I.D. by Vicki Grant Read Free Book Online

back. I called the waitress over again and ordered a steak. This would be my last good meal for a while. I figured I might as well enjoy it.
    The steak was perfect—about two inches thick, with those black crisscross lines all over it like you see in the commercials. I could have cut it with a butter knife. It was a whole lot better than that crap Oxner was eating.
    I kind of laughed when I thought about all that bright pink sauce on Oxner’s sweet-and-sour pork. I guess he wasn’t worried about staining his “windbreaker.”
    Then I had another thought. It wasn’t just a coincidence that I bumped into Oxner in the mall. That was just too weird. I suddenly knew there was a reason for it.
    I was being given a warning. A reminder to be careful. I didn’t know by who. God? The universe? Or maybe it was my grandmother, reaching out to me from, you know, “beyond the grave.”
    You hear about that stuff all the time on television. A bird lands on someone’s shoulder at the exact second his brother dies a million miles away. A person sees a light in the woods and gets out of the car just before the engine explodes. A woman hears a piano playing in an empty house and finds a diamond ring hidden under the lid. Those can’t just be coincidences. Some dead person is communicating with them. Just because you can’t prove it doesn’t mean it’s not true.
    Nan and I were close. She was always there for me. I figured this was her way of telling me to watch out. My luck wasn’t going to last forever.
    And anyway, she’d be the first person to tell me not to depend on luck. She’d tell me I needed to do this myself. I needed to take charge of my life.
    I took the last bite of steak. Nan was right.
    My marks sucked, but I was smart. Smarter than Oxner, that’s for sure. I could do this. I didn’t need to take somebody else’s money. I just needed a loan until I could get myself started. Someday, I’d track Andrew Ashbury down. I’d invite him to a nice restaurant like this and tell him the whole story. I’d pay him back everything, plus interest. Just to make up for it, I’d invite him for a sail on my private yacht. We might even become friends.
    For now, though, I needed to get out west where nobody knew me. That’s what Nan was trying to tell me. My cousin could be trusted. I had the suit to help me geta job. I had the money to help Brandon out with the rent until my first paycheck came through.
    The waitress came over. “How was everything, sir?”
    â€œFine,” I said. “There was just one problem.”
    She frowned. She was still pretty.
    â€œWhat’s that, sir?”
    â€œI don’t like you calling me sir,” I said. “I get enough of that all day.” I winked at her. She laughed.
    I knew it wouldn’t be long before I could say that for real. Maybe, when I came back, I’d ask her out.

Chapter Sixteen
    I couldn’t take a bus out west. I had to get away faster than that. And anyway, two days on a bus would ruin my suit. I’d have to fly.
    I took the shuttle to the airport. It was a free service. I’d never been on a plane before. I’d never even been in an airport. I thought I’d be nervous, but I was okay. The place looked just like airports always do in the movies.
    I went up to the ticket counter. I asked when the next flight to Edmonton was. The lady punched a bunch of things into the computer.
    She said, “The seven-forty flight is full, but we have a couple of seats on the ten-thirty flight.”
    That was fine with me. She typed in some other stuff. It took her forever. She asked for my ID. I didn’t even have time to panic. I just handed her my driver’s license. She didn’t bat an eye. She seemed more surprised that I didn’t have any luggage.
    â€œOkay,” she said. “That will be $987. 46.”
    I couldn’t help myself. I went,