Chapter Nine
In her spare bedroom, Carolina cleared away the jumble from her earlier packing and made room for Alicia and her plastic-bagged belongings.
“Can I really stay here with you?”
“Yeah, for now. With an officer on duty in the hallway by your old apartment and another guarding the entrance, it’s a safe place. If the sleaze returns, you’ll be protected. I have my weapon too in case he gets past security. We need to keep you alive so the department can make future arrangements.”
Carolina thought back to earlier when she told the lead detective and his captain that she was on leave.“I understand, Agent Madison, but you don’t seem to get the gravity of our situation.”
Carolina slumped onto the bed; the pounding in her head hitting an all-time high.
Alicia’s fingers snapped and brought Carolina back. The kid’s pale features screwed up, her shrewd expression surprising. “Something else happened. At the police station, after you talked to the Captain. I saw your face. They shared some information with you, didn’t they?”
Carolina grinned. “You’re too smart by a long shot, kiddo.”
“Tell me about it? I get straight A’s in most of my classes except for Math. And there I just play around because I can’t stand the deranged teacher. She picks on some of the kids until she makes them cry. She’s a noob, like Margo.”
“A noob?”
“A nobody, a lowlife.”
“Can’t argue with you there.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I’d hoped you wouldn’t notice.”
“Like I said, I’m smart, when I’m not in my own way. And right now, I know something’s going on. It’s about me, and you’re not sharing. Why did you really bring me here?”
Carolina heard the fear in the teen’s voice. She surveyed Alicia’s features and realized the girl was barely holding on.Poor baby, she’s been through so much. Right now, she needs sympathy… and a friend.
“We calledThe Dumpand Jean Sowdon’s still registered.”
“And…?”
“Blasted hell! You said you wouldn’t stay if she was there. I couldn’t very well, in all good conscience, let you roam the streets and get killed, now could I?”
“There’re other institutions. Other places for kids like me. Why here?”
“Because!” Carolina swiped at the golden-red curls bunched near her ears and blew at the mass on her forehead. “Man, your tough.” She paced the room, her sexy pajama bottoms replaced earlier by a pair of form-fitting jeans that hugged her figure and had pockets where she slid her hands to stop their shaking.Fucking stress!“Look, we know who the killer is now, and he’s not a man to be ignored.”
“You know? How?”
“You told us by your description.”
“No I didn’t. All I said was he was a short-haired, black man with a fancy, silver gun.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what? Oh…”
“Right. The silver gun gave him away. His name is Dylan Ross, known by officials as Silverado. Among other weapons, he most often uses a silver pistol when he’s on the job as the executioner. In the last four years, he’s been wanted by quite a few governments, ours predominantly. The man is freaky smart, a gun for hire and employs himself without prejudice by those willing to pay top dollar.”
“Without prejudice?”
“He wouldn’t care if it’s a man, a woman or a nosy teenager.”
Nodding, Alicia taunted, “If they know so much about him, why haven’t they caught him?”