Ice Shock by M. G. Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

tell me?”
    â€œI will. One day, I promise. Right now it’s too dangerous. You okay with that?”
    He grins ruefully. “Guess I have to be.”
    â€œThere’s a lot more to my father’s death.”
    â€œOh yeah?” he says, laughing. “Tell me something I
don’t
know.”
    â€œMadison and me … we’ve got unfinished business.”
    By the time we say good night and head for our houses, it’s past midnight. The next day, I decide I’m going to stay home. In fact, my plan is to stay in my bedroom with the pages until I can figure out what to do. I’ve pretty much decided that destroying the documents is the way to go. But first I scan the pages, set up a brand-new file storage account on a new Web site that claims to be super secure, behind a password I’ve never used before.
    And then I erase all traces of my activity from the computer’s browser history. So even if Madison breaks in again, he won’t be able to follow what I’ve done.
    This is all very absorbing, so when Ollie turns up on my doorstep around lunchtime, she takes me by surprise.
    â€œHey,” she says, her voice all soft. “I was looking for you yesterday. Where were you?”
    â€œTyler and I went on a trip.”
    â€œFun?”
    â€œTo be honest, scary.”
    We go upstairs and I turn off the TV.
    â€œScary? How?”
    I hesitate. But she’s only going to hear the same from Tyler.
    â€œWe found something. Another clue to the Ix Codex.”
    She’s blown away. “Wow! Amazing! What is it?”
    I shake my head. “You know what, Ollie, it was great having you and Ty to help me last time, but this time … I don’t know. I already got you both into trouble. So I’m going to finish this—destroy everything I have about that codex, forget about it, and get on with my life.”
    â€œYou really think it’s that dangerous?”
    â€œI
know
it is.”
    â€œAnd you’re worried about me?” she says with a hint of a smile.
    â€œWhat do you think? Of course!”
    â€œThat’s really sweet.”
    She stares into my eyes then and I really don’t know what to say.
    â€œâ€˜Sweet’ … come on, now,” I say with a nervous grin. “No guy wants to be ‘sweet.’”
    She steps a little closer. “Okay. You’re not ‘sweet.’”
    â€œGood.”
    She takes another step. I can smell her perfume; it’s like flowers after rain.
    â€œI stopped thinking of you as ‘sweet’ back in Mexico.”
    My mouth goes dry. “Uh-huh …”
    She takes both my hands in hers. “Yeah. And look … you’re taller than me now.”
    â€œA bit. It’s only ’cause, well, you’re really …”
    â€œPetite?”
    â€œYeah.”
    What are we doing? She can’t be thinking what I’m thinking
…
    But she keeps going. “Think you’ll get taller?”
    â€œHope so.”
    She shrugs, smiles. “A little taller couldn’t hurt.”
    We’re standing inches apart; she’s holding my hands, breathing right against my mouth, and I somehow can’t make myself move.
    She’s two years older than you, idiot! Whatever you think this is, you’re wrong. One false move and it’ll be a slap in the face for you
.
    And right then, she leans closer and kisses me. Right on the lips. I keep thinking she’s going to stop but she doesn’t and she doesn’t push me away. Eventually it’s
me
who pulls away … because I have no clue what to do next.
    I hunt for something to say, which is tricky because I can hardly breathe.
    She smiles. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
    I cough nervously. “No … no … it was like … wow!”
    She leans a wrist on my shoulder and actually runs her fingers through my hair. “You’re not weirded out that I’m