This Is a Dark Ride Read Free Page B

that wasn’t going to come, so Sam opened the window and let Krieger in.

Chapter Two
    Outside, the wind picked up. It whistled through the street, down the side of the building, sweeping through the alley. Thin plastic film stapled over the bathroom window frame moved in and out as if it was breathing. Cold air poured in around the sides.
    Angel shoved her lipstick tube back into the cheap plastic pouch that contained her makeup, shivering as the draft crossed her bare back. She switched on her little hair dryer. The warm air was a welcome comfort. She let it blow across her shoulders, enjoying the heat. Thank God the electric was still on. For days she’d been expecting things to go dark, but it hadn’t been shut off yet.
    Maybe the building manager was concerned the pipes would freeze, or someone at the electric company had screwed up, but for whatever reason luck was on her side. Not only was the power on, but she’d saved almost six hundred dollars since she’d started staying here. Hopefully by tomorrow she’d have enough for a security deposit and first month’s rent, so she could live in one of the units here on the up-and-up instead of squatting in an empty.
    The thought of actually paying to live here was almost as depressing as sneaking in and out. She’d considered just taking the money and getting a bus ticket. No destination in mind other than someplace warm, somewhere there was no snow.
    Starting over. That sure sounded nice. Angel sighed. It was good to have dreams, but they couldn’t get in the way of reality. Life has to be lived, and you do what you have to. Sometimes dreams only get in the way of what must be done to survive. She licked her chapped lips, tasting the thick, waxy lipstick that coated them.
    A cockroach darted across the floor, pausing for a second near the rust-streaked bathtub. Angel stepped on it with the toe of her cheap black high-heel shoe. Those shoes had seen better days; the plastic on the heels had long ago worn away, and the fake leather was bubbled and peeling.
    It had been so cold lately that she’d started wearing socks with them to help keep her feet warm. She’s bought lace-trimmed ankle socks at the dollar store, and they didn’t look too bad with the shoes. They sold panty hose there, but the largest size they carried would not fit her. When she’d put them on, the crotch was barely above her knees. The socks were more practical anyway. It was hard to get panty hose back on in a car.
    Can’t wait for spring. Better yet, summer . Her feet wouldn’t be cold. She wouldn’t be cold anymore.
    Angel looked down at the insect and wrinkled her nose as its legs gave a final few wiggles. A single dead cockroach. That would hardly make a dent in the population. There were plenty more where that one had come from. She picked it up with a wad of tissue and tossed it into the toilet.
    No one had come to look at the empty apartment, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Angel hid her backpack under the bathroom sink, way in the back of the cupboard. All her money was tucked beneath the red-and-white-checked vinyl liner of the second drawer beside the stove in the kitchenette. Hopefully even if someone came to see the unit, they wouldn’t find that hidden money. It was safe there. Safer than it would be if she was carrying it around. Too many desperate people out there, and she wasn’t naive enough to lull herself into believing she couldn’t be robbed. It happened every day.
    Angel gave one last tired look in the mirror, trying to decide if she liked what she saw. She’d lost weight since she’d left home. Not much. She was still a size 14 all day long, but she noticed subtle differences. Maybe. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking from the little fat girl inside of her who was tired of hearing things like she has such a pretty face or big boned to describe her.
    She wasn’t pretty. Never had been.
    In the kitchenette of the unit she stood at the window, watching the