Jacob's Ladder Read Online Free PDF Page A

back here and kick your ass. Figuratively speaking, of course.”
    Carl winced. “Son—”
    JT turned to his father. “See you later, Dad.” He gave his dad"s arm a squeeze.
    “I"m outta here.”
    When the door closed behind Jason, Carl leaned over my bed. “Don"t mind my son. He"s like that. A whirlwind.”
    “It"s all right. He"s probably had a long night.” St. Nacho’s 3: Jacob’s Ladder
    17
    “Yeah.”
    A deep silence filled the room. I had never been one to wade in and fill them, and neither, it seemed, was Carl. Eventually he said, “You"re Jewish?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Me too.” Carl gazed down at me. “I"m not very observant.” I tried out a smile, but it hurt. “You noticed I didn"t leave my room.”
    “That"s not… Oh. I see. Yes.” Carl grinned. Another silence followed. “I guess I meant to say I"m not a good Jew.”
    “I know. Me neither.”
    “My son is more religious. He thinks it"s a crime against God to fight like you do for pleasure or money. He worries about things like that. He"s fairly opinionated about it.”
    I tried to think what that could mean. “Fight for pleasure?”
    “Don"t get me wrong, I understand that it"s a popular thing, and people call it a sport, just not Jason. He has this idea that those fight clubs are barbaric, a return to the kind of blood sport that was popular in ancient Rome.”
    “Fight club?” I tried to focus on Carl, but even that brief encounter tired me. I tried to think back on what I"d said while I"d been so sick.
    “Yeah. No big deal. You just need to know you"re going to hear about it from Jason. He"ll try to talk you out of ever doing it again.” Something clicked in my memory. “ Fight club .” I sighed. “I told him I was in a fight club.”
    “Yeah.” Carl"s eyes were brown. I wondered where Jason"s green eyes came from.
    “I lied. I don"t… I"m not a boxer. He can rest assured I"ll be avoiding anything like this in the future.”
    “That"s good. He was building up quite a head of steam, and he can lecture like you wouldn"t believe.”
    “I see.”
    “Why would you lie?” Carl asked. “If you"re in some kind of trouble with the law—”
    “It"s nothing like that.” I fought the desire to look away. Instead I stared Carl right in the eyes. “I told you the truth. It was domestic—my boyfriend. I was ashamed.”
    “ Ah…Yasha .” Carl sighed sadly.
    “It"s over anyway. Even I"m not that stupid. Just don"t tell…anyone, okay? It"s embarrassing enough wearing it on my skin.” Despite my determination to hold Carl"s gaze, my eyes began to drift closed. “So tired.”
    “Heal up.” Carl started for the door but then turned back. “How long do you plan to stay here in St. Nacho"s?”
    18
    Z. A. Maxfield
    I dragged my eyes open. “Hell if I know. I never planned to be here in the first place.”
    Carl started moving again. “You might want to rethink that. St. Nacho"s has a way of wrapping itself around you. I only stopped here for a burger, and that was forty years ago.”
    “You"ve done well, though. You must have liked it here.” Carl frowned in concentration, as if he was thinking hard or remembering. “I don"t think so. Not exactly, no. But it didn"t let me go.” He left me alone in the room to wonder what the hell he"d meant by that. There were lots of things in my past that wouldn"t let me go. But that didn"t mean I wanted another one.
    Rain began to patter against the window, and the sound was soothing enough that it drove away all my more pressing problems. I"d have to call Dan. Maybe Dan knew where this place was, and he could pick me up. I had been asleep on the bus in the dark when they"d left me off, and I had no clue.
    Maybe I"d take a break right here, though, and look around after I got out of the hospital. I"d never heard of St. Nacho"s. What kind of a town was called St.
    Nacho"s anyway?
    Maybe I"d stick around long enough to find out.
    St. Nacho’s 3: Jacob’s Ladder
    19
    Chapter Four
    “I could