Free Death has a Daughter (DHAD Series) by Candice Burnett Page A

intention had been to go see Trevor and Lacie first, but when I looked at my scroll, two names were jumping out at me, as the number “4” flashed to my mind.  Taking my father’s advice to follow my instincts, sure enough, I ported to where one of the souls was at 3:45.  He was an older gentleman, sitting on a bench outside a small café that had a large, blue coffee mug painted on a large bay window.  As I waited there, I started to second guess myself, and assumed this wasn’t a vulnerable moment, that maybe my instincts were wrong. But I decided to wait it out and just watch as customers left with their lattes. 
    As soon as 3:55 hit , I saw the action begin.  Coming from the café was a small girl with light-brown hair and hazel eyes.  She was in the arms of a man with greasy black hair, bloodshot eyes, and a patchy beard, who was in his mid-thirties.  The girl looked terrified as the man carried her from the restaurant and towards his rusted, white Lincoln Continental that was across the street.  She made eye contact with the old man, and mouthed “help me” to him.  At this, the old man stood up and walked towards the man with the girl.
    “ It doesn’t look as if that young girl is enjoying your company,” the older gentleman said to the kidnapper.
    “ Mind your own business, old man,” the kidnapper shouted back to him.
    “ Let her go, now, and be on your way,” the older man said as he, with no fear, walked closer to the man.  When the old man was a few feet away, the kidnapper pulled out a gun and pointed it at the girl’s head.
    “ DROP YOUR WEAPON!” shouted the police, who were on the street behind the kidnapper.
    A human , inside, must have called the police.  The kidnapper looked back at them, lowered his weapon to the ground, and released his arms from around the girl.  She then ran to the older guy’s side, with tears falling down her face.  The police were now slowly approaching the kidnapper, when he pulled out another gun from his waistline.
    “ Little bitch,” he shouted as he fired the other gun at the girl, who was being thrown by the old man to safety as he took the bullets intended for her.  As the bullets hit the old man’s chest, bullets from the police officers pierced the kidnapper, as well.  I ran over to the old man, and gently inserted my scythe into his heart.  His soul quickly went in.  He’d been shot in the head and chest; there was no hospital recovery here.  He’d just given his life for a stranger, so he definitely wasn’t going to my realm.  My legs walked over to the kidnapper.  An evil smile hit my lips as I slammed down my scythe into his heart, like a logger cutting wood.  He, unlike the old man, was definitely going to end up in my realm, probably in level seven or eight.  He had no idea how lucky he’d had it here.  This death by the police was easy, compared to what he was going to face in my realm.  When I looked down at my watch, sure enough, it was 4:00, and I raced to the researchers to drop off my soul, and port to Trevor and Lacie.
    “ No worries,” Lacie said, and Trevor just looked angry.  “We understand you have other commitments. He just concluded that, since you were late, you weren’t coming.  I didn’t have a single doubt, though,” she said with a smile.
    “ Well, enough with the chit-chat.  Since you’re such a new Reaper and don’t have much experience with Demons, I anticipate I’ll need to train you a little more. That way, your only defense won’t be teleportation against Demons,” Trevor said.
    “ I just got out of training, so I don’t think I need to get trained again, by you of all people.”
    “ Well, if I’m correct, the agreement we had was that you would help me defend Lacie while I’m injured, correct?” he asked me.
    “ Well, yeah.”
    “ Okay, well, considering that Demons are a part of your realm, I doubt you’ve had training to fight against them, so I need to give you at least