Read Online Hunting by Calle J. Brookes - Free Book Online Page A

you.” Poor kid. How
could any family do that?
    “ Except me. And the case
workers seem to think we’ll be a good fit. So…”
    “ You’re doing it.” Al said
it though it was unnecessary.
    “ Yep. This will be our
third visitation. I went up a week ago, then two weeks before
that.”
    “ And now we’re here at the
mall looking for a gift for a three year old.”
    “ She doesn’t have much.
Just a battered teddy bear. One of the PAVAD ones that your brother
gave her when I first met her. She carries it everywhere. It’s the
only toy she has. I want to give her something nicer than a two
dollar bear we give out in crises situations.” Determination was
clear on Jules’ face. Al knew her friend would do her best for the
little girl. And that, more than anything, made her proud to
consider Jules a friend.
    Al could understand that.
“So what size is she? My god kid will need clothes. Lots and lots
of clothes.”
    “ Dear god, Al, she’s not a
baby doll.” Paige sipped her soda. “Although, I did see these
absolutely awesome combat boots for kids once. They had cartoon cat
skulls on them. We could get her some of those.”
    “ A Goth three year old.
Probably not what the social worker had in mind.” Al actually
laughed at the image of the little girl in the picture Jules had
shown them dressed in an outfit similar to the black leather Paige
wore today. Even the cast still holding Paige’s broken arm in place
was black with glow in the dark skull stickers. “What about
dresses? Little girls love dresses.”
    “ Ugh. I hated dresses.”
Paige actually shuddered. Al had seen her friend in dresses before,
daring cuts that flattered. But it was always when they were
undercover. That was the only time Paige dressed
feminine.
    Paige was so pretty, when
she put effort into it. Most of the time, she hid herself behind
black. Al had an inkling why, though she’d never asked.
    “ No clothes. I want to let
her pick out a bunch of stuff to wear. I don’t think she’s ever had
that option.”
    “ We can do toys.
Definitely. Aislyn, Dan’s littlest, really likes Care Bears. I’ve
watched them a few times, and they have good messages,” Paige said.
“And I’ve seen the toys all over the place.”
    “ Care Bears sound good. And
we can take a look around for other things while we’re in the toy
store.” Jules gathered up her trash and carried it to the
wastebasket.
    “ So when do you
leave?”
    “ I’m testifying on Monday
afternoon. Then going to spend all of Tuesday with Ruthie, and fly
back Wednesday morning.”
    “ You flying up with
Malachi, then?”
    “ Excuse me?”
    “ Mal’s testifying Monday,
too.” He would be out of town for at least a day or two.
    “ Great. So that’s who the
PAVAD agent is. Ed mentioned it when he booked the flight for me.
He didn’t tell me who.” Jules obviously wasn’t happy about it. Al
wasn’t offended. Her brother and Jules still sent sparks flying off
of each other whenever they were in the same room. That hadn’t
happened much since they’d been rescued a month ago—Al suspected
Jules was avoiding Malachi, whereas he watched Jules almost too
protectively. Al sometimes wondered just how deep their feelings
went for each other. There was just too big of a spark between them
for there not to be some serious feelings underneath.
    “ So who all knows about
Ruthie?” Did her brother? What did he think? Did he have romantic
feelings for Jules? Did Ruthie change anything for him?
    “ You two. Eddie. George and
Hell. Ana and Fin. I don’t want it all over PAVAD. Not yet, anyway.
I don’t know if the adoption will be finalized. Something could
still jeopardize it.”
    “ No problem.”
    “ I was afraid the
kidnapping would stall things, but it didn’t. I have Ed to thank
for that, I think. He may have made a few calls. He’s good at
that…”
    “ Nothing like having a
deputy director of the FBI pulling for you.” Al really liked Ed
Dennis and she wished