The Eligible Suspect. Jennifer Morey

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       Chapter 1

      Each step closer to the Laughing Grass Pizzeria hammered a dark sense of foreboding in deeper. Korbin Maguire took the stairs down to the basement of the old redbrick building, certain his life was about to take a big turn. A man who took charge of his own destiny, he’d steer it in a direction he chose, but there was something else at play, and it would begin to reveal itself here, today, at this restaurant.

      Under a high, ornately carved white ceiling, people filled worn wood tables, and conversation echoed in the cavernous room. It smelled like pizza, not marijuana. The latter was reserved for a fee in a private room, since it wasn’t legal to smoke in public. Korbin didn’t smoke the stuff but most of the people he knew did, and this was their favorite hangout.

      Spotting Collette Hamilton, he headed over to her. A bleach-blonde with heavy makeup and surgically enhanced breasts, she was borderline trashy but a nice girl nonetheless. It wasn’t her fault she had parents who weren’t around for her and didn’t teach her how to survive anywhere but on the street. She was a woman on the brink of spending her life in and out of the judicial system. And, he’d realized recently, so was he if he didn’t make some drastic changes.

      Collette didn’t even smile when he sat across from her. She’d sounded frantic on the phone when she’d asked him to meet her here, which was why he’d come. He had an idea what this was about.

      “Where’s Damen?” he asked.

      “Not here.” She sounded glad.

      Was Damen the reason she’d asked to meet? He wouldn’t be surprised. Damen’s behavior as of late had raised his brow more than once. But why call him?

      She’d never shown any indication of interest in him, and he wasn’t interested in any other man’s woman. They’d developed a friendship over the last year. She’d helped him through a rough spot and she talked to him about Damen sometimes. On the hardened side for a woman, a little easy and not very smart, she wasn’t his type. But she had a good heart and he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, least of all Damen.

      “You two having trouble?” he asked.

      “He told me that you turned him down on the offer to work a new job,” she said.

      She hadn’t answered his question, but that must have something to do with why she was here. Korbin was always careful about how, when and if he broke the law. He also had a tough reputation to back up his freedom of choice. No one forced him to do anything. No one messed with him. If he took a job, he took it on his own terms.

      A waitress came to the table and Korbin declined to order anything. Collette had ordered a soda.

      “Damen told you I turned him down?”

      She nodded, almost in awe. “He wasn’t happy about that at all.”

      “No, he wasn’t.” He’d yelled and threatened. Korbin had warned him about the threats. He’d only partially listened, which had been the first wake-up call. That meeting had alerted him to what might lie ahead. Trouble. And it was beginning now. With Collette.

      “Korbin, you should watch your back.”

      “I’m not afraid of Damen.” There was nothing he could do to hurt him. He had no evidence to prove his past cyber crimes. Korbin was always meticulous about covering his tracks.

      Collette smiled. “No, you aren’t, are you? But he’s been unpredictable lately. The fact that you turned him down made him furious. I couldn’t even talk to him about it. He started throwing things.”

      Damen’s unpredictability was what bothered Korbin, but he was becoming violent? That caused him more concern. Not for himself, but for Collette. “I’m done with that type of work and nothing Damen does will change that. I’m going to find something else to do. Maybe get a real job. Maybe go see my parents.” He’d been a handful to them and they no longer spoke to him. By his sixteenth birthday, he’d hacked into all of their friends’ computers. By the time he graduated from high school, he’d added teachers and employers to the list. In adulthood, his expertise had attracted Damen Ricchetti’s attention. No more. Damen was out of his life now. He couldn’t be a part of his new direction, wherever that led.

      “That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Collette said. She pulled back her hair, tucking the strands that had hung over the side of her face. Korbin saw the fresh cut high on her cheek. Then she let her hair fall back down over her face.

      Anger boiled to life inside him. “Did he do that to you?”

      She nodded, her eyes pooling with tears. “It isn’t the first time. I’ve had black eyes that forced me to stay home until I healed.”

      Korbin started to stand. “Where is he?”

      “Wait.” Collette grabbed his wrist to stop him. “I just want to get away from him. And I asked you to meet me here today to see if you’d help me.”

      He sat back down. She needed help to get away from Damen? “Why can’t you tell him to get lost?” Was she that afraid of him?

      “Because he won’t stay lost. He’s threatened me many times that if I break up with him he’ll kill me. He wants me to move in with him, and I can’t do that. I need to get away from here.”

      Korbin hadn’t thought in great detail about what he was going to do or where he’d go, if anywhere. He figured he’d start with a trip to see his parents. If they’d see him.

      Damen’s saying he’d kill his girlfriend if she broke up with him changed the game. That made him far more dangerous than he’d anticipated and confirmed some suspicions he’d had. But first he’d step in and teach Damen a lesson.

      “Of course I’ll help you.” He didn’t have it in him not to. He would never leave her, or anyone, helpless against violence. Damen had abused her. He was going to pay for that.

      He should have become a cop.

      Collette reached over and put her hand over his. “I know why you’re getting out, Korbin.”

      Everyone associated with Damen knew that. But it was too raw to talk about.

      “It’s a good decision,” she said in his silence.

      Smothering the tide of unwelcome emotion, he asked, “What do you need me to do?”

      She half smiled, a pity smile, empathizing but not saying any more on the matter. Slipping her hand from his, she said, “Help me find a place to go. Somewhere Damen won’t find me.”

      That wouldn’t be a problem. “All right. I’ll need today to prepare.”

      “Okay. Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I’d do it myself but I don’t have the resources you do. Damen would probably catch me before I left town.”

      He didn’t like the sound of that. “Do you need money? A place to stay?”

      “No, I should be okay. I’ll just be happy to have a life free of Damen.”

      He’d give her enough СКАЧАТЬ