Page 54 (1/2)

1

Dead bodies were following her around

Mia fought the insane urge to laugh It wasn’t funny, of course Her next-door neighbor was dead Very dead Bullet in the head not gonna come back from this dead Blood pooled under her body; her eyes stared lifelessly ahead Mia stood frozen, staring down at Angel

Move, Mia It’s not safe

Trembles rocked her body Her breath ca to so, but on the inside Mia felt numb Almost detached

That was bad, right? She should feel so, shouldn’t she? Horror? Fear? Sadness?

Run, Mia

Okay, so adel was a pretty crappy person She played herher at all hours Mia wasn’t certain if she was a prostitute or she just really, really liked sex With lots of different h the thin walls of her apart

She’d also suspected Angel had been co stuff Not that she could ever prove it There was never any sign of a break-in

Well, she’d been unable to prove it until now, since Angel earing Mia’s bright yellow raincoat She also had a hole in her forehead that Mia was pretty sure was supposed to be hers as well

A bubble of laughter escaped Aware of the note of hysteria, she forced her lips closed

Angel had stolen her bullet She was lying in the alley that ran along the side of their apart, dressed in Mia’s favorite rain jacket, with Mia’s bullet in her brain

What wasn’t there to laugh about, really?

Only everything None of it was funny It was terrifying and coirl Worked hard Paid her taxes She’d never run a prostitution business out of her apartment

And so to kill her

She ran a shaky hand over her face The nu It wasn’t safe She needed to move What if he was still around?

“If he was still here, you’d be dead,” she muttered to herself Had he checked to see whether he’d ht she was dead It rong to find hope in this situation, right? It rong to hope that Angel’s death meant she was safe At least for a while

She sucked in a shaky breath and spots danced in front of her face

Remember to breathe