Once Taken Read Online Free PDF

seeing her mother, April’s eyes lit up with panic. She reached under the picnic table to extinguish the joint in her hand, obviously hoping to make it disappear.
    “Don’t bother to hide it,” Riley said, striding toward the table. “I know what you’re doing.”
    She could barely make herself heard over the music. She reached over to the player and turned it off.
    “This isn’t what it looks like, Mom,” April said.
    “This is exactly what it looks like,” Riley said. “Give me the rest of it.”
    Rolling her eyes, April handed over a plastic bag with a small amount of pot in it.
    “I thought you were working,” April said, as if that explained everything.
    Riley didn’t know whether to feel more angry or disappointed. She’d caught April smoking pot just once before. But things had gotten better between them, and she’d thought those days were behind them.
    Riley stared at the boy.
    “Mom, this is Brian,” April said. “He’s a friend from school.”
    With a vacant grin and glassy eyes, the boy reached out to shake hands with Riley.
    “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Paige,” he said.
    Riley kept her own hands at her sides.
    “What are you even doing here?” Riley asked April.
    “This is where I live,” April said with a shrug.
    “You know what I mean. You’re supposed to be at your dad’s house.”
    April didn’t reply. Riley looked at her watch. Time was running short. She had to resolve this situation quickly.
    “Tell me what happened,” Riley said.
    April was starting to look somewhat embarrassed. She really wasn’t prepared for this situation.
    “I walked to school from Dad’s house this morning,” she said. “I ran into Brian in front of the school. We decided to skip today. It’s okay if I miss it once in a while. I’m acing it already. The final exam isn’t till Friday.”
    Brian let out a nervous, inane laugh.
    “Yeah, April really is doing great in that class, Ms. Paige,” he said. “She’s awesome.”
    “How did you get here?” Riley asked.
    April looked away. Riley easily guessed why she was reluctant to tell her the truth.
    “Oh, God, you kids hitchhiked here, didn’t you?” Riley said.
    “The driver was a really nice guy, very quiet,” April said. “Brian was with me the whole time. We were safe.”
    Riley struggled to keep her nerves and her voice steady.
    “How do you know you were safe? April, you’re never supposed to accept rides from strangers. And why would you come here after the scare we got last night? That was incredibly foolish. Suppose Peterson was still around?”
    April smiled as if she knew better.
    “C’mon, Mom. You worry too much. The other agents say so. I heard two of them talking about it—the guys who drove me to Dad’s house last night. They said Peterson was definitely dead, and you just couldn’t accept it. They said whoever left those stones probably did it as a prank.”
    Riley was steaming. She wished she could get her hands on those agents. They had a lot of nerve, contradicting Riley within earshot of her daughter. She thought about asking April for their names, but she decided to let that go.
    “Listen to me, April,” Riley said. “I’ve got to go out of town on a job for a few days. I have to leave right now. I’m taking you to your Dad’s house. I need for you to stay there.”
    “Why can’t I go with you?” April asked.
    Riley wondered how on earth teenage kids could be so stupid about some things.
    “Because you’ve got to finish this class,” she said. “You’ve got to pass it or you’ll be behind in school. English is a requirement, and you blew it for no good reason. And besides, I’m working. Being around while I’m on the job isn’t always safe. You ought to know that by now.”
    April said nothing.
    “Come on inside,” Riley said. “We’ve only got a few minutes. I’ve got to get some things together, and so do you. Then I’m taking you to your father’s house.”
    Turning to Brian, Riley