence did not soothe the ferocity of his emotion and instincts, but seeing her brought him focus.
    The Friday lunch crowd had thickened and with Courtney upstairs, Bill had once more become sullen, almost surly. As he served Samuel Adams to a pair of men talking technology at the bar, a third — a guy in a dark suit with close-cropped hair, a tan in October, and arrogance even in his posture — raised a finger and frowned.
    "Excuse me!" the guy said loudly, as though