"Fallen Angel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morin Marie)

“Oh shit!”
She turned at the next intersection, whipping the wheel around the corner at the last minute. The car fishtailed. She fought for control and managed to get the car straightened out. When she got to the next corner, she turned again, glancing in the mirror to see if the car Enrico was now driving had managed to make the turn. The sound of grinding metal reached her as he sideswiped a parked car.
She didn't wait to see if he made the next turn, zigzagging through the city in an attempt to lose him. Driven by sheer terror, it was a while before she realized that she was moving deeper and deeper into no man's land.
She found herself in a 'ghost' town, an area of the city that contained nothing but run down, or falling down, buildings. About the time she realized she hadn't seen a soul in several blocks the car Enrico was driving barreled out of an alley, slamming into the rear of her car and sending it spinning completely out of control.
Chapter Two
Fortunately for Kylee, the car's momentum had slowed considerably before the car struck the pile of debris that finally brought the spinning to a stop. She hadn't had the chance to fasten her seatbelt. The abrupt stop slammed her down on the seat hard enough it stunned her for many moments.
By the time she'd recovered enough to begin trying to struggle upright, Enrico was already reaching through her window to unlock her door. In a state of shock, completely disoriented, Kylee was dragged from the car like a rubber doll, unable even to find her voice to scream. He lifted her from the ground by her throat.
Instinct kicked in when her air was cut off by his grip and her own weight, and Kylee began clawing at the hand holding her.
“You listen good,Putta. You mess with Enrico, he cut your pretty throat like yourPuttasister. You got that?”
Not on the fucking recorder, Kylee thought dimly as darkness circled her like vultures, realizing she hadn't had enough presence of mind to turn it on.
He shook her when she didn't answer, though how he thought she could with the grip he had on her throat she couldn't imagine.
Close by, an explosion of sound, like something huge hitting the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the alley, made him jerk in reaction. Dropping her to the ground, he whirled around sharply, his head tilted toward the roofs as he searched for any sign of a threat. Gasping like an asthmatic, Kylee fought to drag air into her lungs and get to her feet at the same time.
A clanging from somewhere nearby, like someone banging on a metal pipe, echoed hollowly through the alley. A duller pounding, like running feet, accentuated the frantic clanging.
“What the fuck is that?” Enrico demanded, sounding further enraged that anyone would dare interrupt his assault and battery.
Kylee didn't answer. She didn't figure he was expecting one. Instead, she struggled to reach the tiny recorder to switch it on. The impact had shifted it from the middle of her bra to the outside of the left cup. “The cops know you killed my sister. Iknow you killed my sister,” Kylee managed finally.
Enrico barely glanced at her. He was too busy tracking the sounds above them that continued unabated. “Yeah? Well, I tell you the same ting I tole de cops, prove it,Putta.”
“I've got your DNA under my fingernails and all over the fucking car!” Kylee screamed at him. “If it matches the DNA they found on her ….”
He grabbed her by the throat again, cutting her off mid-sentence. Before he could choke the life out of her, something landed on the hood of the car so hard the car bounced. Enrico's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. “Madre de dios!”
Releasing her abruptly, he tore off toward the car he'd left running, leapt into the front seat and peeled off.
Feeling the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, Kylee, on the ground once more, turned to see what had scared the thug off. Two--something'swere struggling on the hood of the car. As she gaped, the one on top, almost as if he sensed her gaze, lifted his head and looked straight at her. His face was contorted into a mask of rage. His eyes glowed an eerie iridescent green--almost like the eyes of a nocturnal animal.
In spite of the strange eyes, he looked just like a man--except for the great wings sprouting from his back.
The distraction cost him. The man--creature--beneath him, clubbed him on the side of his head with his fist. The one on top tumbled from the hood of the car, taking the other creature with him. Abruptly, they broke apart and shot skyward, disappearing into the darkness of the night sky.
From high above her, Kylee heard the clanging again. It stopped suddenly. A strange whistling noise followed.
Frowning, Kylee stared up at the sky, wondering what the hell it was. Slowly, she got to her feet, moving toward the front of her car to look at the crushed hood. An object struck the ground beside the car, little more than a foot from where she'd been sitting only moments before. She leaned around the hood to look. A broad bladed sword lay in the dirt and gravel next to the front wheel.
Sirens screamed with a suddenness that made her jerk all over. Flashing blue, white, and red lights rounded the corner of the alley before the vehicles did. Without quite knowing why, Kylee moved around the car and pushed the sword under the edge out of sight just as the two police vehicles slid to a stop roughly a car length from hers.
Detective Strand disgorged from the unmarked car, surveying her and the car with an expression of disgust. As he shut his door, two more patrol cars pulled in behind the first two. Catching the eyes of the drivers, he made a circular motion in the air. The two cars backed up and shot off in the direction Enrico had disappeared.
The two cops riding in the patrol car got out and followed Detective Strand, waving their flashlights along the ground and studying the interesting donut Kylee had cut with rubber into the pavement.
“Satisfied?” Detective Strand commented as he reached her.
“Actually, yes,” Kylee said, dragging the recorder out of her bra and handing it to him.
He played it back, frowning. “That's not a confession,” he said dryly, handing the device back to her when he'd listened.
Dismay filled Kylee. “He confessed to me just before that. He said he would cut my throat like he had--my sister's,” Kylee finished, struggling against the wobble in her chin.
“He said, she said. Granted you're a lot more credible witness, but the DA ain't going to go for it, I can tell you that. It's too weak.”
“What about DNA? His DNA is all over the car and under my nails.”
He gave her a look. “Even if it matches what we found on her, it won't prove anything. He was her pimp and her lover. She wasn't raped, Ms. Griffin. The sex was consensual and any lawyer would shoot down DNA evidence on that alone,” he said almost kindly.
He moved closer and looked her over. “We can file assault and battery charges on him.”
“How long would he be in jail?”
He shrugged. “A while. Several years anyway.”
Kylee fought the urge to burst into tears again. “My sister was only eighteen! He deprived her of the rest of her life.”
“You can get him off the streets for a little while, anyway.”
She didn't want him off the streets for a little while. She wanted him off permanently.
The detective frowned when she said nothing, glancing toward the hood of the car. After a moment, he moved around her to study it better. Feeling weak kneed, Kylee moved around the car door, which was still standing open and collapsed in the seat.
“This happen when he slammed into you?”
Kylee put her head in her hands. She hadn't had the chance to assimilate what she'd seen. She still didn't knowwhatshe'd seen, but she wasn't so shook up that she didn't know better than to say anything about it. The cops would think she'd gone off the deep end.
“I don't know. Everything happened so fast.”
And then the sword dropped out of the sky. Her heart accelerated at that thought. It was proof--but of what? The rest of the story didn't sound any better in her mind. When she glanced toward the other cops and saw they'd moved off, she leaned over, grabbed the sword from beneath the car and very carefully slipped it under the car seat.
Detective Strand was looking at her when she looked up again. She stared back at him guiltily. “What's this blue stuff?”
Relieved that he hadn't noticed what she'd been doing, Kylee lifted up slightly. She still couldn't see what he was talking about, though, and got up, moving around to the front of the car. The detective had dabbed a finger in the blue liquid smeared all over the hood of the car. He sniffed it, shook his head, rubbed it between two fingers. “It ain't paint.”
It didn't look like blood either, at least not of the human variety, but the image of the two creatures struggling on top of the car instantly filled her mind--along with the pounding on the roof of the building, the clanging of metal, the sword falling out of the sky. The man/creature on bottom had had a sword clutched in his fist, she remembered, the fist he'd slammed into his opponent's head.
Blood, she realized, feeling shock go through her again, a coldness. She shivered, glancing up at the buildings that surrounded them.
The sound of an approaching vehicle caught her attention and she turned to see an ambulance pulling up. Detective Strand moved around the car. “Here, let's get you checked out. When they're done with you at the hospital, I'll need to get a statement from you.”