Suspicions by Christine Kersey Read Free Book Online Page A

loud, she allowed
herself to smile inwardly as well. The last few days things had
seemed better between them and she hoped that was a sign of their
future relationship.
    Stacey tossed the salad in a bowl, then put
it on the table. The spaghetti and French bread were next. “Before
we eat I want to take some of this food over to Mark and
Amanda.”
    Jason nodded. “They'll probably appreciate
that.”
    Spooning a generous helping of spaghetti into
a bowl, Stacey then tossed a small salad and put several warm
slices of French bread into a basket and walked out the front door.
It was getting dark outside, but that didn't stop the reporters
from practically pouncing on Stacey as she walked to the Stone's
front door.
    After knocking several times, a man in a suit
opened the door and looked doubtfully at the basket in Stacey's
hand.
    “Can I help you?”
    The unmistakable smell of food wafted out as
Stacey held out the basket. “I brought some dinner for Mark and
Amanda.”
    He took the basket from her. “And you
are?”
    “Stacey Hunter.” She pointed across the
street. “I'm their neighbor.”
    “I'll give it to Mrs. Stone.” He smiled
briefly and shut the door.
    Stacey walked back across the street,
ignoring the questions that were tossed at her like pebbles. As she
entered her home, she went directly into the kitchen where Jason
was standing in front of the counter, making some lemonade.
    Stacey walked over to where he was stirring
the yellow liquid. “I'm not sure if the guy who answered the
Stone's door will let them eat our food.”
    He looked at her quizzically, but didn't
comment. She helped him carry the glasses to the table, then called
Robby and Nikki to come eat. She noticed Robby was quieter than
usual and wondered what he must be thinking about all the commotion
going on at his friend's house. She wondered if he had any idea
what had really happened. Were they talking about it at school? She
made a mental note to talk to Jason about it that evening.
    After dinner the children went into the
family room to watch a DVD before getting ready for bed. Jason and
Stacey stayed in the kitchen to clean up the dinner dishes. This
was a nightly ritual for them. It gave them some uninterrupted time
to be together to talk and the only topic of conversation that
night was Kyle's kidnapping.
    Whispering so the children wouldn't overhear,
they didn't notice Robby wasn't paying attention to the movie, but
instead had his head turned so he could make out a few words they
were saying.
* * *
    Robby knew something was wrong with Kyle
because Mrs. Hershfield hadn't been at school that day and some
kids said she was talking to the police about Kyle. The substitute
teacher had even talked to them about being careful of strangers.
Everyone was acting weird and the police had been at Kyle's house
all day. And Mr. Gowen said Kyle wouldn't be coming to school for a
while, but he wouldn't say why.
    Though he could not forget what had happened
the previous afternoon, Robby was afraid to tell his mom because he
thought he would be in worse trouble if she knew he had been
sneaking out. Not only that, he had promised Kyle he wouldn't tell
he had been at the treehouse alone.
    Scared and confused, he didn’t know what to
do. Then he heard a word that made him even more frightened. He
heard his Dad say the word “kidnap.” He knew what that was. That
was when a bad person takes you away from your parents and
sometimes hurts you. His heart pounded and he suddenly had a pain
in his stomach at the thought of Kyle getting hurt.
    He wondered if maybe he should tell his Mom
what he had seen yesterday. He could tell she was worried about
Kyle. Maybe if he told her what he had seen, she would forget he
was supposed to be in his room after school that day. He decided to
tell her when she tucked him in.
* * *
    After Jason and Stacey were finished cleaning
up, they helped the children put on their pajamas and brush their
teeth. When they were about to