ROMANTIC SUSPENSE : DEATH WHISPERED SOFTLY Read Online Free PDF Page A

screamed at her dazed husband.
    The crushed foster father did go to the cops to file a report, but the sharp detective there could quickly infer, from the old man’s mannerisms and talk, the true reason behind the boy’s flight.
    “We will certainly look for the boy Mr. Donald. But if we find out that you and your wife were mean and abusive to him, we will not hesitate to arrest and charge you under the child abuse act” he sternly warned  Steve’s foster father who started trembling when he heard what the officer had just said. Seeing him quivering like a leaf the detective knew that this man (and perhaps his wife as well) had been tormenting the kid and because of their actions he had fled their house. Although the cop registered Donald’s report, he (or his colleagues), were not particularly enthusiastic to find the boy in a hurry and restore him to this couple before they fully investigated their home and the situation that induced him to run away.
     
     
    CHAPTER V
     
        Steve found work at a restaurant in Los Angeles. The restaurant served Mexican food, and although the restaurant was small, it was pretty popular, and the customers tipped generously.  Steve started making a decent amount of money, but he was just sixteen and lived with the hard reality was that he was all alone. And his loneliness started bothering him. Even though the money provided him the freedom he had desperately sought, he longed for friendship and companionship. And with his new found freedom, steady money, and none to guide or chasten him, Steve soon fell into bad company.
    The restaurant Steve was working in was patronized by the members of a “minor” L.A. gang which specialized in stealing cars and other petty crimes. One of the gang members Carlo Lopez, who was barely a year older than Steve, and a regular patron at the restaurant, befriended him.  It was Carlo who introduced Steve to the other members of his gang.  Steve was fascinated by them.  Blinded by the thought of having “friends”, Steve was lured into their world of crime. Their tough demeanor, their bizarre and intimidating tattoos, arrogance and a carefree attitude mesmerized Steve, for he had seen nothing like this back in Indiana. Soon he wanted to be a part of them.  And thanks to Carlo, Steve became a part of the gang.  It was ironic that it was only upon joining the gang that Steve finally experienced a sense of belonging. The gang members were now his new family.
     
        He would hang out with “the guys”, drinking beer, stealing, and taking part in their criminal acts. Often Steve felt the pain of an inner conflict, knowing that he did these things against the wishes of his heart, but he was afraid that if his “friends” were to find out, they would dump him and he would be left all by himself all over again.  The thought of being alone again was so terrifying that Steve surrendered to the life of his friends and their unscrupulous deeds— stealing, shoplifting, car-jacking, petty extortions, drinking, and doing drugs.
    But all the crimes did not change Steve completely. At heart he strived to be the loving, kind child that he was raised to be, when his parents passed away. 
     
    Steve struggled with the life he was leading. Although the kind of life he was living made him a very tough man—both physically and mentally—he managed to retain the inherent goodness in his heart, and he attributed this to the teachings of his parents. No matter how hard he would try, Steve could never blot out the memories or teachings of his affectionate parents.
    Steve did a lot of things he wasn’t proud of to survive, but kept himself away from drugs. He had learned in his school, and it was engraved in his mind, how devastating drugs could be.  He had staunchly resolved that no matter what, he wouldn’t do drugs.
    He was with the gang because he wanted family—and the gang members were his family and friends, but he didn’t adopt all of their