Troubleshooters 16.8 - Free Fall Read Online Free PDF

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     Adam stood up. “Well, that was fun. Time to take Ben to the hospital.”
     Ben stood, too, and Adam knew just from the way he moved that he was more badly bruised than he was letting on. Still, no point in letting Wade know that. Let him think Ben was made of Teflon, because in truth he was.
     “Have one of Ben’s guardians call me to discuss his return to school,” Ms. Quinbey said.
     “I suspect they’ll want a meeting,” Adam said. “Have you met them?”
     “Not yet.”
     “Oh, you will,” he told her.
     Ben laughed, but then winced and then covered his wince with a smile. Odds were he’d cracked a rib.
     Again, he was not willing to let Wade know that.
     As Adam followed Ben to the door, Quinbey went back into her office with a quiet, “Let me know when Mr. O’Keefe’s parents arrive,” to the receptionist.
     It was as he was going into the corridor, right after Quinbey’s inner office door closed, that he heard Wade mutter, “Fucking faggots should all die.”
     Ben heard it, too.
     As Adam closed the office door behind them, he looked at Ben and said, “Changing hearts and minds where e’re we go. Tra la!”
     Ben laughed. “He doesn’t have to like me,” he started.
     “He just has to stay away from your friends ,” Adam said as they left the building and headed for his car, parked in one of the visitor’s spots. “So who is he?”
     Ben played dumb. “Who’s who? What?”
     “Yeah,” Adam mocked him. “ What ? Can’t bullshit a bullshitter, baby. You got into this fight with Wade because, why exactly? He was picking on someone, I don’t know, shall we say . . . special ?”
     But Ben shook his head as he got into the passenger seat. “Wade was just picking on . . . someone. Yes, special, because we’re all special, thanks. But the why is because I’m done pretending I don’t notice.”
     “That’s good,” Adam said, starting his car. “Being done. But just be sure to watch your back, because Wade isn’t done with you.”
     “Whatever.” Ben fastened his seatbelt.
     Adam backed out of the parking spot. “I’m serious, Ben. He’s gonna come for you, although what he’s gonna do when he gets you, I’m . . . not quite sure. I mean, hello !”
     Ben met his eyes at that. “I told Wade I wouldn’t talk about—”
     “I know,” Adam said. “And I respect that. But attraction is a weird thing, and at the risk of freaking you out—”
     “Oh, my God,” Ben said.
     “I just want to say that if things got hot and heavy between you and Wade—”
     “You’re definitely freaking me out!”
     Adam just spoke over him because this needed to be said, “—you wouldn’t be the first person in this car to hook up with someone who tried to beat you up.”
     Ben was muttering something now that sounded like, “TMI, TMI, oh, please, please, don’t . . .”
     Adam squared his shoulders and kept going. “But I can honestly tell you that a guy like that is the polar opposite of good boyfriend material. He’s not just a bad boy—he’s dangerous. As in majorly fucked up. Take it from someone who knows.”
     “Can we please not talk about this?” Ben begged. “I mean, I appreciate your openness and honesty—I love you, I do, and I love Tony, too, but . . . Wade? No. No. Nope.” He shook his head.
     “I’m here if you need me,” Adam said. “Tony is, too. I hope. Mind if we, um, go to the doctor on the base?”
     “Uh oh,” Ben said, clearly making note of that I hope . “Did the team deploy this morning?” The rest of his question, which was And you wanna go to the base to attempt to find clues as to where they went was silent.
     “No,” Adam countered. “It’s not . . . It’s just, you know, a training exercise.” He glanced over to find Ben watching him expectantly, so he said it. “They’re doing HAHO jumps today.”
     Ben swore pungently. “God, I wish I’d known before . . .”
     “Helping a kid in