A Hoe Lot of Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page A

deep breath, I said, "Come for dinner on Thursday. Riley has the night off from work and we can talk to him then. I don't want to do it by myself."
    "You won't need to."
    "I better not have to. And don't bring Rosemary with you."
    "Ginger," he corrected. "Her name is Ginger."
    As if I didn't know. "Whatever."
    He turned and walked away.
    I closed the door and leaned against it, fighting for composure. D amn him.
    Wishing I had time to wallow in my self-pity with a box of Nilla Wafers and some chocolate milk, I ditched the plunger and ran up the stairs, huffing more than a bit. I'd gotten more exercise that morning than I'd had all year.
    I paused in the hall outside Riley's room. I knew I shouldn't go in, especially with a snake on the loose, but that magazine, and Riley's odd behavior, ate at me. It was probably some skin magazine, but I needed to be sure.
    With a turn of the knob, the door swung open. Peeking
    in, I scanned the floor. Chills danced up and down my spine and I shivered. Who knew what lurked beneath all the junk on the floor?
    Sure enough, the tank to the right of his bed was empty. A part of me had hoped Riley made up the story of Xena's escape so I'd stay out of his room, knowing I'd be curious about that magazine. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated my nosiness. And my ability to appropriately equip myself.
    Using the hockey stick to clear a path, I crept to the bed. I lifted the pillow. Nothing. Maybe he took it with him, I reasoned. Maybe not , my inner voice said. Slipping my hand beneath the mattress, I felt for paper. Chances of Xena being under there were slim, so I felt reasonably confident as I slid my hand back and forth.
    Finally, I hit something solid. Grasping it, I slowly pulled the magazine out, fully expecting to see a half-naked woman staring at me. After I glanced at the cover, I wished it were a half-naked woman staring at me. Even a fully naked-woman would be better than this.
    My stomach turned. The barrel of a sawed-off shotgun greeted me from the pages of Gun Pride . What the hell was he up to? Gun Pride w as a small magazine which mostly sold to militia-type groups. There'd been a big report on the news about magazines just like this not all that long ago, about how these groups liked to recruit teenagers for their cause. Had they gotten to Riley? How else could he have gotten hold of something like this?
    What to do? I needed to talk to him about this, didn't I? But that meant he'd know I snooped. Not that our relationship could get much worse, but still.
    Blowing out a deep breath, I replaced the magazine under the mattress. I'd talk to Kevin and see what he thought. Maybe it was normal male adolescent fascination. M aybe not , my inner voice warned. I told the voice to shut up and hurried out of Riley's room.
    I checked the hallway. All clear. If Xena wasn't found soon, we'd just have to move, no two ways around it.
    Checking the clock, I cursed my inability to be punctual.
    The phone rang and I hurried to answer it, nearly tripping on the plunger as I rushed down the stairs, thinking it might be Tam reporting more missing hoes.
    It wasn't.
    "Nina, what's wrong?" my mother asked.
    I wasn't in the mood to have her pry so I inserted a light lilt into my voice. "Nothing, Mom."
    What was it about mothers and their ability to know when something was wrong—and why were stepmothers excluded from this gift?
    "I don't believe you."
    How did I argue with her when she was right?
    I could hear her breathing, but she remained silent. "I'm fine," I finally said. Hopping on one foot, I tugged off one boot, then the other.
    "You're lying to your mother. Tonio," she called out to my father, "your daughter is lying to me!" To me, she said, "This is what carousing with that cousin of yours will do."
    "You're not fooling me. You love Ana."
    She sniffed. "Nina, the apple and the tree, my darling."
    I groaned. My mother had had an ongoing feud with my Aunt Rosetta from the day she'd moved in with us and