Stone Walls Read Online Free PDF Page B

folder closer to me. As my eyes skim the fact sheet, my blood simmers reading some of this shit. I am the perfect person to help nail this fucker to the cross. Rob sits, eyeing me suspiciously. I refuse to give him one iota of satisfaction. He has no clue what I’m thinking right now. He just assumes he does.
    Closing the file with a firm hand, I mimic his posture. “What?”
    “Don’t you think you need to tell Farley?”
    “Tell him what, that I have a personal goal to fuck the mob up? For Christ’s sake Rob, we just got the case. How about we let things play out the way they’re supposed to. If I need to, then I’ll tell him.”
    “If?”
    “Yeah, if.” I gauge his expression. There’s more than he’s letting on. “Are you afraid of this one?” Rob is the only person on this earth that knows my entire truth. Not even my brother knows. I trust Rob implicitly. It’s not unusual for him to be apprehensive when we are given a case. He goes in very clinically, facts, above all else. My approach is more vigilante-like in nature.
    “I’m not afraid of the case. I’m afraid of your reaction to this case.”
    “I appreciate the concern. I’m fine.”
    He doesn’t look convinced but chooses not to argue. “Give me that,” he barks, dragging the file closer.

    “Give me that,” my mom said as she dragged one of the boxes my father brought home for my birthday closer. “Where are you getting the money for all of this?” That gift made four in total, and each one was more expensive than the next.
    “I know a guy. He scored some stolen stuff. He owed me and said I could help myself.” My father’s tone was clipped. He wanted her to drop it.
    With each box I opened, it made me feel sicker to my stomach. “Dad, I don’t need this stuff.”
    “Sure you do.”
    Jonathan grabbed the cellphone out of my hand. “I’ll take it.” My father snatched it back, wordlessly putting it on the table.
    “Aw, man,” Jonathan griped.
    “Go to bed.” Mom pointed toward his room.
    My brother mumbled under his breath and left the three of us at the table. Once his door slammed shut, my mom leaned closer to my father. “David. We can barely pay the bills...”
    “This shit won’t pay the bills, Carol!” He stood abruptly and stalked over to a cabinet to retrieve his whiskey. Drinking it right from the bottle, he turned and said, “Stop bothering me. Can’t I give my son some presents on his eighteenth birthday?”
    “I don’t want your presents,” I responded, leveling him with my glare. “I don’t need this shit.” What I needed was a father, but those words I kept to myself.
    “You’re becoming more ungrateful than your mother. Nothing ever pleases her. Nothing ever makes her happy.” He pointed to me and said, “You’re just like her.”
    “I’d rather be like her than you.” The words were out before I could stop them. His anger rolled through him. His free hand clenched into a tight fist. With every breath, his nostrils would flare wider. He stepped closer, seething before he changed course and rammed his fist into the wall behind my head. My mother jumped, except for the muscles clenching in my jaw, I didn’t move otherwise.
    The littlest things could make my dad’s temper flare. Most of the time instigated by my mother, sometimes me. He never hit any of us. The walls around us received the wrath of his fury.
    Without a word, he grabbed his jacket and stormed toward the front door. “Dave!” His response was a resounding slam of the door behind him.
    “It’s late. Why don’t you go to bed, Mom?”
    She looked so tired. It had nothing to do with the hour. My mom looked much older than her forty years. You could still tell she was once a striking woman, in spite of the deep lines around her eyes.

    Rob sighs and looks up from the folder. “Are you sure you want to take on Politto?”
    “Yes.”
    “Fine.”
    The discussion is over. Rob thankfully doesn’t harp.
    “This is ours to bust,