Boys of Blur Read Online Free PDF Page A

already.”
    Charlie panted. “We didn’t see nothin’?” His laugh came out as a wheeze. “Double negative?”
    Cotton shook his head. “This isn’t funny, Charlie. This is cops and bodies and some serious spook.”
    Charlie nodded, still panting, and braced his hands on his knees.
    “And next time, coz, don’t be hanging back when things go all Hound of the Baskervilles,” Cotton said, backing down the middle of the street. “That’s when it’s time to run.”
    “Hey, I was fine in my room,” Charlie said. “You were the one who brought me. And I don’t even know what a baskerville is.”
    Cotton turned toward a side street and broke into a jog. “Read a book, yo!”
    “Whatever,” Charlie said, but he was alone. He looked back over his shoulder. The street ran out of orange lights before it ran out of boarded-up buildings. At the end, there was an old half-broken barricade and a rusty sign puckered with bullet holes dangling sideways from a single screw.

    Beyond the sign, swaying cane. In the distance, the little white church on the hill throwing quiet light back at the moon. Somewhere in the darkness, Charlie knew, a man was lugging a body. Somewhere, something withhands stronger than iron was creeping through the cane, trailing a smell as foul as hate itself.
    Charlie ran.

    Natalie Mack closed her eyes and splashed cold water on her face. With firm fingertips, she pressed the cold against her cheekbones and moved up to her brows.
    It was supposed to relieve stress. But she wasn’t feeling stress. She was just … nervous.
    Four suitcases were already sitting by the motel room door. Molly was dressed and fed and laughing on her father’s lap at the end of the saggy motel room bed.
    Natalie allowed herself one quick look in the mirror above the sink. Her blond hair was in a pile on top of her head, spiked in place by a motel pen swiped from the pad beside the phone. Her eyes were clear and sharp. For some reason, she felt like they were supposed to be bloodshot.
    She turned her head slightly, just enough to see the pale scar peeking out from behind her ear.
    Somewhere in this broad, flat land of muck and cane, there was a man she had once loved, a man who had given her that scar, who had given her Charlie.
    She blinked, pressed a towel against her face, and went to wake her son.
    Charlie’s shins and knees were smeared with dirt and grass. The arms of his sweatshirt were much worse—filthyfrom elbow to wrist. And he stank. The whole room smelled like horse. Or something less … alive.
    Natalie bit her lip and leaned back against the door-jamb. She couldn’t stop a smile. All in all, Charlie looked like a boy who had been having himself some fun.
    “Charlie?”
    Charlie jerked in surprise and slid up onto his elbows. “Hey.” He left his eyes shut for a moment.
    “Charlie? Are you okay?” He felt his mom’s weight dip the mattress beside him. Her hand touched his face, her fingers immediately tracking the largest cane stripe across his forehead.
    Charlie opened his eyes. “Yeah,” he said. “How about you? Are you okay?”
    Natalie smiled. A real one. Her eyes creased.
    “Yeah, Charlie Boy, I’m fine. We’re fine.” She tugged on his filthy sleeve and her smiling face became a question mark. Charlie sat all the way up and pressed his back against the wall. A television was selling something on the other side of it.
    “I’m sorry,” Charlie said. “I shouldn’t have gone out. But Cotton came by and you and Mack were talking. I thought Molly would be okay if I left the door to your room a little open.” He studied his mother’s face, but she wasn’t giving anything away. “I left a note,” he added.
    Natalie nodded. “I got it. It’s a small town, Charlie, but still, just taking off like that …”
    “I know,” Charlie said.
    He watched his mother’s eyes shift. The subject had just changed somewhere behind them.
    “What did you and Mack decide?” he asked. His