The Arrangement 22 (The Ferro Family) by H.M. Ward Read Free Book Online

out.”
    She finally stops laughing and walks toward me in long, slipping strides as the sand moves under her feet. “Why couldn’t we fall into a pit with a hot man? That Pitfall guy was hot, but he was a little too boxy and rectangular if you ask me.” She says it so deadpan that I start giggling again. “Seriously, though. We couldn’t fall into one of them holes that already has smashed up concrete in it and a ladder?”
    “We’re not lucky like that, Mel.” I lean against the sidewall and slide down. I pull my feet in toward my chest and tip my head back. The night sky looks like spilled ink with a dusting of silver glitter to make up the stars.
    Mel paces for a few turns and then sits next to me. “If I die in a hole, I’m gonna be pissed.” She folds her arms across her chest and tips her head back, closing her eyes.
    “Are you going to sleep?”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “What about demon babies and vacation homes?”
    She swats a lazy hand at me. “It’s not summer. Dude ain't here.”

CHAPTER 9
    M el naps next to me while I stare at the sky thinking, wishing I could contain my thoughts, but they bubble up and overflow from my mind like a pot of boiling water. I can’t stop it. Images flash rapidly through my head like a confused movie. The scenes don’t blend and the timeline spirals in an illogical loop. Silent screams, slick skin, a diamond engagement ring, the cold feel of the gun grip in my hand, the hard ground at my parents’ graves, and blood—pouring, pooling, covering my pale skin, tainting me. Fear intensifies and chokes me until I can’t breathe. I jump up and chase the thoughts from my mind when the noise comes closer. It sounds like a giant bee.
    I kneel next to Mel and shake her shoulder. “It’s back.”
    Just as she stands next to me and we look up in unison, a bright light shines down directly overhead, blinding us. The drone loudly buzzes as it drops close to us way too fast. It stops at eye level and hovers in the air in front of us.
    “I wish I had a bat," Mel growls at the machine, "I’d smack it!” She bends over and pulls up two fists of sand, ready to toss it into the four spinning propellers.
    “Wait!” I grab her arms, stopping her and get closer to the drone. It’s not white like the one I saw a few nights ago. This one is flesh-toned with brown streaks and—is that an eye? I get closer, blinking twice at the device before chills race up my spine and my stomach turns sour. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
    Mel leans in, careful not to get close to the spinning blades allowing the drone to hover. She snorts, “That crazy fucktard really has the hots for you. He made an Avery drone.”
    The drone is shrink-wrapped with a picture of me. I blink hard, hoping my face and body will disappear from the side of the machine. It’s the picture I gave Henry of me way back before I knew he was insane. It was meant to stay in his wallet. I shouldn't be plastered to the sides of a drone.
    Straight-faced, I stare at it with contempt. “That bastard. He made me a flying whore!”
    Mel tries not to grin. She eyes the contraption carefully then spits out, “Damn, he’s freaky. I bet he has a thing for Wonder Woman.”
    “I bet he has his own invisible jet. Screw Wonder Woman.”
    “That’s what he said!” She chuckles and slaps her knee. “Damn, I'm funny!”
    The drone tries to take off, and then circles back when we don’t follow. It does the same thing four more times, trying to get us to take off after it. I shake my head and point, but they don’t seem to get it.
    Mel plucks the drone from the air, flips it over, and says slowly directly into the tiny camera on the bottom, “We can’t follow. We’re stuck in a pit.” Then she tosses the thing up in the air, and it falls like a stone, almost hitting the ground before shooting into the treetops again.
    She laughs. “I bet that made his British britches bunch. By the way, you don’t want to see what’s