Killswitch Read Online Free PDF Page B

he’d gotten a hole blown through him did he realize there might be something more than friendship.
    He never got the chance to find out. Until now.
    “What’s going on between you and that thug you call Switch?”
    “What?” She shot off the bed
    Chase got up from the floor and took her hands in his.
    “I’m sorry. You seemed so glad to see me the other night and I thought…” He let her go and put his hands on his hips. “It’s none of my business. I’m sorry.”
    “You’re right.” Her lips made a firm line and her right brow lifted.
    “You can start up a relationship with whomever you choose. I have no business questioning you about it.”
    “No. You’re right about me being glad to see you. I prayed for months but I didn’t know if you’d ever show up. I don’t have feelings for Switchblade.”
    Chase reached for her. But the voices from somewhere down the hall stopped him. He turned his back to her and pulled on the door knob.
    “What is it?” Mel asked.
    “I turned on the hearing enhancer so we wouldn’t be surprised by passers-by. Amos is on a VPad with someone and he’s not too happy. Something to do with that device we saw at the detention center.”
    “We’d better go see what’s up.”
    He faced her and eased his arms around her. “We need to talk, Melody. About a lot of things.”
    “We will.” She pulled him close and kissed him softly on the lips. “That, by the way, is an infraction. No overt displays of affection among singles in the underground.”
    “What’s the punishment?” He returned the kiss, making this one last a bit longer.
    “No punishment. Just encouragement from the other residents.”
    “That’s odd. What sort of encouragement?”
    She smiled wide and her eyes sparkled. “Oh, you don’t want to find out. Better not tell anybody about this.”
    Chase smiled and touched the dimple in her cheek. “Meet me back here later tonight?”
    “To talk?”
    “Yes. To talk.”
    He pulled her into the hallway and then let her go before anyone saw them. But he couldn’t get the smile to leave his face. A few minutes with Amos might take care of that.
    “It’s time for lunch,” Mel said. “And time for you to stop ordering room service and join us.”

8
    Chase and Mel sat at a table with several others in the compound’s dining hall. Amos watched from a corner of the square room. A few people filled plates and set them out on a counter that separated the area with twenty rectangular tables from the kitchen.
    Several children sat together on a blanket spread on the floor in a corner of the room. Their own little picnic. A woman bent near the little party and split open a couple of oranges, laying them on the blanket for the kids to share. When she rose, she rested her hands on her round stomach. There’d soon be another child in the underground. When the time came, who’d deliver the baby?
    Molly sat beside Chase. Mom sat across from them.
    “Birdie, your boy is here at last. Your faith was rewarded,” Molly said.
    “Yes. May our faith carry us through these perilous times.” Her soft gray hair framed her face. She looked older—it’d been too long since Chase last visited his mother. But her blue eyes still glowed with vibrant energy.
    “Mom, I overheard some things. Do you know what’s going on?”
    “You know more than I do, son.” She accepted a plate handed to her by a young man. Lunch consisted of a dried hunk of some type of meat, an orange, and slice of white bread. Chase took his plate and picked up the meat.
    “We pray first,” Mom said.
    “Sorry.” He dropped the cold, hard meat as others got their plates. Ten minutes passed before everyone had been served. Then the servers served each other. What a waste of time. Amos was served. Then he got up and served the one who’d served him. At last, everybody had a plate.
    “Bow your heads,” Amos instructed. “Lord in Heaven, be with us here under the earth. Bless the ones above. Multiply