Breaking Creed Read Online Free PDF Page B

have been before you were born. Addie, we called her. She was a bundle of energy. Need some water for her?”
    “No, thanks,” Creed told him, and patted the backpack now on the wood-planked floor. “I’ve got everything she needs. Do you mind if she eats here under the table while we do?”
    “Not at all. In fact, I have the new boy bringing you all some appetizers. On the house.”
    “You don’t have to do that, sir.” Kesnick beat Creed in declining the offer.
    “No, I insist. It’s not every day I get to treat a celebrity.” He wagged a finger at Grace then Creed. “Two of um. I read the article about you in USA Today .”
    “Daddy reads three newspapers every morning.”
    “Those drug busts up in Atlanta. That was you two, right?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    He looked back at his daughter, concern suddenly furrowing his brow. “You doing something with drugs out on the Gulf?”
    “Don’t worry. We’re already back, safe and sound.”
    Creed waited for her to tell him about the kids, but Walter simply nodded, accustomed to not getting to hear about his daughter’s adventures until and unless she shared.
    “Join us,” Kesnick offered.
    “I’d like to but I’m chatting with some navy boys from Philly.Howard took them deep-sea fishing this afternoon. I’ll stop back to make sure the boy-genius is taking care of you.”
    He bent down to peck his daughter’s cheek, again, then he pointed at Creed, his finger crooked with arthritis, his blue eyes serious. “Those drug cartels are mean sons of bitches, excuse my French. You watch your back.”
    They watched him squeeze and shuffle around the crowded tables, none of them saying a word even after he disappeared through the lounge door.
    “Don’t pay attention to him,” Bailey said. “He reads a lot of thriller novels, too.” But she wasn’t smiling.

7
    T HUNDER RATTLED THE GLASS . Creed rolled over to watch the lightning fork through the sky, illuminating the night outside the open window. A breeze brought in the smell of rain. He needed to shut the window before the downpour started, but he closed his eyes instead and he stayed put. Sleep didn’t come easy for him. On the rare occasions when it came at all, it knocked him out completely.
    He could hear a dog barking, but his eyelids were too heavy. Nearby an engine rumbled to life. The smell of diesel stung his nostrils. Another flash. His eyelids fluttered, caught a glimpse of blurred headlights, then closed again.
    In the back of his mind he remembered how crowded the rest area was. Trucks hummed in back, in their own parking lot, separated from the cars and SUVs. Rain turned the wet, greasy asphalt into streaks of neon red and yellow and orange that danced and moved, the reflection of taillights and running lights coming to life.Creed’s sister, Brodie, had been fascinated with the slimy smears. Leave it to Brodie, she could always see rainbows where the rest of the family saw only dirty pools of diesel. Creed remembered how she pranced from puddle to puddle, making sure she splashed in as many as possible as she ran the short distance from their car to the brick building that housed the restrooms. And although he couldn’t hear her, he knew she was humming or singing the entire way. So happy, so good-natured—traits you’d never guess would be hazards.
    “Her feet will be soaking wet,” Creed’s father had grumbled from behind the steering wheel as he watched her.
    The game was on the radio. Fourth quarter, only five minutes left, and his team was behind by three.
    “Can’t you shut that dog up,” he yelled over the backseat.
    That was why Creed hadn’t been able to escort Brodie. He had been told to take care of and shut up their family dog so his dad could at least hear “the frickin’ game.” It was bad enough that they would be driving all night and he would have to listen instead of watch. He was already mad that Creed’s mom had to stay behind for a few extra days to take care of