Cassidy Jones and the Luminous (Cassidy Jones Adventures Book 4) by Elise Stokes Read Free Book Online Page B

threw the bullet with all my might. It pierced the kitten, leaving a clean hole in the glass, and traveled through the wall. I could hear it break through the other side, whiz across the dining room, and strike the opposite wall. Obviously, I hadn’t hit a stud.
    I couldn’t even look at Jared.
    Emery secured my arm and pulled me to the dining room table. Peripherally, I glimpsed Jared, rooted to the spot where Emery had told him to stay, blinking at the bullet hole through the kitten.
    Emery slid off his hoodie. “Put this on,” he ordered, handing it to me.
    While I did what he asked, he doused another handkerchief with solution.
    “Our goal is to not draw attention,” he explained, and cleaned my face.
    Heat flowed into my cheeks. The evidence of my violence was still on my face?
    Emery tugged the hood over my head, snapped off my gloves, and ordered me to tuck in loose hair. He tossed the gloves into the backpack, along with his gloves, the switchblade, bloodied handkerchiefs, cleaning solution, and Jared’s bullet-torn jersey. His tension was mounting. He’d obviously sensed the police were closing in, and he was right. I could hear them approaching down the hall.
    “Here—” He shoved the backpack at me and pointed to the window again. “Go!”
    “I’m sorry,” I said to Jared. He looked as though he were in another world.
    Dashing to the window, I shoved it open, made sure the coast was clear, and then jumped, without a backward glance to see if Jared was freaking out.
    What did it matter anymore? The damage was done.
     

 

Chapter 5
The Truth Hurts
     
    I was an utter wreck. In our family room, I rested in my mother’s arms while Serena rubbed my back and offered words of consolation. Across the sectional from us, Chazz huddled next to Nate, watching me with great concern. Even at six, Chazz understood our family would be in danger if Jared told the police the truth.
    Dad had called an hour earlier from outside Jared’s apartment building, which he’d been about to enter under false pretenses. The cover story was that his neighbor, Gavin, had called him about the attack, since my parents were responsible for Jared this weekend. Fortunately, the police hadn’t been able to contact Eileen, since she was somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. They’d also had no luck tracking down Mr. Wells. He hadn’t gone into his office that day, and wasn’t picking up his home or cell phone. This gave Dad, Gavin, and Emery an opportunity for damage control—and to convince Jared not to expose me.
    However, Mr. Wells’s unavailability did bring up a concern. Those goons had showed up at Jared’s apartment because of something his dad was involved in. So where was he?
    “Guys, I think we’re overreacting,” Nate piped up. “I mean . . . this is Jared.”
    “You didn’t see him, Nate.” I plucked another tissue from the box. “You didn’t see me . He was terrified.”
    “Don’t fret, dear,” Serena soothed. “Gavin will contain the situation.”
    Contain? I certainly didn’t like the sound of that.
     
    ~~~
     
    At 7:18 p.m., Dad’s Volvo pulled up to the curb in front of our house. Spying Jared in the front seat, I let the curtain in our living room window drop. Police statements had taken longer than usual, perhaps due to another report of a missing person, a Candace Something-Or-Other. I’d been too distraught during the news broadcast to pay much attention to her name.
    Dad had updated us in his last phone call, saying that the three thugs were in the hospital under police guard. As far as he knew, they’d declined to talk until their lawyers arrived, the thought of which filled me with unspeakable fear. What if they’d overheard us talking? What if they knew a girl named Cassidy had pummeled them?
    I sat down in the wingback chair slanted toward the foyer and listened to Gavin’s SUV pull up across the street. The doors on Dad’s car closed.
    Jared, don’t hate me. Don’t be afraid of