Dead on Arrival

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Book: Read Dead on Arrival for Free Online
Authors: Lori Avocato
Tags: Suspense, Fiction/General
scratch on him according to the paramedic’s run sheet—of one ER Dano.
    If nothing else, I just knew in my gut that Dano was a fantastic, Cracker Jack paramedic.
    I leaned back after checking out several more bills.
    â€œSo, you are bilking the insurance company out of millions, Mr. Sterling. Aren’t you?”
    â€œYes. For a new employee, Ms. Sokol, you are perceptive.”
    I dropped the files and swung around to see Payne Sterling with a knife aimed at me.
    A knife!
    I had this real phobia of knives and always said I’d rather be shot than stabbed.
    However, right now, I was going for neither.

Five
    Payne Sterling eased closer to me with the knife blade mocking me with its sparkle.
    â€œOh, hey, Payne. I mean, Mr. S. Somehow I got lost and was looking for the forms Lilla had given me this morning.” I mumbled and rambled so that suddenly Payne even looked confused. This after he’d heard me accuse him of insurance fraud—and he’d admitted it.
    So I took that opportunity to cut and run (forgive the pun again!). I kicked at his groin, stayed around only seconds to hear him groan, then grabbed the stack of files from the desk, and threw them in his face, buying me only nanoseconds!
    By the time I got to the door, his hand was on mine. I started to scream like a girl—hey, we’re talking life and death here—but he had his hand on my mouth faster than I could take a breath.
    â€œShut up or you’ll end up needing 911 called for you.” Wow. His voice had grown eerily threatening in a few hours.
    Gone was the “exploded Laugh In” guy. Replaced by a threatening maniac, who now had a knife at my throat.
    Payne knew his anatomy. I’d give him that as he pressed the blade into the area of my carotid artery.
    Big time bleeder when cut that ol’ artery was. I was talking pumping out the entire ten pints of blood that the average human being has in their circulatory system in a very short time.
    â€œPayne,” I mumbled. “Please. Let me go, and we can make a deal.”
    He’d slowly managed to ease his hold so I could talk. Or make that money talks. When he let go and started to ask what I meant, I kneed him again, used a few self-defense moves Jagger had taught me, and before I knew it, I was running like hell down the corridor, through the empty reception area and out the door.
    In my haste, I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t sound as if Payne was fast on my heels, and I wasn’t stupid enough to turn to look.
    I pushed at the front door so hard, it swung out with a thud—and I banged smack dab into Jagger and Lilla.
    I screamed.
    Jagger shook his head.
    Lilla pulled back as if she was afraid of me, and I started to chatter on and on.
    Jagger grabbed my shoulders. “Calm down, Pauline. What the hell are you talking about?” He’d grown serious and with the use of my name, yanked me out of my hysteria long enough to tell him what I found out and how Payne tried to kill me.
    Jagger pushed me to the side so hard that I stumbled into Lilla, knocking her to the floor.
    â€œ Chérie !” she shouted.
    â€œSorry!” I yelled as I pulled us both up, and we ran after Jagger—although my first instinct was to run in the other direction.
    But I couldn’t let him face a knife-wielding Payne all by himself.
    I know Jagger would smirk at that, but, still, I meant well.
    Although he was ahead of us, we made good time and got to the office door just as Jagger stood there.
    Stood there?
    I figured Payne had hightailed it out the back door—until I got side-by-side with Jagger.
    Lilla screamed and slithered very sexy-like down to the floor with one hand running along the wall, I’m sure in a faint.
    I grabbed Jagger’s arm and my first words were, “Damn, there goes our suspect.”
    The two of us stood staring down at Payne Sterling with the aforementioned knife sticking out of his chest. Heart

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