Read Online Gone by Francine Pascal - Free Book Online Page B

right, Jake. You are not my son. You could not possibly be my son, because no son of mine would ever allow himself to be spotted by his
mark.
No son of mine would be talking to me with such
disrespect.
”
    Jake was beginning to feel a little nervous. Despiteeverything he knew about Oliver, he was honestly getting a little scared. And Jake wasn’t generally one to get scared. But the closer Oliver got, the more Jake was compelled to move away.
    â€œOkay,” Jake uttered, holding out his hands. “All right, I’m sorry. Just calm down, okay?”
    But Oliver didn’t stop advancing. “No, it is not okay. Nothing about this situation is okay. You have obviously lost Gaia’s trust. And you have lost us Chris Rodke. You have lost us everything, Jake. Every card we had to play. And I am beginning to think that you are not necessary to this op—”
    Jake’s cell phone suddenly rang. It froze them both in place as the shrill ring echoed off the high ceilings and the oversized windows. Whoever it was—Gaia, or his dad, or even a wrong number—Jake was relieved. He honestly didn’t know what Oliver would have done if he’d come any closer.
    Jake pulled his phone from his pocket. He didn’t recognize the number, but he flipped open the phone immediately. Anything to defuse the mounting tension in the room. “Hello?”
    â€œJake?”
    â€œYeah?”
    â€œIt’s Chris.”
    Jake nearly dropped the phone. His spine went stiff as he widened his eyes to Oliver. “Chris…,” he breathed.
    Even Oliver’s cold eyes widened with surprise. He frantically began mouthing a word that Jake couldn’t understand until the third try.
    â€œ
Number,
” he was whispering.
    Jake grabbed a pen from the kitchen counter and scrawled down the cell number that had shown up on his phone. Oliver ripped the piece of paper from the pad and rushed to his laptop. He was obviously going to try and trace the call. But Jake was nowhere near that kind of clearheaded action. He could still hardly move. He could still hardly believe that the guy he’d been so desperate to find had called
him.
    â€œSurprised?” Chris asked. Even a one-word sentence from this kid’s mouth was smarmy as hell.
    â€œSurprised,” Jake repeated. “Yeah.”
    â€œSurprised by the call or by seeing me in the park?”
    â€œBoth” Jake replied.
    Jesus.
That answered that question. Zan was right. Chris had seen him there. That drug-addled mess of a girl was right. Jake felt sick to his stomach.
    He could feel his anger welling up in his chest. The shock of the call began to wear off. He had Chris Rodke on the phone—‘
God,
’—the guy who’d been dealing Invince to the scum of the earth, the reason for Jake’s near-death experiences in the park, the reason for Gaia’s near-death experiences past, present, and quite possibly future. The cocky son of a bitch sounded positively pleasant. Jake wished there wassome way to reach right through that phone and wrap his hands around the asshole’s neck. But all Jake could use were his words—his least favorite weapon by far. He pressed the phone hard to his face. “Where is she?” he demanded. “Where’s Gaia? She’s somewhere with your scumbag brother. Where? What is your sick-ass family planning? How is she involved…?”
    â€œ
Whoa, whoa, whoa,
there. Slow
down,
Jake. One question at a time.”
    â€œAnswer them
all,
Chris. Answer every goddamn question, or I swear to God—”
    â€œYou swear to God
what?
What will you do, Jake? Jesus, you sound just like my father.”
    â€œShut
up
and answer the question.”
    â€œJake, you’re contradicting yourself. Do you want me to shut up or answer the question? I honestly can’t do both.”
    Jake wanted something to pound so bad. He wanted something to put his fist