Breath of Scandal by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online Page B

couldn't see anything beyond the small patch of light the headlights gave off. The wind was light, but it was bone-chilling.

    Neal finished his beer. Crumpling the can in his fist, he tossed it into the undergrowth on the bank of the narrow channel. The ground was littered with similar cans.

    "Can we go now?" Jade tried to sound imperious despite her shivering.

    Neal sauntered toward her. "Not yet." "Why not?"

    "Because before we go," he drawled,      "the three of us are going to fuck you."

    CHAPTER

    F"I -

    I hree

    Donna Dee Monroe was in a quandary. It didn't feel fight for her to be safe at home while Jade's whereabouts remained uncertain. Surely if Jade were home she would have called.

    Donna Dee had waited inside her stranded car only five minutes before a farming family in a station wagon had stopped and offered her a lift into town. Her father had met her at the service station, filled a gas can, and returned her to her car. She was back in Palmetto less than twenty minutes after the three boys had disappeared with Jade.

    The thought of being left behind still rankled. How dare they go off and leave her stranded like that? And why hadn't he let Jade out of the car when she made it obvious that she didn't want to go with them alone? Neal Patchett ought to be stood against a wall and shot right between the eyes.

    As usual, Hutch had done Neal's bidding without a whimper of protest. It irked Donna Dee that Hutch cared so little for her that he would desert her on a lonely stretch of highway, prey to whatever kind of lowlife might have come along. Of course, the notion of being snatched up and carried off into the night by Hutch Jolly was madly romantic, and one fantasy she'd entertained many times. While it wouldn't be ideal to have Neal and Lamar tagging along when Hutch swept her away, Donna Dee envied Jade the adventure of being "kidnapped."

    Now, alone in her bedroom, Donna Dee wondered what she should do about Jade. Had Neal tried to return Jade to the point where he had picked her up, or had he brought

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    Breath of Scandal

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    her back to town, or taken her straight to Gary's house? There was only one way to find out. Donna Dee reached for her telephone and began dialing the Parkers' number. But what if Jade wasn't there? In view of his recent fight with Neal at the Dairy Barn, Gary would go into a tailspin when he found out what Neal had done.

    Donna Dee didn't want to get Jade into trouble with her mom or with Gary. She didn't want anybody mad at her, either. But she couldn't relax until she knew what was happening. Finally making up her mind, she placed a telephone call.

    6LN "Left?"

    "That's right, Velta," Pete Jones said. "I got back from the nursing home a little before six. Jade and that Monroe girl were practically bouncing off the walls. When I agreed to let Jade leave early, they tore straight out of here. She said to tell you she'd be home in an hour with some good news. "

    Velta disliked surprises, even happy ones. She especially didn't welcome one this evening. She was tired. Her lower back ached from bending over her desk all day. She was hungry for dinner. She wanted to go home, eat, take a long bath, and go to bed.

    Velta was barely forty, but she looked every day of it and then some, as now, when she pursed her narrow lips in vexation. "It9s not like Jade to go off without asking my permission. "

    Pete Jones chuckled. "Something big was going on. Jade's feet were barely touching the ground."

    "Did she say what her good news was?" I'Nope. 1 9

    "Well, she'll turn up soon," she said with forced indifference. No sense in providing fodder for the gossip mill. "Thank you, Mr. Jones. Good night."

    On the drive home, Velta scanned the streets for a sign of Donna Dee's car. This escapade was probably all her doing. Ever since Donna Dee's parents had given her that

    rattletrap automobile, the girls had had far too much independence. That's why Velta never let