This is Your Afterlife Read Online Free PDF

say no. Thankfully, he seems to pick up on it.
    He shakes his head. “Can we go back to your house? I don’t want to be alone. You know, without someone who can see me.”
    Another part of me melts. Big, tough as old boots Jimmy wants me to keep him company. I smile at him.
    We get halfway down his street when I see headlights shining over the hill. The vehicle slows, and I make out the unmistakable silhouette of a cop car.
    Deputy “Call Me Charlie” McPhee pokes his head out the window and comes to a stop beside us. Me.
    â€œKeira Nolan? That you?” he asks in his gruff voice. “What are you doing out here on a school night?”
    Of course he knows who I am. He’s a friend of my mom’s. You don’t need to be a detective to realize he has the hots for Mom. When he sees her around town, he gets this look that reminds me of a puppy looking for a forever home. Rumor is he’s had a thing for her since before I was born.
    When my so-called father split.
    I shoot a glance at Jimmy. I can’t exactly tell Charlie I’m walking a dead person to my house. He’d lock me up in a second. Since I’m not in a court of law, I figure a tiny white lie couldn’t hurt.
    â€œInsomnia.”
    Charlie’s jaw twitches. The two-way radio attached to his shoulder chirps. He turns down the volume on garbled chatter. “Go on back home. We don’t need another one of you kids going missing.”
    â€œLike...like Jimmy, right?” I stammer. Charlie throws me a grim look.
    Jimmy quickly joins me by the squad car and starts yammering at Charlie. “Do you know what happened to me? What are people saying?”
    â€œI heard about it at school.” I gulp hard and avoid Jimmy’s gaze. “Is it possible he just...ran away?”
    Jimmy holds up his arms in protest. “Hey, I do not run away from anything. Not even from three-hundred-pound linebackers, all right? So don’t you even put that out there, you hear me?”
    When I don’t answer—because I
can’t
without coming across like I’m high—Jimmy lets out a furious groan.
    Charlie taps the steering wheel. “No trace of his car. He’s not the kind of kid to take off from what I hear.”
    â€œThank you. Thank
you
,” crows Jimmy.
    I’d hold off on the celebrations if I were him. There’s still one world-shattering fact to deal with—he’s dead.
    â€œBut we’re checking into that and a few other avenues. We tracked down his parents. They’re on their way back from Hawaii. Some vacation,” Charlie adds solemnly.
    I glance between Jimmy and Charlie. What other reasons for Jimmy’s disappearance could there be? Is Charlie saying he was abducted? Murdered? It’s so senseless, so vile to think anyone would harm a guy like Jimmy. The thought of it makes my stomach go topsy-turvy.
    â€œKeira, you look kinda green. You okay?” Charlie asks.
    â€œNo, not okay. But Jimmy’s worse off than I am,” I blurt, then clap a hand over my mouth when I realize how easily my statement could be misconstrued.
    â€œWhat?” Charlie peers at me. I duck my head, which probably makes me seem even more suspicious. “How do you know?”
    My brain goes into overdrive. How many white lies can a person tell a cop in one night? Do they add up to one giant damning lie that’s enough to warrant an arrest? I force myself to look at him directly, innocently. “I...I’m guessing. I mean, he’s gone...missing. He could be lost in the woods. Cold. No food or water.”
    Charlie’s eyes don’t leave my face for a second. He’s usually the kind of cop who puts donuts first, perpetrators second. Halvertson isn’t a high-drama town. Since when did he get so sharp? “How well do you know Jimmy? He a friend of yours?”
    I glance at Jimmy pacing in front of the car. Strange how the headlights shine straight