Devil's Pass Read Online Free PDF

stood up, rubbing his bare knees with his hands to ease the sting.
    â€œYou can’t make me do this,” he told Elliott.
    Elliott was still standing inside the locked bedroom, still holding Niblet.
    â€œYou can’t make me do this, sir ,” Elliott corrected.
    â€œI’m not listening to you,” Webb said, anger breaking through his usually peaceful exterior. “You’re not my father.”
    Elliott gave him a silky smile. “I wondered how long it would take you to get there. No, I’m not your father. And yes, I can make you do that.”
    Elliott continued to stroke the top of Niblet’s head. “I believe your father gave you this dog on the first day you went to school. Kindergarten, right? I’ve seen the photos in your family album.”
    â€œPut him down,” Webb said, stepping toward Elliott. “You wouldn’t hurt him, would you?”
    â€œI didn’t say that, did I?” Elliott responded. “Think carefully. This is a significant moment. You need to ask yourself how far I will go to win this war. And remember, I’m a soldier.”
    Elliott set Niblet on the floor, and the dog raced to Webb, who scooped him up in his arms. Niblet licked his face.
    â€œYou’ll listen to me?” Elliott asked.
    Webb was only eleven, holding the dog he loved. His confusion was a horrible blackness that felt like sinking in mud. Elliott hadn’t threatened Niblet directly. No one was crazy enough to hurt a dog, right? Even though he knew that Elliott’s threat to hurt Niblet might only be in his imagination, Webb couldn’t escape his fears. Webb felt like he hadn’t done enough for his dad when he got sick. He still believed that somehow, someway, he could have made a difference, and somehow, someway, he could have helped his dad live longer. So if he hadn’t done enough to save his dad, he’d do whatever it took to save Niblet, even against something that might only be an imaginary threat.
    Elliott must have seen the confusion in Webb’s face, because he gave a perfect smile with those perfect teeth.
    â€œFive minutes on the rice,” Elliott said. “You will not say a word of this to Charlotte. And at breakfast tomorrow, you will tell Charlotte you changed your mind and you’d prefer soccer after all. After school, you’re going to get a haircut. You look like a girl. Agreed?”
    Webb was only eleven but old enough to understand how much his life had just changed.
    Elliott must have seen that on Webb’s face too, because he gave another perfect smile with those perfect teeth.
    â€œI’m glad you understand me,” Elliott said. “Now kneel.”

SEVEN
    Webb ran his tongue over the hole in his bottom lip where his tooth had been. It hurt. So did the gap in his gums. Even so, it was better than losing an upper tooth. That would be pretty obvious. This way, at least, people wouldn’t see a gap, since his lower teeth were always hidden when he smiled.
    It was difficult to guess the time without a watch or a cell phone or a window, especially since he was hearing a new guitar riff in his head. He’d been sitting on the bench, imagining his guitar was in his hands and feeling where he’d put his fingers to play the chords.
    He even had the hook of a song to go with the riff. He’d been thinking about the playground just outside the walls of his prison cell. The brightly colored bars of the swing set and the teeter-totter were probably less than twenty steps away. So close, so far.
    And that’s where he was headed with the song’s hook.
    Take me close
Take me far
But the cages we choose for ourselves
Keep us from what really matters
And you matter most to me
So why are you so close and yet so far…
    He was feeling it—the rise of a G chord—when the door opened. It was the cop, his face expressionless.
    He pointed out the cell door, and the meaning was clear