Raven's Peak by Lincoln Cole Read Free Book Online

sweeter. Maybe it wasn’t enough for a career, but this could, at the very least, be a really fun hobby.
    His phone started ringing. He glanced down and saw that it was George calling him. He answered it.
    “Hello.”
    “We need to meet,” George said. His voice sounded thick, muddled. “I need those pictures.”
    “All right,” Haatim said. “I’m almost done writing my blog post—”
    “Just publish your stupid blog,” George interrupted. “Finish it now.”
    “I don’t have any good pictures of her,” Haatim argued. “They are from too far away, and something is usually covering her face.”
    “Doesn’t matter. We need this to be over with now before she decides to kill me.”
    Haatim smirked. George was completely paranoid about that possibility, but he had seen no evidence at all that the woman planned to kill the big guy. Of course, Haatim knew telling George that would just set him off, so he decided to just play along. Might as well let him keep his crazy delusions.
    “I don’t have any pictures of her doing anything illegal,” Haatim replied. “Right now, it is just photos of a girl, and I look like a stalker. If I bring these to the police they’ll ask why I’ve been taking so many pictures of her.”
    “I don’t care,” George replied.
    Haatim hesitated. The more he’d learned about George, the less he liked him. George was arrogant and annoying and came across as a complete jerk and bully. Haatim was also fairly sure George was involved in a lot of illegal activity.
    Which meant that maybe Abigail was following him for the same reason he was following her. Maybe she was gathering evidence on George for some unknown employer.
    Or, worse, maybe she worked for the police and was keeping an eye on him. It was impossible to tell, but the further things went, the surer he was that trusting George completely was a bad idea.
    “Do you have a lot of enemies,” he asked. “She is following you, but that’s all. Maybe she is trying to get evidence on you.”
    “She’s planning to kill me.”
    “No, she isn’t,” Haatim said bluntly.
    “What do you know about it?” George asked, defensive now.
    “I’ve been following her for two days, and she hasn’t done anything suspicious.”
    “And, so what? You’re an expert now?”
    “I didn’t say—”
    “Publish your damn blog post and give me the photos.”
    Haatim pursed his lips. “No.”
    “No?”
    “Not until we have more evidence,” he said. “I’m not posting negative things about her until I know more.”
    George was silent for a long minute. “Give me the photos,” he said calmly.
    “What?”
    “Give me all of the photos. Tonight. Or I’m going to come get them myself.”
    Haatim felt a chill run down his spine. The way George said it was eerie. He’d never given George his address, but he had no doubts that the man could figure out where he lived.
    Luckily, his apartment was in an upscale part of town and had security. No one would be dumb enough to come out here and make threats like that. His apartment was secure.
    Still…Haatim didn’t like the idea of pissing this guy off. He didn’t want to keep looking over his shoulder when he went outside, and George didn’t seem like the kind of guy to forgive easily.
    “All right,” he said. “Where do you want them?”
    “Tomorrow morning. Meet me at the library—eight sharp.”
    “OK,” Haatim said.
    George hung up, and Haatim dropped the phone on his desk. He was annoyed and frustrated by the entire situation, but he thought he’d made the right decision. George could deal with his problems on his own, and now it was time for Haatim to extricate himself.
    Plus, he’d gotten what he wanted out of the situation. It had been difficult and rewarding tailing Abigail around the city, and it helped clear his mind and bring him back into reality. He’d been sad for so long, but now he could feel that spark again where he wanted to achieve something.
    And he did