Run With Me by L. A. Shorter Read Free Book Online Page A

driving
aimlessly. Just driving. Eventually I slow and gather my bearings.
I'm outside of the city now, cruising up a quiet road with wide,
open, fields on either side. The sun is beating down and my car is
growing warm. I haven't even had the sense to turn on the air-con.
    I pull to a stop at the side of
the road, with a a dirt track leading through a parting in the fields
to my right. The crops are high here and I can hear the growling of
combine harvesters chugging through the tall grass.
    My phone is in my hand now, and
I'm staring at it. I stare for what seems like hours before dialing
and waiting for the call to connect. It rings several times before I
hear the voice on the other end. It sounds strained.
    “ Hello?” says Michael
Carmine. He doesn't have this number, and I always block my calls.
    “ Mr Carmine,” I say, “I
have some questions.”
    His voice remains gruff. There's
a stress to it. “Colt, is that you?”
    I don't answer his question. He
knows it's me. “Why have you sent someone else out to find this
girl?” I ask, my voice maintaining its calm. “Do you not trust me
to bring her to you?”
    “ Someone else?” he says.
He's doing his best to sound confused, but I can tell a liar from a
mile off.
    “ The girl's aunt and uncle.
They've been killed. I want you to tell me the truth.” My fist is
clutching at the phone tightly as I hold it to my ear. I have to
control myself, however. Michael Carmine is someone you have to watch
your tongue with.
    There's a short silence on the
other end, as if he's considering his next move. “OK Mr Tanner,
here's the truth. This girl is important to me. I always hedge my
bets, so you're not the only one tracking her. You'll still get paid
your fee, whether you bring her to me or someone else does. Does that
satisfy you?” His voice has grown colder now. There's a menace to
it, like he doesn't enjoy his authority being questioned.
    So, she's not been found yet ,
I think to myself. Whether you bring her to me or someone else
does. She must have escaped before the killer caught her. If
she'd have been caught already, he would tell me.
    “ That satisfies me Mr Carmine.
I'll find her.”
    I wait a moment, listening
intently for the inflection of his words. “Good. Make it quick.
It's urgent.”
    Then the phone hangs up, and the
sound of combine harvesters once again fills my ears. But my head
fills with something different. This girl: when she's found, she's
dead. I can't escape that thought, I can't escape the growing
suspicion that through my hand, other innocent people have been
murdered.
    But is she innocent , I
ask myself. How can I possibly know what she's done? How can I know
why Michael Carmine wants her so badly if he won't tell me?
    I hear a response to my question
echoing from the back of my head. It's my own voice, my own
conscience, giving me the reply:
    She knows. So find her Colt.
Find her before anyone else does.

Chapter 6 - Kitty
    Kitty

    The gentle sound of tapping on
glass breaks me from an uneasy sleep. My eyes crack open and bright
light spills into them, pouring through my windscreen. I squint as my
eyes adjust and see a man standing outside my car. He's wearing a
pair of light jeans, a beaten up old shirt, and a large straw hat. He
looks almost like a live scarecrow.
    “ Excuse me darlin',
um...you're kinda in my field,” he says, his voice muffled by the
glass.
    I open my mouth to speak back
and feel my lips crack from dehydration. My throat croaks quietly,
trying to spout a reply; an apology, but he can't hear me. He leans
in closer, gesturing with his hand to his ear to indicate his lack of
understanding.
    It's stifling in the car, and I
quickly realize why my mouth is so dry. The heat, and my tears from
the night before, have dehydrated me. My head hurts too for the same
reason, my brain pulsing inside my skull.
    I reach for the door and pull on
the handle. It cracks open and cool air washes over me from outside.
    “ What time is