Thief: X by E.I. Jennings Read Free Book Online Page A

a nice custom piece, with what looked like an ivory handle, “Although I admit it is a nice gun.” I handed it back to him but he was still twitchy.
    “I’m not sure I believe this…” he slumped into a chair, anger and frustration written across his face.
    “Yet there’s a big, furry, green demon standing right in front of you. You’re starting to believe, which means you’ll soon start to see the other things hidden in this world. Just try not to shoot them because they really don’t like that and I wouldn’t want you to get eaten.”
    “Eaten?” Marshall cringed at Adram gnashing his teeth together,
    “Adram that isn’t helping!”
    “Oh come on love, it’s been a while since I’ve played with a non-believer.”
    “Look, you can kill each other later…”
    “Hey!” Marshall and Adram said together, which made me smile,
    “…but we have shit to do and I have no idea where to start. I don’t expect you to accept any of this and things are gonna get harder for you. We both have to find Clockwork, so I suggest that’s what we concentrate on. I’m not a fan of working with an amateur…”
    “I’m sure I can cope…you know, being a Texas Ranger and all.” Did he just crack a joke?
    “It’s a little different than rounding up some cattle with your cowboy skills.” Adram was laughing but I wanted to kill him.
    “Adram, will you shut up before I let him shoot you!”
    “I was just saying. You know supernaturals are a bitch to handle at the best of times and they’ll just love a non-believer.” Adram folded his arms across his chest and huffed.
    “Let’s get to the point then shall we? What do we know about Clockwork?”
    “I don’t like sharing either.” Marshall’s ears were getting rather red,
    “You were willing to share at Kibbles. We have a crossed purpose and if you’d have told me the thing you needed me to find was your daughter I would have probably said yes. Now we have this weird alliance than neither of us feel comfortable with but if we don’t work together we’re stuffed.” He knew I was talking sense but he didn’t like it. I could always drug him and tie him up? Maybe.
    “All I want is my daughter back and that sick bastard dead so he can’t hurt anyone else.” Marshall learned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. His green eyes looked haunted.
    “Tell me what you know and I promise we’ll get him.” I heard Adram sigh so I turned and gave him the stink eye,
    “Will you give me the last shot?”
    “I’ll hold him down myself.” Adram was clucking behind me like a chicken. Marshall nodded and settled back into the chair,
    “I’ve been hunting him for the last six months. Chloe, my daughter, never returned from prom. I’ve called in every favour I had and got nowhere. Friends saw her getting into a black SUV. The same SUV has been seen picking up other girls who have disappeared. Two months ago I cornered a repeat offender who offered a deal if I released him. He was the first to mention Clockwork. The more I started digging, the more Clockwork’s name came up.”
    “How old is your daughter?”
    “Eighteen. All the missing girls have been eighteen.”
    “You don’t look old enough to have an eighteen year old.” Ok, I couldn’t resist it because he really didn’t. He started twisting his wedding ring around on his finger,
    “We were young.” Short and blunt. I probably shouldn’t bring that up again or he might just shoot me. “That’s not the point though. Clockwork has his dirty fingers in so much illegal activity he seems to have blended into the background. A week ago I found out he was leaving the US and bringing cargo with him…”
    “You think the cargo was the girls?”
    “I know it was. I have an acquaintance on this side of the pond who emailed me classified documents stating that carbon dioxide was detected from the crates but the shipment was waved through with no questions asked.”
    “Is this friend reliable?”