Matt & Michelle 1: The Fugitive Heir Read Online Free PDF Page B

big payday from my family. Allegations of date rape were a possibility, along with child support payments and anything else Jayna’s family lawyers could come up with.”
    “God, it must have hurt to be seen as nothing more than a big wallet.”
    I sighed. “It did, though I took perverse pleasure in appearing blind to Jayna’s attempts to seduce me.”
    “So that’s why Jayna started the rumors that you were gay.”
    Michelle’s words triggered a connection. “Were you the one who started the counter rumor?”
    “That a couple of the maids in your house were tutoring you in the ways of love? Absolutely.”
    “Thanks, though I felt bad for the maids’ reputations when I first heard the rumor. When I apologized to them about the rumors, they just laughed and told me not to worry about it.”
    “Oh, they already knew, Matt. Daddy asked their permission before I started the rumor. Jayna treated them like she did everyone else—with condescension—so they were happy to help.”
    “Why didn’t you ever tell me how you felt? Just a few hours ago, Jonas said it would be useful for you to be my girlfriend, that you’d have an excuse to be with me wherever I went. Why not do that throughout school?”
    “Daddy did ask me to do that after the Jayna incident. Keep the other girls at bay and all that.”
    “Why didn’t you go along with it? You know it would have worked.”
    “It would have—right up until you found out I was one of your bodyguards. You’d have assumed it was just business for me and I’d have lost you forever.”
    “No I wouldn’t. Not after we kissed. I’d have read your true emotions.”
    “Yeah, well, I didn’t know you were psychic, did I?”
    “Oh. Good point.”
    “Now, let me finish this note to Daddy. We’re going to have to break from the flight plan soon and I want the message in place when we do.”
    Michelle let me read the note before she sent it.
    Dear Daddy, My new boyfriend asked me to come along on a trip. Remember that gift he wanted to go looking for? I’m going to help him find it. I’ll see you when we get back. Hugs to Mom and don’t worry.
    “Nice work, Michelle. This won’t make sense to anyone who wasn’t part of our conversation last night.”
    “There’s a bit more to it than that. The last sentence is code asking him to cover for your absence.”
    “Just mine? What about you?”
    “I’m not supposed to inherit billions of credits late this afternoon. No one is going to think twice if I’m out of sight for a while.”
    Ten minutes later, I broke from my flight plan and flew for the nearest wormhole.
    “Daddy’s response just arrived, but keep your mind on piloting. We can discuss it once we’ve entered the wormhole.”
    Then the wormhole opened before us and the solar system I called home vanished.
    Michelle gasped at the sudden transition from normal space to whatever it was that formed the inside of a wormhole. One second, the view port showed deep blackness interspersed with tiny sparks of light. The next second, gray nothingness cloaked our ship.
    “That’s just creepy, Matt. It’s like we’re encased in the thickest fog ever seen. God only knows what strange and monstrous things lurk just beyond our sight.”
    She shuddered. Ever the caring young man, I put an arm around Michelle and pulled her close.
    “It’s just the inside of a wormhole. You get used to it after a while.”
    “Have you never wondered if anything else was inside the wormhole with you? Wondered if maybe something within the wormhole was behind ship disappearances?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe I did when I was little. If so, I was too young to remember it.” I shrugged. “I think there would be more wormhole disappearances if something living inside the wormhole was behind them.”
    Michelle gave a second shudder. “Maybe it doesn’t get hungry very often…”
    Now the gray nothingness was starting to creep me out, too. It was time to change the subject.
    “So,