The Final Rule Read Online Free PDF Page B

feeding you a fantasy and making the situation with losing Rudy worse.” Jon stopped at another red light. About a block away the motel sign glowed above the other stores.
    Ellis twisted his hands in his lap. “You’d never do something like that. Besides I’m an adult. I can make my own choices.” He swallowed and his throat clicked. “For right now, I choose this.”
    The light turned green. “Why?”
    “Huh?”
    “Why do you choose to try out my insane theory?”
    Ellis still hadn’t answered him when he turned into the hotel parking lot. Jon found a spot and cut the engine. He put his hand on Ellis’s thigh.
    He took a breath. “I guess it’s because it gives me something to do for Rudy. It’s… It was my job to take care of him. Since I failed, I feel like I owe him at least to try and figure out why all this has happened.”
    “You didn’t fail, Ellis.”
    “I know you believe that, but I did. I don’t expect you to understand. Honestly, I don’t think anyone could. But I did fail him and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

Chapter Three
    The chill of the night before turned into a slice of the Arctic Circle by morning. Even the heat going full blast in the car couldn’t beat it back.
    Ellis huddled in the passenger seat, waiting for Jon to come out of the city hall. The building was a shade of gray darker than the promising snow clouds churning overhead.
    Jon appeared from the front of the building. Even from a distance, the frown on his face was deep. A blast of frigid air followed him into the car.
    “Bad news?” Ellis said.
    “Yes and no. I got the names of the people who own the property.” He pulled out a piece of paper from his coat pocket and handed it over. “They’re brothers. Last name Nelson.”
    “So what’s the bad news?”
    “According to the clerk, they both fell off the face of the earth. No one has heard from them in several years.”
    “How would she know that?”
    “Her daughter dated the older one. Apparently it was pretty serious, then one day he just disappeared.”
    Ellis folded the piece of paper and put it in his pocket. “So what do we do, now?”
    “I’ll contact some people I know in the Washington office. If they’re feeling generous, they might be able to locate them.”
    “Is that legal?”
    Jon flexed his hands around the steering wheel. “Technically, no. But I’m owed a few favors and it’s time I collected on them.”
    Ellis leaned against the window and his breath left a circle of fog on the glass. What if this was a wild goose chase? He wasn’t sure he could handle the disappointment; and yet, what if Jon was right? What if the impossible was possible? If so, the world would change for Ellis. Shadows would become festering crevices for inhuman things laying in wait.
    “You sure you want to go home?” Jon cranked up the car. “We can go back to the hotel.”
    “Yeah. I need to change my clothes.”
    “I can pack you a bag.”
    Ellis smiled. “That’s okay. If I’m going to face this…whatever it is, I need to quit running away from what scares me.”
    “If going home scares you, then we should find some other arrangements.”
    “It’s not going home that scares me. It’s the emptiness.”
    “Just remember you’re not alone.”
    Ellis nodded.
    “How about I make pizza, tonight?” He pulled onto the county road running behind a ball field and public pool.
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “Yes you are and you’ll eat it because I made it, because if you don’t, you’ll hurt my feelings and I know you love me too much to do that.”
    Ellis chuckled and Jon grinned.
    “Fine, I’ll eat, but on one condition.”
    “Name it.”
    “Don’t put any green peppers on it.”
    Jon’s mouth twisted to the side. “But I like green peppers.”
    “I know. But I don’t. And if you expect me to kiss you later, don’t put them on the pizza.”
    “Okay. You win. No green peppers.”
    “And you have to use extra