“Hey,” Bex said, elbowing me. “Death Jungle is on. Come watch it with me.”

“Where is Jared going?”

“I dunno…come on,” he said. His voice was already deeper, and he had been taller than me for several months. If I didn’t know he was still a kid, I would have thought he was a fellow college co-ed. He still hadn’t quite filled out –the only thing that gave him away.

He tugged on me to follow him downstairs, and I reluctantly agreed, resting my head on the arm of the sofa.

A ridiculous array of mutilation and mayhem filled the screen. Bex watched with unyielding focus, but my eyes struggled to stay open. Shifting to find a comfortable spot, I settled in and let my mind drift into oblivion. In the darkness, with the screams of dying jungle wanderers in the back ground, I somehow stayed away from the dark building and my father.

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Four Feet

“Please?” Bex asked, holding open the passenger-side door.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Don’t tell your mom.”

“I won’t!” he said. He took my backpack and threw it in the back as I collapsed into the seat. Within seconds he was beside me, starting the engine.

“You’re so cool,” he said with a wide grin.

“The only reason I’m letting you drive is because you completed your driving course at Cleet. If you can out-drive cops, I’m assuming you won’t wreck the only thing I have left of Jack.”

Bex frowned. “Buzz kill.”

He pulled away from the loft, using his blinker and obeying every traffic law along the way. I watched the trees pass, the reds and oranges signaling the arrival of Fall. Jared’s whereabouts lingered in the forefront of my mind, but the wall I had learned to form around my feelings had long been routine. I didn’t want Jared to make a mistake. or get injured because he sensed my anxiety.

“Coffee shop, Oh-seven-hundred,” Bex reported, pulling behind Kim’s dilapidated Sentra.

I shot him a look of disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Jared said you were to meet with friends Kim and Beth, to be prompt, and keep watch one block north, with front door in sight.”

“It’s me, Bex. Don’t act like a military robot. It creeps me out.”

Bex smiled. “I just want to do this right.”

I returned his smile and gave him a hug. “You’re doing great,” I said before stepping out onto the sidewalk.

Shoving my hands in my pockets to ward off the frosty morning air, I walked toward the front door of our favorite coffee place. The green door swung open and shut with patrons coming and going several times before I reached the handle. Just as I walked in, someone ran into me from behind, nearly sending me to the floor.