Cross the Line: A Gabriella Cross Paranormal Romance Book 2 Read Free

disappeared.
    Carrie White reeled around, shrieking and pawing at the sofa. “No! No! Sophia! What have you done?”
    “I’m sorry,” said Gabby pleadingly.
    Carrie turned on her with murderous eyes and suddenly charged the short distance across the living room, leaping from the coffee table as she went. Clawed hands reached for Gabby’s throat as the frantic woman slammed into her. They went tumbling into the kitchen, careening into the dining set and toppling chairs. Before Gabby could get the upper hand, Carrie was on her neck, choking her from behind. She fought to get free, but the woman’s grip was crushing, and the lights were slowly beginning to go out.
    Gabby felt Carrie tense, and suddenly she released her. Gabby came up choking and rubbing her sore throat. She turned to see Juliette holding an African wood carving that had sat on the coffee table since Maggy owned the place.
    “Thanks,” said Gabby in a hoarse voice she hardly recognized.
    Juliette scowled at her and wiped blood from her lip. “We’re clear,” she said into a mouthpiece on her sleeve.
    Two grunts burst through the door and took up the unconscious woman.
    “Don’t hurt her,” said Gabby as they carried her out of the house and into the waiting vehicle. “What’s going to happen to her?” she asked Juliette.
    “She will live comfortably the rest of her days. But she will never practice magic again,” said Juliette. She leveled on Gabby and held her with her gaze. “You’ve got to learn to trust me.”
    “I trust you,” Gabby lied.
    “Well then, when I say do it now, that means do it now. She could have killed us both.”
    “I’m sorry,” said Gabby.
    “You’re doing well. Just trust that if I bring someone or something before you, it is for good reason.”
    “What if she hadn’t been violent toward us?”
    “What if?” Juliette asked. “She still needed to be nullified.”
    “But they molested her when she was a child. They deserved to die.”
    “And what about the innocents who died in the last fire. Did they deserve to burn alive?”
    “No,” said Gabby, deflated. “I just feel bad for her.”
    “I know,” said Juliette. “You’re a good person…for better or worse. You did good today. Expect the money in your bank account in a few days.”
    She left the house, and Gabby watched the two black SUVs drive away.
    She knew she had done the right thing. Still, she could not help but lament over little Sophia.

Chapter 3
     
     
    Later that night, long after Gabby had opened her first bottle of wine and was preparing dinner, a knock came at her door.
    She took a pistol from the small of her back and hurried to the living room window where she could spy the doorstep. Standing upon it was a solidly built man about five feet ten, with a head of short-cropped dark hair and a hard chin.
    Again he knocked.
    Gabby answered the door, giving him a quick once-over. She meant to scan the street, but just then he took off his glasses and she was trapped by his fierce blue eyes. They reminded her of Victor’s.
    “Miss Cross?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’m Detective Frank Riggs. Chicago PD,” he said, flashing a well-worn badge. “May I come in?”
    “What is this about?”
    “Your sister’s case landed on my desk a few days ago. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
    Gabby reminded herself that the rest of the world had no idea that Gabby had already avenged her sister’s death, and she acted accordingly.
    “Please, please come in. I was about to have dinner.”
    That gave him pause. “I can come back,” he said with a raised hand.
    “No, please! Come in,” said Gabby, perhaps a bit too forcefully. “Are you hungry? I was eating alone anyway.”
    “I wouldn’t want to impose,” he said, though he walked through the threshold all the same.
    His scent flirted by her nose and she was hit by a brief impulse to smother her face in the crook of his neck.
    “Oh, it’s no bother. I’ve been pestering the police