Soul Seducer by Alicia Dean Read Free Book Online

a divorce, I celebrate my client not getting screwed over. Better?”
    Audra thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Sure. Works for me. Here’s to success.” She lifted her glass and they toasted.
    “You okay?” Riley studied Audra with narrowed eyes.
    Audra shrugged. “You know how it is. You never really get used to losing a patient, failing to save someone’s life.”
    “No. I don’t know how it is. I can’t imagine having a job where I knew, every day, there was a chance I’d watch someone die.” Her voice lost its former joviality, and Audra knew she was thinking about Steve.
    Riley and Brent had separated a few years back. Riley met Steve and fell in love, but, for the sake of her daughter, she went back to Brent. A little over a year ago, Steve was killed in a boating accident.
    Riley never showed the impact his death had on her, but sometimes Audra would see her stare off, her face clenching, her eyes clouding with grief, and she’d know Riley was thinking about him.
    Audra had always wanted to ask her if she regretted staying with Brent, but that probably would have been a stupid question. Had Riley married Steve, she’d be a divorcee, and now a widow. But then again, maybe if they’d gotten married, Steve wouldn’t have died. Who knows what would have happened if Riley had left Brent for Steve. Funny how one change could set someone’s life on a totally different course.
    “It’s not easy. Thank God it doesn’t happen every day.” She refilled her wine glass, then Riley’s.
    “Anything new with the case? Any lead on your attackers?”
    Audra shook her head. “Nothing. Doubtful there ever will be. I’ve put it behind me.”
    Riley grimaced. “Whoever did this is still out there. Don’t you think you should be more cautious? Stop walking everywhere you go? You have a car, you know.”
    Guilt stabbed her. “I told you I was sorry about walking home with Sadie. It won’t happen again.”
    “It’s not just Sadie I’m worried about. Those guys could come back and hurt you again.”
    “I figure if they were going to come after me, they would have already.”
    “I hope you’re right.” Riley gestured to Audra’s empty glass. “Pass that over here.” Audra complied and Riley split the last of the wine between the two of them, then set the empty bottle on the coffee table. “If it were me, I’d still be a little creeped out.”
    Audra thought of the two apparitions who’d haunted her since the night of the attack. You want creeped out, I’ve got something that can top those amateur thugs.
    She hadn’t told anyone, but if there were anyone she could tell, it was Riley. Suddenly, she felt the need to unburden herself.
    “Listen,” she said. It came out sounding a little like ‘lishen.’ The Chablis was working its magic. “If I tell you something, will you promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”
    “Well, I always think you’re crazy.” Riley’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “But go ahead, try me.”
    Audra set her glass down on the table. She tried to work out the words in her head before she spoke them, knowing no matter how they came out, she’d sound like a lunatic.
    Twisting her hair around her forefinger, she said, “Actually, that’s part of the problem. I think I might be a little crazy.” A frisson of trepidation moved through her. She picked up her glass and took another sip before continuing. “I…uh...Well, since the attack, I’ve been...seeing things.”
    “Things? Like what kind of things?”
    “This is going to sound bizarre, but I’ve seen these two men. Several times. The first time was right after the attack, before the ambulance came.” She described what they looked like, and about seeing them again in the hospital.
    “Seriously? You keep dreaming these same men over and over? That’s a little freaky.” Riley took a drink of her wine.
    “It’s not a dream. I’ve been awake. Or, at least for the most part. Today, I saw one of them when