Jude Stephens Read Online Free PDF Page A

smile. She
was at her best when she thought she could help someone. Most
people didn’t give her the credit she was due. They looked at her
and saw her beautiful face and her great body and dismissed her as
a dumb blond.
    “ I’m happy for you Janel. You seem
really excited about this. This is the kind of stuff you love. You
can do a lot of good with your studies.”
    Janel smiled back, but her smile faltered. “I just
wish things turned out differently for you.”
    “ Now it’s my turn to say, don’t
worry about me. I’m going to be okay. It’s hard to explain, but I
now know what everyone’s been saying about my destiny. I can feel
it now and I have a sense of urgency to begin my training. I think
that’s why Bullet came to me, to guide me there.” I gave a little
chuckle. “I hope you don’t think I’m crazy but there it
is.”
    She shook her head. “After the
things we’ve seen these last few months, I know you’re not
crazy.”
    Just then Antonio and Bullet came around from the
back of the house.
    Janel eyed Bullet suspiciously. “I take that back,
you may be crazy for running around with a giant wolf. Did you feed
him Antonio? He still looks hungry.”
    Antonio laughed. “Yeah, he ate, five pounds of
hamburger and a package of hot dogs.”
    Now I eyed Bullet suspiciously, “You better not get
sick on me while we’re on the road.”
    Janel looked at me with concern. “Speaking of which,
how are you going to travel?”
    I shrugged. “I guess we’ll hitchhike”
    “ Oh no you’re not!” Janel gasped.
“First, no one will pick you up with that beast at your side, and
second, what if you get picked up by a serial killer or something.
You will end up on that show where they reenact true crimes. Did
you ever see the actresses they get to play the victims? I swear
they pull them off the street corners! And--”
    Antonio cut Janel off with, “She won’t have to
hitchhike.”
    I turned to look at him. He walked over to me and
gave me a set of keys and an envelope.
    I looked at him questionably. “What is this,
Antonio?”
    “ Roberto asked me to give them to
you. Those are the keys to the SUV, and I believe there is some
money in the envelope.”
    “ You can tell Mr. Valente that I
don’t want anything from him,” I said with a hint of steel in my
voice. I handed the envelope and the keys back to him.
    “ You should take it, Olivia. How
else are you going to get to where you have to go?” Janel pleaded
with me.
    “ I’ll take her.”
    At the sound of the not often heard voice we all
turned. Mark stood in the doorway with a backpack slung over his
shoulder. Regardless of the warm weather he constantly wore a dark
knit cap.
    Janel brightened visibly, “Now I feel better, Mark
will give you a ride to wherever you need to go.”
    “ No…not a ride. I’m going with
her.” Mark said quietly.
    “ Excuse me? Did you say you’re
going with me?”
    “ Yep.”
    “ Did Roberto put you up to
this?”
    “ No.”
    “ I don’t believe you. Why would
you want to go with me? We’ve hardly spoken ten words between us
since I got here months ago”
    Mark looked uncomfortable. “Just do,” was all he
muttered.
    Andy chuckled in the background “It’s because he’s
had a crush on you since the day you got here.”
    Mark moved so fast we hardly knew what happened. All
we heard was a solid crack and Andy was sprawled out on the ground
rubbing his bruised jaw.
    Janel quickly knelt beside Andy. “Are you okay,
Honey?”
    Andy stood up with Janel’s help. “Awe man, you
didn’t have to slug me.”
    I was beginning to get a major headache. “Okay…I
think I’ve had enough of this conversation. I’m heading out.”
    Mark surprised me by saying, “No don’t go. Can we
talk in private?”
    I looked at him warily but shook my head yes. We
walked around to the back of the house and hopefully out of
earshot.
    I turned to Mark, waiting for him to start. He
looked like he was having trouble