The Long Journey to Jake Palmer Read Online Free PDF Page B

when I’m on my cell phone.”
    “Most people do.”
    Jake closed his eyes and dumped his story on Leonard. “Every year for eight years, my wife and I and two other couples got together at a small lake in eastern Washington for a week of sun, water, great dinners, and deep conversation. Our best friends. We rented the same place, same dates in mid-July, and it was always one of the highlights of my year.”
    “But this year you don’t want to go because it reminds you too much of your wife.” Leonard waved his hand as if to wash away his words. “Sorry, I mean, ex-wife.”
    “Yeah.”
    “In other words, you didn’t divorce her, she divorced you.”
    “That’s right, detective. Thanks for that reminder of the facts.”
    “What happened? Why’d she leave?”
    “That’s a very long story.”
    “Got it,” Leonard said. “You don’t want to tell me.”
    “It’s not that, it’s—”
    “Yeah it is. You don’t know me.” Leonard folded his hands and settled back in his seat.
    “I’m going to plead the fifth, Leonard. At this point, the end of the why-stick is still a little too sharp, so it’s pretty brutal to tell the story. Let’s just say I loved her and did everything I knew how to do to show her that, but she ended up shattering my heart into so many pieces you’d need a microscope to spot any of them.”
    “Fair enough.” Leonard reached into the satchel at his feet, pulled out a novel, and opened it toward the end, but he didn’t read. “Is there any part of you that wants to go this summer?”
    “Not much.”
    Leonard turned to his book, and the rumble of the engines had just started to lull Jake into the edges of sleep when he was hauled back to the conscious world by Leonard’s tap on his arm.
    “You asleep?”
    “Almost. At least I was. Not so much now.”
    “Good.” Leonard clasped Jake’s arm and shook it. “Then open your eyes. I have an idea for you.”
    Jake blinked and gave his eyes a quick rub with his thumb and forefinger. “What? You’ve figured out a way to time travel with all your futuristic science stuff? I can go back and make that October night disappear?”
    “What October night?”
    “Doesn’t matter. It’s done. What’s your idea?”
    “It’s a good one, and yes, maybe, in a way, it can help you go back.” Leonard winked.
    Jake squinted at Leonard. “Tell me.”
    The loudspeaker growled and the captain came on. “This is Captain Jeff Stucky from the flight deck, and if you could go ahead and make sure your seat belts are fastened we sure would appreciate it. Looks like we’re going to hit a few miles of turbulence pretty quick up ahead here and we want to make certain you all stay safe.”
    Jake glanced at Leonard. He was smiling. It was obvious from the look on his new friend’s face that he was one of those wackos who thought turbulence was nature’s version of in-flight entertainment. Jake couldn’t even start to relate. A friend once told him to think of turbulence like a raft on a river. Not so easy. Jake had run a few rapids in his kayak. The difference was rivers were on the ground, where the farthest you could drop if something went wrong was a few feet. A plane? Try six miles.
    “We’ll be looking for better air above or below us, so if you feel like we’re climbing or dropping, don’t worry, folks, it’s all part of the normal routine.”
    The chop came thirty seconds later. Jake kept his eyes locked on the faint lights thirty-five thousand feet below. Somehow it helped to see something outside the plane that was stable. He yanked his seat belt tighter, as if that would do anything to make him more secure, and glanced at Leonard. The old man looked like he was getting ready for a siesta.
    “You okay, Leonard?”
    “You’re not asking that question for me.” A tiny smile broke out on Leonard’s face as his head rocked on the back of his seat. “You’re asking it for you.”
    “True.” He took slow breaths.
    “This is the