Freaks in the City by Maree Anderson

her throat. Traumatized by a mugging my ass. Jeez. Why
couldn’t Tyler see it? Normal people did not overreact and
half strangle people who were only trying to help them. Jay was
like two different girls. One, unnaturally calm and logical. The
other, hot-tempered and ready to go off at the slightest
provocation. Shawn had been like that, on edge and real quick to
lose it when he’d been popping the ’roids.
    Nessa sooo didn’t want to play spy anymore,
but the last thing she needed was to piss Sixer off—especially if
he was mixed up in the whole meth-lab thing back in Snapperton. Jay
could come off like one scary-ass bitch but Sixer…. He wasn’t
playing at being a badass. He scared her to the depths of her soul.
And you didn’t mess with guys involved with the drugs trade.
    Nothing for it but to see this through to
the end. And boy, would she have earned every damn penny of that
money.
    She fished the cell phone from beneath her
pillow and keyed in the number he’d made her memorize.
    He answered on the second ring. “I told you
to text me.”
    His voice was so cold and hard and
emotionless that she had to bite her lip against a whimper. “A
lot’s happened—it’d take way too long to text,” she whispered,
hunching over the phone.
    “Tell me.”
    She told him everything that’d gone down,
keeping to the facts, trying to be as calm and concise as
possible—no mean feat when her heart was racing like she’d run a
mile, and her throat hurt, and her mouth was so dry it made
speaking clearly difficult.
    “Interesting,” he said, though his tone gave
nothing away. He could have been talking about a piece of gum on
the pavement.
    “What part?” she asked without thinking, and
then silently cursed her stupidity. Last thing she wanted was any
insights into what made this dude tick.
    “The second name is so similar to the first
as to be borderline pointless. Jay Smith. Jaime Smythson. It is
difficult to choose a name, yes?”
    “I suppose. So you got what you wanted,
right? I’m outta here.”
    “No. Stay right where you are.”
    “But she nearly strangled me! What if she
attacks me again?” Nessa knew her voice sounded high pitched and
little-girl-scared-of-the-monster-under-the-bed but she didn’t
care. Right now, making herself scarce and forgetting about the
money was looking real good.
    “Stay where you are. Continue to report to
me via text. Do not ring unless you are alone in the house. Do you
understand?”
    “Y-yes.” No! She didn’t understand any of
this. And a nasty little voice in her head told her it would be
best if she didn’t, either.
    “I will tell you when you’re done. If you
run, I will find you. Do you understand?”
    “Y-yes!” She hated he knew how terrified she
was. She fought for control. “I understand.”
    “Good girl, Nessa.” He rang off.
    Good girl, Nessa. The praise made her
feel like a well-trained dog. Plus she hadn’t the slightest clue if
he was pleased by the information she’d imparted. His voice had
been flat, without any inflection, kinda like a robot or… or… a
computer or something. Jeez, what was he—some freaking psycho?
    Nessa shoved the phone under her pillow,
yanked the covers up to her nose and curled into a ball. She left
the light on. It’d be a miracle if she got any damn sleep tonight.
She full-body shivered, and curled up more tightly. God help her if
she didn’t do what Sixer told her. And God help her if Jay ever
found out she was spying on them.
    She squeezed her eyelids tightly shut and
tried to think of something pleasant. Huh. Fat chance. There hadn’t
been much that could be considered “pleasant” in her life so far.
Funny, the only time she’d been truly happy had been while dating
Tyler.
    Tears leaked from her eyes, ran down her
cheeks, were quickly absorbed by the expensive cotton pillowcase.
She’d tossed away the only good thing that had ever happened to
her, the one good thing she’d had in her life.
    If only she