Haunted Read Online Free PDF Page A

about to faint or something.”
    Rae shoved her curly hair away from her face with both hands. “When I touched Mrs. Beven’s glass, I got so scared. I knew I was safe, just standing in the kitchen.
    But I could hardly stand up, I was that terrified.”
    “You got a thought about Jesse’s dad, right?”
    Anthony asked. “That’s why you asked about him.”
    “Yeah. A bunch of thoughts about him, actually,”
    Rae answered. “The worst one was, ‘what if his father took him.’The emotion that came with that one. Whoa.”
    A flicker of motion in the kitchen window caught Anthony’s attention. “We should leave. Jesse’s mom is probably wondering why we’re still here. In another second she’ll be making us chocolate chip cookies or something.” He reached for the key, then hesitated.
    “Are you okay to go? I mean, are you still dizzy?” He couldn’t shake the image of her in the moment she dropped that glass. It was like she wasn’t even Rae anymore. Like all the life got sucked out of her. And he was powerless to do anything about it.
    “I’m good. It doesn’t last that long. That one was just intense,” Rae answered.
    Anthony started the car and backed out of the driveway. “I guess you don’t know the deal about Jesse’s dad,” he said. “He beat up Jesse’s mom a lot.
    Sometimes Jesse. This one time he half-killed her, and a nurse at the hospital hooked them up with one of those women’s shelters where they help you move and change your name and stuff.”
    “God,” Rae said under her breath. Anthony shot a glance at her. She was staring straight ahead, a tiny furrow between her eyebrows. “So Jesse’s dad really doesn’t know where they are, like Mrs. Beven said?” Rae asked.
    “He shouldn’t. But who knows? Jesse tracked him down on the Internet. I guess it made him feel better knowing exactly where the guy was. He works at a bar in New Orleans.”
    “Jesse’s never tried to contact him, though?”
    “No friggin’ way. He only wanted to know where the guy was so he could make sure that he and his mom stay far enough away,” Anthony answered.
    “I can see why Jesse’s dad snatching Jesse is the worst thing Mrs. Beven could imagine,” Rae said.
    “But it doesn’t seem that likely, does it?” She reached over and popped open the glove box. “Hey, I remember this.
    We had this workbook in my fourth-grade class. Is it your little sister’s?”
    Anthony’s veins caught fire. Rae’s fingers were an inch away from his English workbook. His. If she touched it, she’d know he was a total moron.
    “What the hell are you doing?” He grabbed the workbook and hurled it into the backseat, then slammed the glove box shut, almost catching one of her fingers.
    Rae’s eyes widened. “I was about to look for a piece of gum because drinking milk always leaves this icky coating in my mouth,” she explained, looking at him like he’d grown two heads.
    “It’s out of line to go rifling through someone’s stuff,” Anthony snapped, even though he knew he should be apologizing.
    “Oh, and it’s not out of line to practically chop off my hand,” Rae muttered.
    They rode for a minute in charged silence.
    “It’s the fingerprints thing again, right?” Rae finally asked. “You cleaned off the door handles, but you didn’t clean inside the glove compartment.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to… to spy on you. It’s just that it’s pretty hard to remember that I can’t touch anything.”
    “It’s no biggie. I was an idiot,” Anthony said. He opened the glove box, rooted around until he found a box of his mother’s Tic Tacs, and tossed them in her lap.
    “Thanks.” Rae took one and then shook the box at him.
    He held out his hand to take one, even though he didn’t really like them. “So what were you saying? Before, you know.”
    Before you almost found out how freakin’ stupid I am, he added silently. He’d told Rae once, who the hell knew why,