RedKnife (Skin Walkers Book 2) by Susan Bliler Read Free Book Online Page B

each other.  Plus, she had no food?  It dawned on him then.  Cindy was poor, but that didn’t make sense.  She worked full-time at StoneCrow, and he knew she was paid well.  He eyed her apartment again.  There’s no way in hell this place takes all her money.   Hell, her rent couldn’t be more than a few hundred dollars for the ratty shithole.  And he’d seen her car, so that wasn’t where her money went either.
    Curious now, he scooted closer to her and inhaled as she lifted a hand to pet him absentmindedly.  It wasn’t there.  No mother’s strings attached her to any offspring, so she wasn’t paying child support.  Funny, that the knowledge she had no children pleased him.
    So where did all her money go?
    After she’d covered for him with the detective at StoneCrow, he’d looked into her file.  He knew she not only worked full-time at StoneCrow, but she also worked part-time as a bartender at one of the city’s pubs.  Eyeing her nervously now, he scented her again, almost afraid to know.  Relief flooded him at the absence of drugs in her system.  She wasn’t an addict, and if the lone beer in her fridge was any indication, she didn’t have a drinking problem either.  So what was left?  Gambling?
    “Stop feeling sorry for yourself!”  Her sudden self-chastisement drew him from his reverie as he watched her hobble to her feet and head for the bathroom.
    “Bring her in.”
    Monroe StoneCrow’s command--shot to RedKnife through the mist--brooked no refusal, and RedKnife was more than a little annoyed with the directive.  He’d contacted Mulholland, in his role of chief of security, with the hopes of no longer being involved.  But now, watching Cindy pace her small apartment in clear distress, he felt his own agitation bubble forth at the knowledge that King wouldn’t be coming to relieve him, but to aid him in taking Ms. Sambrano back to StoneCrow for questioning.
    Cindy’s voice carried to him from the bathroom.  “How do I get myself into this shit?
    Her words drew him from his reverie as he watched her retrieve a large carving knife from the kitchen before storming toward her bedroom.
    RedKnife rolled his furry body to watch as she passed, her feet stuttered as she bent to pet his head.  “Aww, Hoax.  You won’t let anything happen to Mama, will you?”
    Hell no, he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.  Well, aside from him taking her in.
    Getting up, he padded after her into the bedroom and watched as she set the large knife on her nightstand before turning to give him a humorless smile.  “Just in case.”
    She went into the bathroom, but he didn’t follow.  He was an asshole, but not a complete bastard.  He’d give her the privacy she deserved.  Short minutes later, after the flush of the toilet and the long blasting of water, Cindy emerged wearing a satiny-white nightgown.  The garment hung to just above her knee and swayed as she drew a brush through her hair.  He swallowed hard.  The sheer gown clung to her frame and drew his attention to the outline of her full breasts and the pert nipples that poked the fabric.
    He felt arousal stir and snapped his eyes toward the door, waiting impatiently.
    Monroe had informed him that King was on his way to extract them.  The thought of King seeing her in her nightgown had him gnashing his back teeth.
    He shook himself hard in an attempt to get his head back in the game.  He was to extract Ms. Sambrano with little fanfare.  He and King were to bring the potential traitor back to StoneCrow.  Part of RedKnife wished he’d kept his mouth shut, but no woman was worth the sacrifice of the Walkers being able to live a peaceful existence at StoneCrow.  Even a woman who drew him as no other had before.
    His eyes tracked Cindy as she disappeared back into the bathroom before reemerging just as quickly sans brush.  He watched her stop at her nightstand, apply balm to her lips, and then squirt lotion into her hands before