Leapholes (2006) by James Grippando Read Free Book Online Page B

hospital on fire."
    "I'm not talking about that. Don't play dumb. Your friend Kaylee confirmed everything that Dr. Watkins told us."
    "Kaylee?" he said aloud, and the wheels began to turn in his head. So far, he hadn't been thinking too clearly. He suddenly remembered that he had been exposed to a deadly and contagious disease. "Is Kaylee all right? She should be ... I should be ..."
    "Dead?"
    "Yes. We were all infected by that virus. BODS."
    "Both you and Kaylee are fine."
    Ryan sighed with relief, but his concern quickly returned. "What about the others?"
    "Oh, you're worried about them, are you?" he said, his voice dripping with skepticism. "Funny, you weren't quite so concerned when you took away their vaccines."
    "I wasn't trying to take anything away from anyone. There were six of us and only five vaccines. I was trying to make enough for everyone."
    "No, you were trying to save Kaylee, at the expense of everyone else."
    "That's not true."
    "You agreed to cast lots, did you not?"
    "Yes, but--"
    "The five winners were supposed to get the vaccine. The loser would not."
    "Yes, but it didn't have to be that way."
    "But you agreed to the system," the detective said.
    "The others wanted it. I never agreed. It wasn't right."
    The detective chuckled. "You mean it wasn't right because you didn't like the result."
    "No. It just wasn't right."
    "So when Kaylee lost, you went berserk."
    "I did what I had to do. That's all."
    "You took the vials. You tried to stretch five vaccines into six."
    "Yes."
    "Which was foolish, of course. There was only enough vaccine for five. If you try to stretch it into six, none of them would be any good."
    "We had to try. We couldn't just let Kaylee die."
    "So you admit that you broke the agreement to cast lots?"
    Ryan hesitated. It sounded bad, the way the detective said it. "Yes, sir."
    "You had a better idea. Mix up the vials and blow everythin g u p."
    "I had no idea that mixing up the vaccines would cause an explosion."
    The detective leaned closer, his eyes narrowing. "Like I said before, son. You are in a lot of trouble."
    "Why?"
    "You and Kaylee were the only survivors. Four people died."
    The detective's words hit him like a punch in the chest. "Coach, Flu Lady, Sling Man, Head Case. All dead?" he said, his voice quaking.
    "That's right. Thanks to you."
    Ryan's mouth went dry. He'd never hurt anyone in his entire life, and now four people were dead. "This can't be. I didn't mean for this to turn out this way."
    "It is a rather interesting result, isn't it," said the detective.
    "I wouldn't call it interesting at all. It's terrible. I'm sick over this."
    "Actually, you're not sick. That's what is so interesting. You see, the BODS virus had never been tested on children before. Turns out it's lethal only in adults. Dr. Watkins believes that it has something to do with lower levels of certain hormones in children."
    "So Kaylee and I are safe?"
    "Yes. But we know all too well that BODS is fatal to adults. Without the vaccine, none of them survived."
    Ryan swallowed the lump in his throat. Each time the detective reminded him of the consequences of his actions, it became more difficult for Ryan to speak. "I'm very sorry about that," he said softly.
    "You should be," said the detective. "If you had honored the agreement to cast lots, none of those four adults would have died."
    "But ... it didn't seem fair, us deciding who should live and die."
    The detective held up his hand, as if he'd heard enough. "Tell it to the judge, young man."
    "The judge?" said Ryan.
    "Yes. You're going to stand trial."
    "Trial? For what?"
    "Manslaughter, of course. Like I said: You are in a lot of trouble."
    Ryan sank into his chair, his mind awhirl. On his last visit to a courtroom he'd watched his father plead guilty to a crime. "Another Coolidge in trouble with the law," he said, almost speaking to himself. "Our neighborhood is just going to have a field day, isn't it?"
    "Don't worry. This trial won't be anywhere near