Nothing Sacred (FBI Agent Dan Hammer Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

goodbye.
                 
    A lot of really nice people worked here. George smiled back. “You too, Sonny. You’ve got one hell of a memory.”
                 
    George had to be honest with himself. Each time he left “Silk Stockings” he felt a sense of loss, some loneliness. Like a big black cloud pissed on him or something. He didn’t quite understand why he felt that way, he just did. He thought it might have something to do with his life. The way things were right now. The way things had turned out for him. And Edna. For a few minutes inside, George got a chance to escape. Pretend. Be somebody else. Somebody different. Then George wondered, what’s so bad about your life? He could certainly have it a hell of a lot worse.
                 
    He opened the car door and retrieved his oral douche kit from under the seat. He went about the routine of cleaning and spraying and disinfecting his mouth. There. All better. He smiled at himself in the mirror. He put his glasses on, turned over the ignition and, before he knew it he was headed back to Meeting Street. Back to Charleston. Back to Edna.
                 
    As George was driving on Old Towne Road, all those sour thoughts swimming around in his head like pregnant tadpoles, he wasn’t really paying much attention to the fact it was pitch black out. The road in front of him was looking more like a long piece of spent charcoal than a lit up landing strip. A speeding car approached from behind without warning, right up on his ass, nearly blinding him. “Son of a bitch!” George honked his horn several times until the asshole swerved fast around him. George’s heart was racing. His thoughts were jumpy. He readjusted his glasses on his nose. He squinted into the windshield to get a notion of where the road was turning when he saw it.
                 
    On either side of him were large trees. Plantation oaks, Edna called them. He didn’t care what the hell they were called, the mere presence of them was making him nervous. Spanish moss dripped like cobwebs from their branches. It reminded George of witch’s fingers. Being out here, right now, was downright spooky. Gave him the creeps. All those darting shadows were beginning to play tricks with his head. He pulled off to the side of the road. There wasn’t much of a shoulder. The car sat parked on top of high grass and low growing weeds. A choir of crickets and frogs serenaded him out the window. Swamps were out there. He must have taken a wrong turn. “Dammit!” He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He looked in the rearview mirror. Nothing. Just complete and utter blackness. Was it his imagination or was he feeling more drunk than usual tonight? Maybe it was his medications. He would have a talk with his doctor. Maybe he should just turn his ass around and call Edna from that gas station a ways back. Edna kept tabs on their only cell phone. There was a gas station wasn’t there? Yeah, right. What would he say to her? What would he tell her? Edna, honey, listen, I’m running a bit late…
     
    Shit!
     
    Then George caught sight of it again. The first time he tried to ignore it. But he couldn’t this time. A white thing kept darting in and out from behind the tree line. What in Sam hill? He tried to focus, cussing at his night blindness, straining to see more clearly. He wasn’t usually frightened, but this was making the hairs on the back of his neck sing “Dixie.” For a second, George thought it might be one of those alien abductions. Edna and him had watched repeats of that show every once and a while. What was it called? Strange Planet . He glanced at the blue-black sky. Stars and constellations and even more stars and constellations. From grade school, he located the Big Dipper.
                 
    He put his attention back to the woods. Pure black. He must have been seeing things. He wiped the sweat from off his forehead with a