Thirty minutes later Matt pulled up in front of a white house in the Marina district. The houses were not much larger than the ones in Daly City, just older, in better condition and way more expensive.
An address to kill for, she thought.
Lights were on inside. She spied quality curtains, fine art on the walls and a Tiffany lamp emitting a soft glow and emerald colors.
He parked carelessly, blocking a driveway on purpose. He was out of the car in a blink, pulling the heavy canvas bags out of the trunk. He handed one to Jacklyn without a word and marched up the stairs. His face looked grim. It was like he'd shut down.
She didn't like it.
He put a key in the door and walked in.
Jacklyn followed, closing the door behind her, a dark premonition telling her no one should see them here.
Startled, a woman in her late twenties looked up from the cream-colored couch. She was crying, mascara had trailed down her soft cheeks. There was a box of tissues on the polished glass coffee table and a couple of abandoned stiletto heels gave each other support on the thick, patterned mustard rug. The woman cried beautifully, dressed in an olive silk dress where gold threads glimmered gently. Soft auburn hair in waves, moist brown eyes, white creamy skin, crumpled up tissue in an organized pile on the table.
A planned cry out.
Jacklyn felt a pang of irrational envy. She'd love to sob her heart out in a classy place like this. She'd love to be thin, beautiful and have perfect skin.
"Matt?" said the woman, her expression shifting from surprise to fear. She ran to him, hiding the fear under a layer of relief that wasn't all fake.
Definitely not all fake. Jacklyn could feel her raw need to be in his arms.
"Don't," he said.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
"You set me up, Lauren."
Her gaze wavered desperately and found Jacklyn behind Matt.
"Who is this?" Lauren said.
"You set me up to die."
"I'd never do that. Why would I?"
Matt pulled out a gun from the bag. He pointed it at Lauren. The gun's barrel was long. Jacklyn had seen enough TV to know there was a silencer attached.
"Yes," he said. "Why would you?"
His deep smooth voice had an undertone Jacklyn hadn't heard before. Hard, menacing, cold.
"It wasn't me," she pleaded.
"Don't," he warned.
"Who is she?" said Lauren.
It was a pitiful attempt, but Jacklyn could almost taste Lauren's desperation now.
Matt didn't bite.
YOU ARE READING
Shifting Life
Paranormal[COMPLETE] Magic is all about the rules. You mess up, you fix it. Or pay the price. Not that Jacklyn Morse has a choice. She's a new shape shifter paying the price for saving a notorious thief who is as hot as the supernatural loot he's stolen. To J...
