Read Savage Echoes (The Nickie Savage Series, Short Story Prequel) for Free Online

gun and grabbed her shoulders. "Stop. Nickie, listen."
    She growled, her chest rising and falling.
    "Shh." He cupped the sides of her face. "Are you hurt? Are you bleeding?"
    She shook her head as her lids dropped. "I'm okay," she breathed. "Okay."
    She didn't ask why he'd held out the boots and gravel or why Bradley reacted to them the way he did. She trusted him. In more ways than this.
    The house. The layout of the house.
    At his feet, Bradley lay unconscious, a large bump rising in the center of his forehead. He held Nickie at arm's length and looked from one side of the room to the other. "Something's off, Nickie. This isn't right."
    Nickie pulled out her cell. "Damn right. What if we don't find her? He's out cold. I need to call this in and get B&Ws out to your other two locations. Give me the locales, Duncan."
    He took her arm in one hand and looked around. "No, wait. This house." He pulled her along as they crept around the stairs, passed the side room and the pantry, and moved into the kitchen. "Do you see?"
    "See what?" She was hanging onto him now.
    "This space. The middle of the layout. There are walls but nothing's there." He pulled on the cheap trim and used the edge of his fist to pound on walls. Walking around the invisible space, he ran his fingers along the floorboards and near the ceiling. Finally, he knocked and listened, placing his ear to the wall as he held up a finger toward Nickie.
    Pounding. Faint pounding came from within. "I hear her." He moved aside and gestured with his hand. "Listen."
    She followed his lead and placed her ear to the wall. Her face jerked toward him, her eyes glared through the color of steel, laced with glassy red. Cupping her hands around a spot on the wall, she started yelling as Duncan followed the space back around to the front room.
    Under the stairs, he found hinges. Tucking his fingers around the panel, he tugged but couldn't loosen it. He turned to his side, stepped behind and kicked. Concealed in the fiberboard was the inside latch. The half-door was a foot thick, padded with layers of material.
    "Sound proofing," he heard Nickie say behind him.
    A small space was followed by yet another door. By this time, they could hear the cries of defeated pleas.
    * * *
    Nickie did a double take when she noticed Duncan still waiting by his car. It was nearly two a.m. Everything was coated with a slick layer of wet frost. The night was clear and the wind calm. She was neither. She'd told Duncan he could head home hours ago. He'd been debriefed and would be again, but the rest could wait. The rush of finding Serena Flats, taking down Tom Bradley and all that came after kept her preoccupied. She should have known he would wait for her. It wasn't the first time.
    Dave was there, of course, and a half-dozen reporters. He completed a statement for them before heading toward her. "Get some sleep, Nick. We'll finish up at the station in the morning."
    With all that ensued after finding Serena, Nickie was on a high that wasn't coming down anytime soon. She looked over to Duncan again. He leaned against his classic car with ankles crossed. His gun would be hidden in his glove box by now. They were damned lucky he hadn't fired it. His gaze was unreadable to most people, but she wasn't most people. She wasn't his type, is what she wasn't. Everyone said so. But here he was. Waiting for her.
    Turning to Dave, she answered, "You're right. I'll be in at o-eight hundred."
    His plate-sized hand took hers. "I'm not asking how you knew. I'm only going to say nice job." His other hand rested on her shoulder. It felt fatherly, and she appreciated it.
    She hoped her responding look to Dave was one of thanks before she headed to Duncan. Only his eyes moved as he followed her walk toward him. The chocolate brown appeared coal black in the dark. She was in love with Duncan Reed, artist for the famous and the wealthy, tycoon for himself and any pet projects he hooked into.
    A smile found her lips. "I told you