Read The Adventures of Lazarus Gray for Free Online

about you let me do
that and you look around the back?"
    Samantha gave a pixyish
grin. "Don’t you think they’ll be more relaxed if they see me
standing here than you? Or are you just worried that little old me
is going to get hurt?"
    Morgan frowned. "Quit
kidding around, would you? Pemberley’s a nasty one. If he’s hanging
around this place, we both have to be on our toes."
    "Fine, Morgan. You don’t
have to be surly about it." Pouting, Samantha began moving around
the side of the house, not sparing another glance at her companion.
Morgan felt like calling after her but he held his tongue. She was
right about him not wanting her to get hurt but he didn’t want to
admit it. Besides, he reasoned, Pemberley might remember him. If he
did, then Morgan might be able to come up with some explanation for
what he was doing there. What would Samantha say? That she was
going door-to-door selling cookies?
    Morgan was about to knock
on the door when he heard a loud thud come from inside the house.
It sounded like something very heavy had been tossed from one floor
to the next. He tried the door but found it locked and some sixth
sense told him that now would not be a good time to alert anyone to
his presence. Whatever had happened in there couldn’t have been a
good thing.
    Taking a step back, Morgan
noticed a vine-covered trellis that led to an open second floor
window. Quickly glancing around, Morgan made a quick decision. He
tested the trellis to see if it could hold his weight and, after
deciding that it could, he threw himself into the act of climbing
up to the exposed window.
     
    ***
     
    Around back, Samantha heard
the noise as well. She froze in place, expecting to hear a scream
or shout but when none came, she slowly slid up against the rear
door. To her pleasure, she found that it opened easily at her touch
and she stepped into the kitchen area. The place was filthy and
completely lacking a woman’s touch. The sink was piled high with
dirty dishes and flies buzzed about, landing repeatedly on a couple
of half-eaten sandwiches left on the counter.
    Samantha was made of stern
stuff but she had to shove a hand over her mouth when she found the
dead body in the foyer. The man was lying face down with a rapidly
spreading pool of blood beneath him. He was quite obviously dead
but she still bent down to check for a pulse. Finding none, she
looked up and saw no signs of anyone else. Had he fallen by
accident? She tilted his head to the side and saw that wasn’t the
case. His throat had been slashed.
    It was then that Coley
entered the room, a large carpet under one arm. He’d meant to roll
up his friend’s body and dump it into the trunk of his car but he
forgot all about that when he came face-to-face with the pretty
girl kneeling on the floor.
    Samantha stood up quickly,
forcing a pleasant smile on her face. "Hello. The back door was
open."
    Coley grimaced. He didn’t
like hurting dames but he knew that Pemberley wouldn’t be pleased
if he let the girl go. "You shouldn’t be here," he said as he
dropped the carpet to the floor and took a heavy step toward her.
"I don’t know who you are but today’s a very unlucky day,
girlie."
    The big man towered over
the pretty young blonde but there was no fear in her eyes as he
approached. He lunged for her with two meaty hands extended but she
calmly grabbed hold of his wrist and twisted, using his momentum to
send him flying head over heels. He landed on his back, the air
momentarily knocked from his lungs.
    Samantha pushed her
advantage, jumping into the air and landing hard on the side of his
head, the heel of her shoe connecting with his skull. He cried out
and swatted a hand toward her, making contact with the back of her
leg. His strength was enough to knock her off-balance and she had
just regained her footing when he scrambled to his feet. The spot
where she’d kicked his head was a bright crimson in color, matching
the fury that was rising in his eyes.
    He snarled