Above All Else by Jeff Ross Read Free Book Online Page B

threw myself into the back of the store and, luckily, found the tiny hallway with the bathroom on one side and the door to a loading dock on the other.
    I turned sideways and put all my weight into the door, making certain to hit the security bar with my hip.
    The door popped open and I was out on a loading dock. I jumped to the ground and took off through the empty parking lot.
    â€œGet back here!” someone yelled. I chanced a look back. There were two guys standing on the loading dock, their flashlights trained on me. There was a big sprawl of graffiti on the wall behind them. I turned back around and ran as fast as I could.
    Luckily, we had parked Jared’s car on a nearby street. I could see someone leaning against the hood. As I got closer, I realized it was Riley.
    â€œHoly crap,” I said, completely out of breath. “What the hell was that?”
    â€œThat was crazy. Did you see Jared or Oz?”
    â€œNo. I just kept running. How did you get out?”
    â€œAre you kidding me? I used to spend hours in that place. It was like my mom’s idea of babysitting. Stay in the mall. Don’t leave with anyone. Don’t go outside. I’ll come find you in an hour.”
    â€œSeriously? Your mom did that?”
    Riley shrugged. “She didn’t always have a choice. She worked at the shoe store. I used to come out here after school and just walk the halls.”
    â€œOh,” I said, grabbing my knees and trying to slow my breathing.
    â€œSo I know all the exits.”
    â€œAny idea who those guys were?”
    â€œOz was talking about that gang who made this their hangout,” Riley said. We heard pounding feet in the darkness. I prepared myself to run.
    â€œOz, Jared,” Riley said.
    â€œGet in the car,” Jared said, darting past us and unlocking the doors. “Come on. I don’t know if we shook them or not.” Riley and I jumped into the back seat as Jared got the car started.
    â€œWhat the hell was that?” Riley said.
    Jared did a quick one-eighty and gunned it up the street.
    â€œI have no idea,” Oz said. “But I wasn’t going to stick around and find out.”
    As we turned toward the highway, three guys with giant flashlights came running out of the mall parking lot.
    â€œThat was them,” Oz said. One of them threw something at the car. Jared stepped on the gas, and we roared down the street.
    â€œThose weren’t security guards,” Riley said. “No way.”
    I looked at my hand. There was a small cut along my palm. It was dripping blood all over my pants. I looked through the back window at the guys who’d chased us. They turned back toward the mall, and I wondered whether Doug and his friends, especially Elsa’s brother, had gotten out.

chapter eleven
    Monday, after school, Coach arrived in the locker room five minutes earlier than he normally did. We were playing the seventh-place team in the first round of the playoffs. During the regular season, we’d destroyed them 6–1. But this was elimination time, and it seemed, year after year, that anything could happen.
    â€œWe’re in the final stretch, lads,” Coach said. “We had a misstep. But don’t think for a moment that the championship is not still firmly within our grasp. We need to look at this one game at a time. We need to win today. And to do that, we need to play our best soccer yet.” He seemed strangely calm for the occasion. “Now, with the loss of Romano, we are without any subs. But I spoke with the league and they have allowed us to add a player who was not on the team during the regular season. However, we are unable to bring up one of our junior players due to age requirements. Luckily, we have a perfectly fine substitute who just happens to be a senior.”
    A guy I’d seen around came into the locker room.
    â€œThis is Jean. He is originally from a suburb of Paris, am I correct,