Weeding Out Trouble Read Online Free PDF

leg and heat radiated into my palm. I yanked it back.
    Pain contorted his grin into a grimace. "I knew you cared."
    I thought about pouring my cocoa over his head, but didn't want to waste the chocolate on him.
    Truth was, I did care.
    "She's on her way to the airport, home to Wyoming. Her mother suddenly took ill this morning and wanted her to be there."
    Of course, he couldn't go with her. He wasn't well enough to travel yet.
    Great.
    My mother reappeared a second later with a plate of mini pizza bagels. Pepperoni and sausage—mine and Riley's favorite. He had one in each hand.
    Sighing, I forced myself to bite a bagel, though my appetite had suddenly vanished.
    "I told Ginger to go," Kevin said. "She didn't want to leave me here."
    That made two of us.
    I looked at my mom. "How do you factor in?"
    Riley sat on the arm of the couch. "I asked for Grandma Cel's help."
    Ah, this made sense. My mother wouldn't have been able to say no to Riley either.
    "Plus, you know me, c hérie , I cannot turn down a soul in need."
    Despite the fact that she still hadn't forgiven Kevin for cheating on me. I halfheartedly wondered if she'd planned to inflict any additional pain on him while she was here.
    A girl could hope.
    My mother folded her hands on her lap. "I'm here to change his dressings, c hérie , and make sure he takes his medicine. You won't have to do a thing."
    Outside, snow fell steadily. Across the street, Bobby's house was still dark.
    I prayed Kit was warm.
    "Well?" Riley asked, looking hopeful. "Can Dad stay?"
    I looked at Riley, then Kevin. "All right. You can stay."
    I hoped I wouldn't regret my decision.

Four

    I shivered. My down vest was no match against the freezing cold temps and blowing snow. But I'd had to get out of the house, and Mr. Cabrera's gazebo seemed the perfect place to hunker down for a few minutes to call Ana and fill her in on the latest happenings.
    She reacted much the way I anticipated she would.
    "I should come home. I'm coming home. I'm taking the next flight. Mom," Ana shouted, "call the airlines!"
    "Stop!" I said. "There's nothing you can do here."
    "I can help look. Oh my God. I can't believe this is happening. I just saw Kit last night when he drove me to the airport. Oh."
    "Oh what?"
    "After dropping me off, he said he was on his way to see Daisy."
    "Do you know why?"
    "No, he wouldn't say."
    "The police are trying to paint him as a jealous boyfriend."
    She scoffed. "Hardly. He was over Daisy."
    My fingers were losing feeling. "And how do you know that?"
    There was a long silence.
    Too long.
    "He told me," she said.
    "Ana . . . "
    "What? He told me. We had a nice talk in the car on the way to the airport."
    Something was definitely up. Eventually, I'd get it out of her. She wasn't one to keep secrets.
    I kept an eye on Bobby's house, ready to sprint over there the minute his garage door opened.
    "This isn't good, Nina. A six-foot-five brick wall with a skull tattoo on his head? And let's not forget the eyeliner. Where's someone like that supposed to hide? He's easily the most recognizable fugitive in the state."
    "You're not making me feel better."
    "I'm coming home."
    My cell phone felt like an ice cube under my knit hat. "There's nothing you can do here, Ana."
    The blinds were open in the back of Mr. Cabrera's house. I could see him standing in his dining room, fussing with a cardboard box. No doubt he was plotting his great turkey capture.
    "There's got to be something. We can't let the police track him down, just to shoot first and ask questions later. Who's leading the case?"
    "Darren Zalewski and Joe Nickerson."
    "Old Dickerson ?" Ana gasped. "Isn't he dead yet?"
    I laughed. "I've missed you."
    "I've only been gone one day."
    "It's long enough."
    "I should come home!"
    "There's no—"
    She cut me off. "Yeah, yeah." Softly, she then said, "I'm worried, Nina. I don't have much faith in the Freedom PD. Not after all the department's been through lately."
    Can't say I blamed her. The