Between the Cracks and Burning Doors: Book 2 of The Extraction List Series Read Online Free PDF

was a good thing.
    Flanked by strangers and old buildings, I tried to figure out what to do next. What would I do if someone came to the door of the church? Had the police seen me as they left?
    One stupid slipup and it’s over.
    What about his service on Sundays? Or his Bible study? I would have to keep the door locked. The parishioners would get the hint. But I couldn’t do that because that would mean his entire congregation would be gone by the time he got back.
    I guessed I would have to have a very convincing story.
    He’s the one who did this to you, he’s been lying to you this whole time. Whatever happens is his problem. You could just leave, find somewhere else to stay.
    No. Maybe Dom had lied. Maybe I didn’t even know his real name. Yet he had been there for me more than anyone else ever had. Deserting him was not an option.
    I turned down one more side street and stopped short. Before he saw me, I ducked behind the wall of a building and flattened myself against it.
    What the hell?
    I couldn’t believe what I saw. Around the corner from where I was hidden, I saw Nick, the lonely kid from Dom’s Bible study, handing a small plastic bag of little crystal rocks to a woman in a tight red dress who looked about as old as my mother. She threw a fist full of cash at him, so much that it spilled out of his tiny hand and he had to bend over to scrape it off the concrete. He stuffed the cash into a backpack and zipped it shut. The woman glanced around, shook his hand, and then marched out onto the main road, barely missing me. Nick was still hidden, standing in the side street.
    Dom’s student was dealing heroin.
    I marched up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder. “What the hell are you doing Nick?” He looked up at me, white and shaking.
    He pulled away. “Get away from me, I don’t know you.” I panicked when I realized that he was right, he didn’t know me. He had no idea I had even been in the church watching his Wednesday sessions. There was no reason for me to know his name, other than the truth. And the truth was something I needed to keep to myself.
    He started to run out of the alley but I blocked his way. I had to think fast. “I’m a friend of your mom’s. Again, what the hell are you doing?”
    He looked at me quizzically. Smart kid; he wasn’t buying it. “How do you know my mom? I’ve never met you.”
    I racked my brain, trying to think of any information I could that might convince him. Unfortunately, I could only think of one thing. “Your parents are never home. They’re always out selling stuff because they both lost their jobs and they don’t want to lose your house.” I hated to bring it up but I had to get him to stay around long enough to listen to me.
    Nick’s face fell toward his tattered white sneakers. I could tell his situation wasn’t one he wanted to talk about, especially not with a stranger. “What’s your name?”
    I looked down at the pavement under us, and ran my hand through my hair. I had accidentally told Dom my real name and that had worked out, but this time I might not be so lucky. “Jack. Now, will you tell me what the hell you are doing with that garbage?”
    “Why, do you want some?” I glared at him and snatched his bag out of his grasp. “Hey, that’s mine! You gotta pay for that.” His face went white, making his freckles look like black little poppy seeds.
    I threw open the bag and dug my hand through the wads of bills until I found something hard. Sure enough, there were eight more bags resting at the bottom. “We’re going to get rid of this. Right now.” I gathered the bags and walked toward a nearby garbage can, but I felt two hands clasping onto my shirt, and I found myself dragging the weight of a ten-year-old boy behind me.
    “No, you can’t! She’ll kill me. Please, I can’t go back without that.”
    I stopped and turned to face him. “Who? Someone’s making you do this?” Nick’s flushed, tear-stained face looked up at