Survivor: 1 by J. F. Gonzalez Read Free Book Online Page A

Frank said. "Can we see him?"
    "Let me check" The clerk picked up the extension on
her desk, punched a number, and got somebody else on
the line. "Mr. Miller in 4D? His parents are here. Can he
have visitors?" She paused. "Okay, thanks." She hung up
and turned to Frank and Joan. "The jail warden will be
out in a minute"
    Five minutes later, a door opened and a young officer
looked out. "Mr. and Mrs. Miller?"
    As they followed the officer down the hall to the rear of the building where the jail was, Frank asked again if
Brad had received any visitors this morning. "None," the
officer said.

    "Are you sure?" Joan asked. "We were thinking our
daughter-in-law might be here already."
    "You're the first to see Mr. Miller this morning," the officer said. He inserted a key into a large metal door and
opened it, ushering them inside. "Last cell on the left.
Press the buzzer outside the door when you're finished.*
    'Thanks." Frank took Joan's arm and led her through
the door and down the hall.
    Brad was waiting for them at the front of the cell, his
hands gripping the metal bars. His hair looked ruffled
and there were dark circles under his eyes. He smiled
when he saw them. "God, am I glad to see you guys!"
    Joan went to her son and reached through the bars,
grasping his hands and pulling him closer. She kissed his
cheek. "We're glad to see you too, son.'
    "You okay, Brad?" Frank asked, taking Brad's hand and
squeezing it affectionately.
    "I'm tired. I didn't get any sleep in here last night."
    Joan was nervous, not just for the situation at hand,
but because they hadn't seen Lisa. "Lisa hasn't been by
this morning has she?"
    "No," Brad said, his face strained. "I thought she
would have been here by now. She called you last night,
didn't she?"
    "Yes, she called us last night from her room," Joan said,
casting a worried glance at Flank.
    "She gave us her room number last night when we
talked to her," Frank said. Joan could tell her husband
was trying to appear calm. "We got here fifteen minutes
ago and went to her room, but she wasn't there!
    Brad frowned, worry creasing his features. "Rut's
weird.*

    "Her car was there," Joan said, as if to reaffirm to her
son that everything was okay. "Maybe we just missed her
at the Denny's or something."
    "Why don't I head back and see if I can find her," Frank
said, looking from his wife to his son. "Maybe we did
miss her."
    "You do that," Joan said. "I'll stay here."
    Frank nodded, gave his son a smile, and pressed the
buzzer at the end of the hall. The door opened and he
stepped through, pausing briefly to talk to the officer on
the other side. The door closed and then it was just
mother and son, alone in the jail.
    Joan turned to Brad, trying to not appear so worried.
"Have they been feeding you in here?"
    "Yeah," Brad said, dangling his arms over the bars. "The
guards are really nice. As you can see, I've got the entire
block to myself." He tried to muster up a smile, but it
came across as half-assed and forced.
    "Dad got ahold of William last night around eleven,"
Joan said. "He said that most likely, from what Dad described to him regarding what happened, the judge will
probably dismiss the case."
    'That's what I thought," Brad said, his features worried.
"The cop that arrested me said the same thing. He said
he explained the legal ramifications to the dickhead that
started this whole thing, but the guy wanted to go ahead
with it."
    "What a creep," Joan said, fiddling with her purse. "I
hope there's some way they can arrest him for filing a
false police report."
    "I don't think they can do that," Brad said slowly, looking more nervous. He licked his lips. "So, Lisa wasn't at
the motel room at all when you showed up?"
    Joan told him the story again, telling her son that she
thought Lisa might have been in the shower but she hadn't heard anything. Brad nodded. Joan reached
through the bars and took her son's hands, patting them
reassuringly. "We