Infiltration by Sean Rodman Read Free Book Online Page A

you get it?”
    Kieran didn’t move.
    â€œGet in the car,” I said, “or I call the cops right now.”

Chapter Ten
    â€œYou wouldn’t. The Boy Scout would go to jail?” Kieran sneered.
    â€œTry me,” I said.
    We stared at each other. Then Kieran swore and got into the driver’s seat. We peeled out of there. Within a few minutes we were on the highway. But when the car hit the bridge overpass, I realized that Kieran had driven past the exit to the hospital.
    â€œWhat the hell?” I said.
    â€œWe’re not risking the plan. We’ll bring him to my house and clean him up. My dad’s away on a business trip.” Kieran stared straight ahead at the road sliding by.
    â€œWhat if he needs a doctor?”
    â€œBex,” Jake croaked from the back-seat. “I’m all right. Your friend is a psycho, but I’ll be fine. No hospital.”
    I turned to see Jake, pale and shivering in the backseat. But he tried to smile at me.
    â€œThis is going to be hard enough to explain to my parents. No doctors,” he said.
    By the time we reached Kieran’s house, Jake seemed a little better. He said his leg hurt, but otherwise he seemed okay. We cleaned him up in the bathroom, covering the white tiles with mud and bloody scraps of his jeans. The wounds weren’t too bad, once we could get a good look at them. His leg had gotten pretty scratched up, but none of the cuts were too deep. There’d been a lot of blood, and the jeans were trashed. But no serious injury that I could see. Jake didn’t speak much the entire time we fixed him up.
    Later, Kieran dropped us off at Jake’s house. Jake went ahead to unlock the back door so we could sneak in. Kieran waited until he was out of earshot.
    â€œNext week. We go in on Saturday night. Without Jake.” I just shrugged. I didn’t want Jake to get hurt again. Kieran nodded, got in his car and rolled off down the street.
    The next morning it took some serious fast-talking to convince Jake’s parents that his trashed jeans and new wounds weren’t a big deal. We made up a pretty good story about climbing a fence to recover a ball during a pickup soccer game. Jake seemed to think that they bought it. I was just glad Jake was still covering for me.
    The next week at school, I avoided Kieran. I think he assumed that I was still on board. That he’d been proven right about Jake. I wasn’t so sure. Jake and I talked about it several times, and Jake was pretty clear where he stood.
    â€œIt’s not worth it,” Jake said. We were in the courtyard at school, tossing a basketball around over lunch. Playing ball with Jake was always a pretty even contest. He had height. I had speed.
    â€œI know,” I said. “But how else do I get Asha back?” Jake slipped around my defense and dunked. He turned back to me, panting.
    â€œYou kidding me? I told you before, the money won’t change anything. You need to talk to her, man,” he said. That wasn’t going to happen. Asha hadn’t even looked at me this week at school. I didn’t have a way in with her. No matter what Jake said, I was still certain that I needed the money to end this argument between us. Her only real reason for leaving was that she needed to cover tuition next year at university. I’d take care of that for her. All of our problems would be solved.
    â€œBex?” said Jake. “You’re spacing out on me.” He tossed the ball to me.
    â€œI’ve got stuff on my mind.”
    â€œListen, I get it. And, like I said, I’ve always got your back. So you do this thing with Kieran, you tell me when and where and I’ll be there.” I couldn’t shake the memory of Jake underwater, his movements getting weaker in the cold dark water. I made my decision.
    â€œI’m not going to do it,” I said. Jake gave me a big wide smile and practically hugged me. It was only long after