Thicker Than Water (Back to Troy Trilogy Book 2) by Maki Matsui

Author:Maki Matsui [Matsui, Maki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Truth is, we all let our guard down.

It must have been a mere half-hour after that text exchange—as our household was sitting down to an awkward but comparatively peaceful family dinner—that Dr. Carol Konig, Tommy’s former advisor now rapidly turning into former boss, “made a move” on him. Those were his words. Based on what little I know of the incident, “molest” would have been the better term. To get away from her, he had to tear himself out of her grasp and hurdle over her desk. Her smoking red chemise and painted lips would give him cringe-inducing memories that would never fade.

He never told me the story in detail—Too gross, he said.

But, as intense an encounter as that must have been, it wasn’t what landed him in the emergency room. Not directly.

He arrived at his apartment an hour later than he normally would have. Had he not burst from the gallery sans backpack—had he his wallet or his phone with him—he might have taken the bus or called us for a ride and arrived at his apartment complex before nightfall…and things might have played out quite differently.

By the time he trudged into the east side of the city where he lived, the apartment windows were all lit up. He punched in, then opened the door to the building to find the hallway pitch black. As he walked in, the light from the street threw a long, dim quadrangle down the corridor.

He thought he saw the shape of a person at the far end.

What happened to the hall lights? Tommy asked.

No answer.

The door closed behind him. Thinking he must have imagined the shadow, he groped his way toward his unit. It was only when he touched the doorknob that he realized he didn’t have the key.

Oh, he muttered.

Then he heard someone breathing behind him.

Two hands shot out of the dark, shoving him sideways. Instead of slamming into the cold, hard wall, he hit a body—large, solid—and another pair of hands, which grabbed, turned, and restrained him with such efficiency he could only let out one cry for help before a fist landed in his ribs.

Were there two thugs, or three?

By the red light of the exit sign at the head of the corridor, he saw at least one shadow moving with every punch. He shouted, then groaned. Several times, he hit the wall with heavy thuds.

Someone made a call to the police—but nobody came out to help.

They dropped him half-conscious on the ground and left in unhurried steps. They took nothing because he had nothing on him.

◆◆◆

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.