The Enemy's Son Read Online Free PDF Page B

food and raised his fork in her direction. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
    That wasn’t what she was worried about…
    She smelled rice and her mouth watered. Saying a prayer, she took a bite.
    The plate contained a cooked box dinner and canned vegetables, but she didn’t taste it much. She was a little surprised at his politeness in letting her use the table by herself. It appeared he was nice enough not to poison her as well.
    He rinsed their plates and then boiled them in a large pot due to the lack of any dish soap. She went around the wall to the beds and laid down on one, surprised at how tired she felt.
    Nick came in and sighed as he sat on the other bed. He set the lamp down on the ground and its glow spread up into the room. It sounded a bit like a campfire when she closed her eyes. She could still feel him looking at her. 
     “Your father isn’t completely alone,” he said. “I’m not the only one in the family that disagrees with what they’re doing. My cousin is trying to keep tabs on Jerry.”
    “If you think this is wrong, and you want to help, why won’t you and this cousin grab Jerry and me and run? We could get away and go to the police.”
    “We can’t get you and Jerry at the same time. Keith might do something awful if-”
    “If what?” She wasn’t going to let it go.
    “Alright. If one of you gets away, Keith might hurt the other one. It won’t keep him at up night to have Alexander kill someone.”
    “Have you ever killed anyone?” she asked without opening her eyes. She wanted distance, and maybe to hurt him, and that’s why she asked. A part of her also wondered if he’d admit to hurting anyone before.
    “What?” He asked slowly, sounding hurt and insulted. “I really scare you?”
    She opened her eyes.
    “Cora…I’ve never purposely hurt anyone in my life. I’ve never done anything like this before.” He sat on the edge of his bed, leaning over and resting his elbows on his knees. The pleading in his eyes made her want to believe him.
    “Then why start now?”
    “To fix all this. I didn’t plan on having anything to do with my family, but I couldn’t stay out of it.”
    “You could have called the police,” she accused. “Or told me what was going on when you stopped me at the restaurant.”
    “I wanted to go straight to the police with all this, but I can’t be certain Keith doesn’t have some of them on his payroll. Or Alexander might have been watching me. I couldn’t figure out a way to get help without putting Jerry or you in more danger. This bought us time.”
    But was it enough time?
    She closed her eyes and willed her body and mind to relax, remembering a day long ago spent on the beach with both her parents. Like always, the memory brought tears to her eyes. Thinking of Nick watching her, she rolled the other way and wiped her eyes. She pretended to be asleep for so long she actually started to drift off.
     
    ***
     
    She woke with a start. The cabin was pitch black. Nick must have turned the lamp off.
    He was asleep!
    She jumped up and felt her way to the door. It creaked as she opened it, and the entire cabin complained at any movement, but Nick didn’t wake up. She stepped outside, into more darkness, and took a deep breath of fresh night air. It could have been midnight, or two, or four, and she had no idea.
    The frogs and crickets were even louder out here. The moon had set so there was just millions and millions of endless stars, suspended above, amazing her with their brightness. Staring straight up, she felt as if she could reach up and touch them. After a minute spent in awe, she looked down and found herself in complete darkness. Her breathing sounded very loud. And then, she heard soft footsteps coming toward her.
    She froze.
    “Cora?” His soft whisper caused her to jump. “Cora? You’ll scare yourself silly. Come on, let’s get inside.”
    She let Nick guide her through the door before she demanded, “Why are you sneaking