Foreign Deceit Read Online Free PDF Page B

 
    “What’s up Dave?” Brooke studied him. “I hear Sarah’s back?”
    “Ah, yeah. She is. I’ll let Nate tell you all about it a little later.” He turned to the kids, “You guys like being back in school?”  
    “Nooooooooo!” They all answered at the same time.  
    “Whoa! Easy! What? Isn’t it fun? All I hear from Jack is how fun it is. He says that he and Brian here have a blast - studying hard, doing all their homework, never talking in class, being model students for everyone else.”  
    Brian was blushing and forking his eggs with concentration. “Jack did not say that.”  
    Wolf looked to the ceiling with a dumb look. “Oh, yeah. Wait… nobody said that. Ever.”
    The kids laughed loud and Wolf gave a knowing look to Nate. Brooke shot him a scolding glance.  
    When they finished, Nate set down his napkin, stood up and looked at Wolf. “Hey let’s head outside.”
    Wolf said his goodbyes and stay-out-of-troubles, and they went to the dirt driveway. Wolf reached into his truck and put in a pinch of snuff in his lip. Nate snapped his fingers and Wolf threw the can his way without looking. He caught it and turned his back to the house, taking a pinch.  
    Birds chirped and a lone crow cawed in the trees somewhere in the distance, beyond the blinding mist that hung feet from the ground.  
    Wolf exhaled hard. “John’s dead.”  
    “What?” Nate stepped forward and hugged him before an answer came. Wolf just stood with his arms limp at his sides for a few seconds, then returned the hug. He shuddered a few times with deep sobs, letting all his emotion out in a five second burst. He peeled away from Nate and composed himself with a steely determination.  
    “What happened?” Nate was wide eyed.  
    “We got a call yesterday from Italy telling us they found his body. He had apparently hanged himself in his apartment.”
    “Jesus…buddy, I’m so sorry.”
    “Yeah, we’re pretty shaken up. I just wanted to ask you a few favors in the next week or so.”
    “Of course. Whatever you need.”
    “I’m leaving town today, heading over to Italy. The thing is, as you know, Sarah is back on the scene as of a few days ago. She’s at Jack’s grandparents. Keep an eye on Jack. When he’s over here with Brian, ask him how things are going.” Wolf spit onto the gravel driveway. “There’s a guy hanging out over there. In fact, just keep an eye on things over there first hand, please. There’s no reason to think this time in rehab would be any different from before, and who knows what kind of guy this is hanging out with her.”  
    “I’ll kill anyone who lays a finger on your boy.” Nate’s chin was out, looking Wolf in the eye.  
    “All right.” Wolf returned the steely look, then broke into a smile. “Easy Turbo…just beat the living piss out of him if need be. No sense making my job any harder. I don’t want to be pretending I don’t know there are dead bodies in your back yard.” He laughed hard, a flood of emotions pouring out again. “Also, keep an eye on my mom too if you wouldn’t mind. I’ve left a note for Gary, too. But, he could be angry with me about something that happened yesterday.”
    Nate furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? What happened yesterday?”  
    “I had to head-butt Derek in the nose. And then some.”
    “Huh.” Nate’s expression was dead pan. “Okay. Yeah, that might be strange. But I’m sure he deserved it, right?”
    “Yeah. He deserved it.” Wolf shook his head. “In fact, be careful around that guy.”
    Nate furrowed his brow and nodded his head.
    Wolf got in his truck and rolled down the window, “Thanks man. I’ll be in touch. You ever been to Italy?”
    “Yeah one summer in college.”
    “Any tips?”
    “Ummmm, yeah, the Peroni beer is good? The pizza is good? What are you doing? Are you going to bring him back? Get all his stuff?”
    “Yep.” Wolf looked out into the thinning mist. “And to find whoever killed my