Ellie Kline Series: Books 7-9 (Ellie Kline Series Box Sets Book 3) by Mary Stone

Author:Mary Stone [Stone, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-07-12T06:00:00+00:00

22

The white clapboard house squatted at the end of a driveway suffocated by overgrown weeds. Ellie hopped out of the SUV and headed toward a pair of two elderly men who sat on a crumbling cement step, bickering back and forth beneath a sagging awning that looked one strong breeze away from collapsing.

The bald man wearing a faded Dallas Cowboys t-shirt elbowed his buddy as she approached, whistling. “Please, Benny, tell me this is the new nurse.”

Ellie offered them a friendly smile and flashed her badge. “Sorry, afraid not. I’m Detective Kline with the Charleston PD.”

The bald man went to elbow Benny again, but Benny swatted his friend’s hand away. “Stop it, Silas.”

Silas’s gummy lips peeled back, revealing two missing top teeth. He extended his wrinkled hands toward Ellie. “I’ve been a bad boy, Officer, would you like to cuff me?”

In an effort not to laugh, Ellie bit her cheek.

“Christ, Silas, would you shut the hell up?” Benny dragged a hand through his shock of white hair and shot his friend a glare for good measure before nodding at her. “Evening, Detective, and ignore this idiot next to me, please. What can we do for you?”

“I’m hoping you can help me find someone. Is Pat O’Rierdon around by chance?”

Benny and Silas exchanged a long, uneasy look. Benny plucked at his cotton sweatpants, and neither man appeared in a hurry to reply.

That was okay. She could wait them out. Ellie folded her arms, watching their uneasy fidgeting grow when she didn’t turn around and leave.

Silas hacked, angling to the side to spit a wad of yellow phlegm into the dirt that bordered the porch. “You sure you don’t want to find someone else? Cuz if it were up to me, that’s what I’d recommend.” The earlier teasing note was gone.

“Sorry, but I’m afraid Mr. O’Rierdon is the only name on my list.”

The two men shared another glance, and whatever silent communication occurred prompted Silas to scratch his gray-stubbled chin, then jerk his thumb over his shoulder. “He’s inside, in the TV room. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

“Thank you, gentlemen.” Ellie stepped around them on her way to the front entrance. She found the door unlocked and ajar, so she eased it open, her gaze sliding over the splintered frame before assessing the interior.

Good Lord.

Instead of an entryway or living room furniture, the space was crammed with beds. Or more specifically, mattresses. The dirty rectangles lay all over the floor, like some kind of flophouse for the elderly.

Ellie stepped inside, and the stench hit her next. Rancid and ripe, like a mixture of rotting trash, body odor, and feces. Probably partly due to the dirty plates strewn all over the room, crusty with old food remnants that had been sitting out for God knew how long.

Forget that time she’d rushed into the meth trailer without a proper mask. The reek in here was probably ten times worse. Ellie paused, giving her gag reflex time to settle before she pushed ahead, making sure to breathe through her mouth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.