Bodily Harm Read Online Free PDF

pocket. There’s no other explanation. He’s banking on something. I can smell it. Why don’t I know what that is?”
    Neither Craft nor Meyers answered, apparently thinking her question rhetorical.
    Bolelli turned on them. “Why don’t I know what that is, Brandon?”
    Craft stumbled. “I talked to my source this morning. There was a board meeting, and he said no one looked happy going into it.”
    “Well then something probably happened,” Meyers said,stating the obvious.
    “Of course something happened. What I want to know is what that was,” Bolelli said. “And I want to know now.”
    THREE TREE POINT
WASHINGTON
    TOO EXCITED TO wait any longer, Sloane and Tina decided to have dessert at home with Jake and tell him the news over a bowl of ice cream. Neither was certain how Jake would react, though he had been dropping hints that it might be okay to have a little brother, and maybe a sister, as long as she wasn’t the annoying type.
    “I’ll get the ice cream,” Sloane said as they walked in the back door. “I think we better stock up; you might have those midnight cravings for things like ice cream and sardines.”
    She scrunched her nose. “Ew.”
    “You go reel in Jake; he’s probably down at the water, fishing.”
    As he retrieved bowls and spoons, habit caused Sloane to look to the granite counter, but Bud did not trot along its edge, purring and looking to be fed. Two months earlier his cat had darted from the house just as the neighbor’s seventeen-year-old son sped up the block in his parents’ Mercedes, killing Bud. Sloane and Jake had built a coffin, lined it with Bud’s favorite blanket, and buried him in the backyard, facing the Puget Sound, so Bud could dream about fish forever. Sloane had cried that day. He and Bud had been alike. Both orphans, they had managed somehow to find a family. Even after two months, Sloane found himself mourning his cat’s death, and any discussion of a replacement seemed sacrilegious, though Jake and Tina were making subtle hints about a puppy.
    • • •
    WHEN SLOANE FINISHED his ice cream he rested his spoon in his bowl. “So, Jake, your mother and I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”
    Jake had been uncharacteristically quiet, as if he knew the shoe was about to drop and hoped his silence might make him invisible. He raised his focus from his bowl. “I’m sorry,” he blurted. “I tried. I really tried, but I don’t get it. Please don’t tell me I can’t go fishing anymore.”
    Tina raised a napkin to cover her smile.
    “Well, since you brought it up, Jake, let’s talk about your algebra test,” Sloane said.
    Jake’s jaw dropped. He looked like he wanted to slap his forehead. “You mean you were going to talk about something else? Oh, crap.”
    “Language,” Tina said.
    “Actually, Jake, I should be apologizing to you,” Sloane said.
    “Why, what did you do wrong?”
    “I made you a promise and I didn’t keep it. I promised to help you with your algebra. A man is only as good as his word. I’m afraid mine wasn’t worth much.”
    “That’s okay, David. You’ll do better next time.” Jake quickly pushed back his chair from the table.
    “Hang on a second there, partner,” Sloane said. “That being said, we both have some work to do, and we’ll start tonight, after dinner. We’ll go over your test and find out why your answers are wrong. Then we’ll get started on your homework.”
    “It’s not due until Friday.”
    “Good, then we have plenty of time to get it done right. I don’t want you to wait until the last minute and cram on Thursday night.”
    “That’s what you did for your trial.”
    “What?”
    “You told Mom that Tom did all the work, and you had to cram over the weekend and couldn’t take her to that garden show.”
    Tina raised her napkin again. Sloane wanted to kick her under the table.
    “You’re right, I did say that, but that wasn’t because I was off having fun. I was working on other