Valentino Pier (Rapid Reads) by Reed Farrel Coleman Read Free Book Online

the metal. Other than that, I can’t tell you anything.”
    Gulliver walked the length of the back of the warehouse. There was nothing else to see. He was disappointed. He had hoped there was an answer here. But there was no answer. Only that terrible smell.
    “Come on, Ahmed. Let’s get out of here.”
    They closed the gate behind them. Gulliver replaced the lock. He taped the shackle together where the bolt cutters had snapped it. He set the lock in place so the tape hardly showed.
    Gulliver handed Ahmed some cash when they got back in the suv.
    “Thank you, Ahmed.”
    “Anytime, little man. You want me to drop you back at your place?”
    “No,” he said, then gave Ahmed the address for Dr. Prentice’s clinic.
    Mia’s face lit up when Gulliver stepped through the glass door to the waiting room. The room was crowded with pets and their owners. There was a regal Siamese cat in a harness on a woman’s lap. The cat kept sneezing.
    “Oh, poor poor Julius,” the woman said, wiping the cat’s nose with a folded tissue.
    Julius Sneezer, Gulliver thought. He laughed to himself.
    There was a goofy boxer puppy flopping around on the floor. There was a man holding a plastic case with tiny air holes. Gulliver couldn’t tell what was in the case. To his left was a woman full of piercings and tattoos, holding a cage on her lap. In the cage was a large white macaw. The macaw kept crowning the feathers on its head as it looked around the room.
    “What’s that guy got in his lap?” Gulliver whispered to Mia as he came to the counter.
    “An albino python,” she whispered back.
    “It’s like Noah’s ark in here today.”
    “Dr. Prentice is an exotic-animal specialist. We get all kinds of animals in here. Monkeys. Even bats.”
    “I’m sorry I missed calling you, but—”
    “It’s okay,” she[fedkas said. “I shouldn’t have been so rough on you last night. I hardly know you and I—”
    “Forget it. I came here to tell you that what you said was a good thing. I’ve been thinking a lot about it. Maybe it was me who shouldn’t have said what I said. Would you like to try for a do-over?”
    Mia smiled. It was a very pretty smile. “Sure. How about tonight?”
    “Same time?” he asked.
    “Perfect. You know, Gulliver, I felt bad about something else,” she said.
    “What?”
    “I never asked about Ugly’s owner. The kid who got attacked. How is he doing?”
    It made Gulliver happy that Mia cared. Maybe there was something they could build together. But he fought hard not to hope. The only thing hope ever did to him was hurt him.
    “Oh, the kid’s doing much better. I saw him today with the detectives handling his case.”
    “Does he remember anything about what happened?” she asked.
    But before Gulliver could answer, Dr. Prentice interrupted.
    “Hello, Mr. Dowd.”
    “Doctor,” Gulliver said. He didn’t know how much the vet had heard. He didn’t want Mia to get in any trouble over his being there for a visit. “I was just telling Mia about the boy whose dog I brought in the other day.”
    “Yes, I heard. How is he?” the vet asked.
    “Much better. His memories are a little confused. But not totally gone.” Then Gulliver remembered the insects Prentice had found on Ugly. “What did the Department of Agriculture have to say about those beetles?”
    Mia frowned when Gulliver asked that question. Uh-oh, he thought. He better get out of there before Mia did get in trouble.
    “Oh, those,” Dr. Prentice said, clearing his throat. “N" aid="F891E">

CHAPTER FIFTEEN +;
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    G ulliver spent the rest of the afternoon working on a different case. In the wake of Keisha’s murder, he had set up a tip hotline. He had used some of his savings and some of Keisha’s life-insurance money to set up a reward. At first, there were many phone tips. But as the years went on, there were fewer and fewer. Now hardly any came in. A few a year. Mostly from crazies. People who confessed to