Shawn's Law by Renae Kaye Read Free Book Online Page B

dinner?”
    “Yes.” I was a little concerned about how cozy my date was getting—with another man.
    “Well, hell. You are a lucky bastard, then. If you hadn’t been delayed, you might’ve been inside when it all went down.”
    “What happened?”
    Constable Martin looked a little cagey, but finally said in a confiding manner, “I can’t really make any comments, but I have some words of wisdom for you, okay? This has absolutely nothing to do with what happened inside, right? All I’m going to say is that people look a lot better without bullet holes in them.”
    I think Shawn and I both paled at that thought.
    So we ended up eating food that was some Australian version of Chinese instead of authentic. Shawn insisted he enjoyed it, and I know I immensely enjoyed his company, but I was disappointed my plans had gone awry.
    The tickets for the comedy night I’d purchased were calling, and we pushed to finish our meal in time to make the session. It turned out that we need not have rushed—the night was canceled due to the star getting severe gastro. The signs on the door promised me a refund plus a bonus 10 percent off my next purchase, but that didn’t make me feel any better.
    “Shit,” I cursed as we stood outside the theater with a dozen other patrons, wondering what the hell we should do. Shawn clapped me on the back with sympathy.
    “Don’t sweat it, Harley. It happens to me all the time. It doesn’t matter what we do on our date, does it? I’m having a good time.”
    “But I wanted it to be perfect,” I groused.
    Shawn got this cheeky little smile on his face. “Perfect? Do you want perfect?”
    “Of course.”
    He grabbed my hand and began to tug me down the block. “C’mon, then.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “You’ll see.”
    We strolled through the concrete jungle and crossed the train tracks to Party Central.
    Fine, okay. It isn’t actually called Party Central, it’s actually called Northbridge. A very original name for the suburb north of the railway tracks near Perth City. During the day, Northbridge is a lovely little collection of small businesses and friendly people. After dark, it’s a wonderful place with a variety of brilliant and fantastic little authentic restaurants. I used to love hanging out in Northbridge.
    But once 9:00 p.m. hits, you don’t walk the streets alone there unless you’re young and drunk. Northbridge is where all the trendy nightclubs and bars are located, so people wanting to get smashed for the night flock there for booze, drugs, and a little scuffle. At least one serious incident goes down here every weekend. After 11:00 p.m., police patrol the area on horses to try to keep the drunk lunatics from killing each other. On a single block, you’re bound to encounter drunk people, stoned people, groups of people looking for a fight, homeless people, pimps, drug dealing, underage drinkers, lost tourists, and sadly, groups of children who feel safer in Northbridge than they do at home.
    You can feel the tension rising just crossing those train tracks.
    Immediately testosterone began to surge through my body. I could feel its primal beat as I stood taller and wider, dropped Shawn’s hand, and began to watch for danger.
    “Relax,” Shawn said. “We’ll be fine.”
    He turned us down a road. “Where are we going?”
    He stopped and frowned as he looked around him. “I thought it was just….” He looked up the next street with a delighted cry. “Ah ha. Found it.”
    I walked up to have a look. “TimeZone?” I asked perplexed.
    “Absolutely. I haven’t been here for ages. C’mon.”
    He began dragging me toward the gaming arcade, making our way around teens and preteens who should’ve been heading home. I hadn’t been to TimeZone since I was about sixteen and discovered the plight of endangered animals. “Shawn….”
    “Don’t be a wimp,” he told me, his face and eyes lit up with excitement. “Let’s go and have some fun. You can win me a