Read Six Masters Island - The Cinderella Syndrome for Free Online Page B

daughter, who was trying to interrupt her mother’s try with the impotent insurance representative that came in at least once a week.   Reggie was a loser, but he always paid for their drinks and gave them a good tip for an evening of company.   On a Wednesday night, he usually got lucky with the slim competition.   Peggy noticed the man across from her glance at the young girl.   “The kid’s only twenty, so Patsy’s going to have to get her out of here.”
    Sloan controlled a wince.   He did not mean to get caught looking at the girl.   “I was thinking she didn’t look old enough to be in here,” he said disapprovingly.
    Peggy was relieved that she was not going to have to fight for his attention.   “Nope.”   She watched the bartender make her way towards the girl, and she smiled.
    “Hi, Jenna.”
    “I’m not staying, Ronnie,” Jenna assured her.   “I just wanted to ask mom for a ride.”
    Patsy grabbed five dollars of the insurance man’s money from the bar.   “Wait across the street and get yourself a burger.   I’ll be over in a while.”
    Jenna said, almost too softly for Sloan to hear, “Don’t be too long, mom.   Okay?”
    “I’ll be as long as I damn sure want to be,” her mother snapped.   She was losing her rhythm in coercing her target.
    Jenna walked out of the bar, and Sloan saw her enter the small diner across the street.   He waited a few minutes and asked Peggy, “Do you want to go someplace for a private drink?”
    “Sure,” Peggy smiled.
    “I’ve had a few,” Sloan slurred.   “Is there a place we can walk to?”
    “My apartment is just up the block,” Peggy offered.   This was perfect.   She hated to be driven off to some hotel near the highway, only to waste money for a cab home in the morning.
    “That sounds good.”   Sloan stood and held down his hand for her, making sure he wavered just the slightest amount.   He also made sure that the bartender noticed them leaving together.
    The couple walked out arm and arm, with Patsy looking up once in annoyance.   Peggy was leaving with the handsome guy who had blown her off earlier.   Shit.   He said he wanted to drink alone.   She considered Peggy competition, and she had been feeling smug and cocky about scooping Reggie.   She shrugged and continued flirting, forgetting all about Peggy… and Jenna waiting across the street.
    Sloan left his black truck hidden in the shadows of the lot beside the bar.   He glanced across the street to see the girl ordering from a menu, and continued up the sidewalk with the drunken woman hanging onto him.   When they got to her apartment, she fixed them each a drink.   His glass remained on the table while she finished half of hers in a gulp.   She fell against his chest while they sat on the couch, and her hand rubbed his crotch in a crude act of foreplay.   Sloan carefully reached into the pocket of his jacket and flipped the cap off one needle.   He circled her in an embrace, and slid the injection into the back of her shoulder.
    “Ouch.”   Peggy jerked back.
    Sloan looked surprised while he slid the needle back into his pocket and recapped it.   “What happened?”
    “Felt like a bee stung me.”   Peggy searched the room, and her eyes began to droop.   Sloan left her lying on the sofa sleeping, and he wrapped his hand around a dishtowel before emptying half his drink down the sink and replacing the glass on the table.   He carried Peggy into her bedroom and stripped her, noting the sad, sagging body once it was released from the confines of her tight clothing.   He punched the pillow beside her and messed up the blankets.   Tomorrow she would wake up with a headache, and only a vague remembrance of the man who apparently had spent the night and left in the morning.
    Sloan left the apartment, walked back to his truck, and stood in the shadows watching the diner.   Eventually, the young woman would get tired of waiting for her mother.   It took