The Stranger Read Online Free PDF

Mrs. Hoy.”
    â€œHave a good night, boys. Don’t have too much fun with Mom away.”
    She sashayed back toward the house.
    Thomas said, “She’s kind of annoying.”
    â€œThat’s not nice.”
    â€œYou oughta see their kitchen.”
    â€œWhy? What’s wrong with their kitchen?”
    â€œShe has bikini pictures of herself on the fridge,” Thomas said. “It’s gross.”
    Hard to argue. As Thomas pulled out, a small smile tugged at his lips.
    â€œWhat?” Adam said.
    â€œKyle calls her a butterface,” Thomas said.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œMrs. Hoy.”
    Adam wondered if that was a new term for MILF or something. “What’s a butterface?”
    â€œIt’s what you call someone who’s not pretty—but she has a good body.”
    â€œI’m not following,” Adam said.
    â€œButterface.” Then Thomas spoke slowly. “But. Her. Face.”
    Adam tried not to smile as he shook his head in disapproval. He was about to admonish his son—wondering exactly how to do so and keep a straight face—when his cell phone rang. He looked down at the caller ID.
    It was Corinne.
    He hit the ignore button. He should pay attention to his son’s driving. Corinne would understand. He was about to put his phone in his pocket when he felt it vibrate. Fast for a voice mail, he thought, but no, it was an e-mail from his bank. He opened it. There were links to see the detailed purchases, but Adam barely noticed them.
    â€œDad? You okay?”
    â€œKeep your eyes on the road, Thomas.”
    He would go through it in detail when he got home, but right now, the top line of the e-mail said more than he wanted to know.
    Novelty Funsy is a billing name for the following online retailer:
    Fake-A-Pregnancy.com

Chapter 4
    W hen he was back home and in his office nook, Adam hit the link in the e-mail and watched the website come up.
    Fake-A-Pregnancy.com.
    Adam tried not to react. He knew that the Internet catered to every peccadillo and taste, even ones that defied the imagination, but the fact that there was an entire website based on faking a pregnancy was yet another one of the moments when a rational human being just wants to surrender and cry and admit that our worst instincts have won.
    Underneath the large pink lettering, in a slightly smaller font, was the tagline: FUNNIEST GAGS EVER!
    Gags?
    He clicked on the link for the “featured products you purchased!” The top item was for a “SUPER NEW Fake Pregnancy Test!” Adam just shook his head. The normal price of $34.95 had a red slash through it in favor of the sale price $19.99, and then, in black italics underneath that,
“You save $15!”
    Well, great, thanks for the savings. I sure hope my wife didn’t pay retail!
    The item shipped in twenty-four hours with “discreet packaging.” He read farther down the page:
    Use it the same way you would a real pregnancy test!
    Urinate on the strip and read the results!
    They show up positive every time!
    Adam’s mouth felt dry.
    Scare the bejesus out of your boyfriend or your in-laws or your cousin or your professor!
    Cousin and professor? Who the hell wants to scare a cousin or professor into thinking . . . Adam didn’t even want to go there.
    There was a warning in small print on the bottom.
    CAUTION: This item has the potential to be used irresponsibly. By completing and submitting the form below, you agree not to use this product for purposesthat may be illegal, immoral, fraudulent, or hurtful to others.
    Incredible. He clicked the item image and zoomed in on the packaging. The test was a white strip with a red cross indicating pregnancy. Adam racked his brain. Was that the test Corinne had used? He didn’t remember. Had he even bothered looking? He couldn’t be sure. They all looked the same anyway, didn’t they?
    But he did recall now that Corinne had done the test while he was