Scam Read Online Free PDF Page B

idea.”
    “But you went along.”
    “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”
    “But if you got caught…”
    “I know. So what do you think?”
    “You want my opinion?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well,” he began slowly. “Is she cute? The girl?”
    “Yeah. She’s hot.”
    “How come she chose you?”
    I explained how we met.
    “That is one crazy chick,” Noah said. “She sounds really…interesting.”
    “Interesting but dangerous.”
    His eyes were wide now. “What was it you wanted my advice about?”
    “I’m not sure I want any more grief in my life than I already have. Should I see her again or just walk away from it?”
    Noah looked at me like I had two heads. “Josh, are you out of your mind? If I had a girl like that, I’d rob a bank if she asked me to. What is there to think about?”
    I nodded. “Okay. Thanks. Would you mind not mentioning this to anyone else?”
    “Secret’s safe with me. But I want to hear what happens in the next chapter.”
    And that was pretty much the end of the conversation. He turned off the light. I eventually drifted off to sleep.
    The next day Darren drove us out of town to a trail in a forest. We hiked for two hours. It had been a long, long time since I’d been in the woods, and it felt good. Kyle complained a lot until Connor told him to shut up and threatened to hit him.
    “Back off, Connor,” Darren said.
    “Fat kids don’t belong on hikes,” Connor said. “Fat kids don’t belong anywhere.”
    Kyle looked humiliated, but Brian came to his defense. “Connor, you have your head so far up your ass, how do you know anything about who belongs where?”
    Strangely, Darren didn’t say anything, and that seemed to be the end of it. The trail was steep, and I was feeling it in the backs of my calves. The pain felt good. Really good. Noah was right beside me, and we were breathing hard. But not as hard as Kyle. When Connor, Brian and Darren rounded a big rock and were out of sight, we both gave Kyle a hand, helping him up the incline. We were all sweating at that point. That felt good too.
    When we stopped for a break on a high ledge overlooking a valley with a lake at the bottom, Darren handed around sandwiches. I was hungry, and they tasted great. I had a flashback to when I was little, and how my mom used to make me liverwurst sandwiches. It was weird, because in the flashback my mom was a good mom. She would wake me up, make me breakfast and help me get ready for school. It was a long time ago, though, and I couldn’t tell if it was a real memory or just something I imagined.
    When I finished my sandwich, I walked away from the others to take a pee over the ledge. I took out my cell phone and thought about calling Lindsey but discovered there was no signal.
    The hike back down was almost as difficult as going up the hill had been. Noah and I hung back and kept an eye on Kyle. Darren knew what we were doing and gave us a thumbs-up but didn’t say anything. He wasn’t giving any lectures today, but he knew what he was doing. The hike, I think, was good for all of us. It was a challenge, and we did it as a group. As a family, Darren might have said. A weird little family.
    That night the house was quiet. I had plugged my cell phone in and left it on. It rang at about two in the morning. It was Lindsey.
    “Where were you today?” she asked.
    “We went for a hike. In the woods. Sorry I didn’t call.”
    “Are you mad at me?”
    I didn’t quite know what I was feeling about her, but I remembered what Noah had said. “No,” I said. “How can I be mad at you?”
    “Can we do something tomorrow?”
    “I guess. What did you have in mind?” I was worried about what she might have in mind. What kind of scam would she come up with next?
    “Nothing, really. Let’s just hang out together. Do something…normal. Maybe go to the park.”
    “The park sounds good.”
    “When I see you, I’m going to give you a really big hug.”
    I fell back asleep,