Free 21 Dares: A Florida Suspense Mystery by JC Gatlin Page B

McKenzie’s hands, which seemed to surprise her. Casually
he folded the thin paper, brought it to the candle’s flame, then dropped the burning receipt in her glass. It flared,
briefly illuminating their faces, before going out.
    “Hey,” McKenzie said, staring at the wad of
burnt paper in her glass. “I coulda used that for my taxes.”
    Ignoring her, Rocky sucked down a last gulp
of sake in his glass, then leaned forward once more. “ We like to call it
Network Marketing. It provides a more accurate description of what we do.”
    “Oh.”
Abbie noticed the light blue ribbon holding back McKenzie’s flaming red hair
actually matched her eyes. It seemed almost comical in a way. “Thank you, but I
really don’t think I’d be interested in—”
    Rocky
didn’t let her finish. “There’s no commitment to just check it out. You’ll hear
testimonies from other successful Vitamin Ritamin Warriors and how this program
changed their lives.”
    Again,
Abbie shook her head. “I don’t know…”
    McKenzie
turned away from her ruined glass of sake. “Come on, Bookworm. It’s a great
place to meet men.”
    “Don’t
call me that again,” Abbie said. “I put-up with that for
fifteen summers. I don’t want to hear that nickname ever again.”
    “I’m
teasing you. It’s all in good fun.” McKenzie jolted back in her seat, looking
as if her hand had just been slapped. “But okay, I won’t call you that again if
you’ll promise to go tomorrow night. Like I said, you might meet someone
special who’ll make you as deliriously happy as Rocky makes me.”
    Abbie
looked over at Rocky. She surmised that’s where McKenzie met him—at a Vitamin
Ritamin meeting. Watching him a moment, she was certain he was the guy she’d
seen in the waiting room. But why would he lie about it?
    Their
eyes met, then he looked away.
    McKenzie
grabbed her hand again, demanding her attention. “Now, about
Facebook. I don’t care what your father thinks, we’ve got to get you signed-up. It’s your best resource for prospecting…”

 
    * * * *

 
    As night
fell, the man closed the flaps of his tan trench coat tight against the wind
and approached the abandoned house. Weeds grew high in the front lawn. Boards
covered the windows. Despite the deterioration, it still looked the same as it did
sixteen years ago. It’d been sitting empty all that time and was now just a
rotting shell of wood and stucco.
    Abbie Reed would return
soon ,
he knew. It was inevitable. He wondered what she would find.
    Coming
to the front porch, he stepped up. Boards squeaked. They were gray and warped
beneath his feet. Jimmying the lock, he made his way inside.
    The
front living room stood empty, dark. A brownish discoloration stained the wood
floors, especially the corner near the boarded-up window.
    The
man removed his brown hat, putting it to his chest, covering his heart. He
allowed a moment of silence. This house was waiting for her. He felt it.
    Moving
up the steps, he came to the upstairs landing. There was no light, and he
removed a flashlight from a pocket in his trench coat. Highlighting the walls
then sweeping down to the floor, he walked slowly through the hallway.
    Abbie
and her sister had hid here, the night they heard the intruder in the house.
    He
paused, shined the light on the ceiling. The scuttle to the attic loomed
directly above him. Reaching up, he grabbed the cord. The ladder dropped.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    Chapter 10

 
    M cKenzie and I were never friends, not really,” Abbie
said while sitting in her therapist’s office. She was still thinking about
yesterday’s lunch with McKenzie. It was on her mind when she woke up, and she replayed
the entire conversation in her head. She told Clinton Reed all about it when he
Skyped to wish her happy birthday. This time it was actually on her birthday. Though
it didn’t feel like it. There were no balloons. No presents. No cake. No one
sang Happy Birthday. In fact,