Misery Loves Company Read Online Free PDF

Chris were sitting in their car eating lunch, Jason had said, “Promise me something.”
    “What?”
    “If something ever happens to me, take care of her for me.”
    “Nothing is going to happen to you. That’s why God gave you me. I’m like your guardian angel, except with more muscles. And I’m a good shot.”
    “Downey?”
    Chris blinked. “Yeah?”
    “You blanked out for a second,” Maecoat said.
    “Sorry.” Chris realized he was staring at the wedding photo. He picked up the frame and noticed the date engraved on the frame. “Maecoat, come here.”
    “What?”
    “Look at this date.”
    “Yeah, what about it?”
    “That was Tuesday. Tuesday would’ve been their anniversary.”
    Maecoat nodded, setting down the Styrofoam box that contained his food. “That’s not good. But she could’ve just gone away, right? Just some time to think?”
    “Maybe.” Chris set the photo down. “Except maybe isn’t good enough here. It can’t be a coincidence she went missing on the day of her anniversary.”
    “You’re probably right,” Maecoat said. “But it is also most likely a sign that she took off to get away.”
    “Without telling her dad? The one person who consistentlychecks up on her? She wouldn’t do that. I know Jules. She’s too caring of a person.”
    “Maybe she’s finally gotten fed up with the old guy.”
    Chris turned, scanning the room. “We need to find her calendar.”
    “That won’t be hard. Everything is labeled.”
    “You get on that. I’m going to check her computer.”
    “Whoa . . . wait a minute. Chris, we can’t . . . I mean, taking a peek is one thing. Getting into her computer? You could get in real trouble. You know that. We’re just nosing around a little bit here. Right?”
    “You go find that calendar. I’ll take the fall for this.”
    Maecoat sighed and wandered off. Chris sat down at the perfectly neat desk that housed a desktop computer and flat-screen monitor, his hands shaking slightly. He was breaking every protocol and procedure there was, and he took it seriously. But he had to do this for Jason. He’d already failed once and now Jules was missing.
    He pulled the chair close and leaned forward, moving the mouse. Like he thought, the computer had been in sleep mode. To him, this meant she had intended to come back. If she knew she’d be gone for a while, it would have been turned off. Especially with all of the eco-friendly, energy-saving devices he’d noticed around the house.
    “Found it!” Maecoat called from the kitchen. “In a drawer labeled ‘Calendars.’”
    “She’s making this easy on us,” Chris said. The computerawakened to her Facebook page. Her last post read, Hoping the rain moves out today!
    Maecoat walked in. “Nothing unusual on her calendar for Tuesday, yesterday, or today. But Tuesday’s date is lightly circled in pencil. Nothing written.”
    “Did the sun come out Tuesday?”
    Maecoat stared at him. “You’re seriously asking me that?”
    “Yes.”
    “I was busy admiring the grass.”
    “Humor me.”
    Maecoat sighed. “I think it did. I was working that accident on the highway and it seemed like it got a little warm. I took off my gloves.”
    “So maybe she did walk to the store.”
    “There are a lot of maybes here.”
    Chris stared at the computer. He was crossing the line here. Big-time. His hand retreated from the mouse and he stood. He had to trust the system. At least partly.
    But he also had to eliminate some of the maybes.

JULES OPENED HER EYES. She’d been with Jason again. They’d sat on a park bench and she told him that she’d been angry with him. Why couldn’t he save her from all this grief? Why couldn’t he help her move on? She knew it was “till death do us part,” but Jason never believed in death. He said the soul goes on. He believed in a heaven that she never could fully wrap her mind around.
    She’d feared death ever since she was a child. It was just as sure as her birth, but that