Read Online Infinite Fear by Jacqueline Abrahams - Free Book Online

she
reprimands, snapping the laptop shut.
    Jade lugs her seventeen
bags out to the Camaro and shoves them unceremoniously into the
trunk. We drive to the airport, shrouded in an aura of
sadness. I’m going to miss
Jade . She kept me grounded for the past
year. And now I actually have to rely on myself to stay
focused.
    Two things happened earlier
this morning that threaten to derail that plan. The first was that
I got a call from Emmanuel, telling me to pick him up from prison.
Seems today was the day he was being released. And Murphy, the PI
called me, a whole year later, after I had resigned myself to the
fact that he was a con artist and had skipped town with my four
grand. He sent me a photo, of Shana, in California. With a little girl on her lap . According to Murphy, the date on the little girl’s birth
certificate is eight months almost to the day from the day I last
saw Shana.
    The photo had hit me like a ton of bricks. I
had always known that Shana ran away, but for the last few years it
never occurred to me that she had left the clinic still pregnant. I
felt angry, betrayed, and yet, strangely and finally at peace with
her leaving. I knew that she was safe, and the conversation about
our daughter could be saved for another day.
    I felt so guilty about not
telling Jade about the discovery that Murphy had made. But I
couldn’t bring myself to kill her buzz about Brown, or potentially
derail her from going. I owed it to her to give her the same
closure I now had. But not
today . I drop Jade off and she bawls like a
baby as I wave to her through the departure gate. No matter how
many times I explain to her that Rhode Island is really only a
plane ride away.
    * * *
    Pulling up outside the prison, Emmanuel is
leaning idly against one of the steel fences. I last saw him a few
weeks ago, but since being locked up, he looks even more menacing.
With nothing else to do except lift weights, his muscle mass
appears to have tripled. The mullet he’s sporting is fucking scary
as well.
    “My baby,” he says as he runs his hand over
the dash. I hand over the keys and he gets behind the wheel.
    “Hey, can you drop me off at dad’s shop?” I
ask.
    “What for?” Emmanuel laughs. “We have
business to attend to.”
    “Man, I can’t do that shit with you
anymore,” I say guiltily. “A lot’s changed since last year.”
    “I heard about Julius,” he says. “But its
cool man, I have enough connections now to set up a whole new
operation.”
    “That’s not it,” I
say. I’ve been dreading this conversation
all year long . “I’ve been taking classes
and actually working at my dad’s shop, and I applied to a couple of
colleges.”
    Emmanuel practically doubles over with
laughter. “You’re kidding right!” he howls. His mouth snaps shut
and his look darkens when he turns his head and sees he’s the only
one laughing. “Are you fucking serious? How much money are you
making as an apprentice mechanic?” he says sarcastically.
    “Enough,” I say, getting a
little pissed at his dismissive behavior. I expect, at this point,
to get my ass handed to me and be schooled on how many times
Emmanuel pulled me out of shit last year. Surprisingly, I don’t get that from him.
    “That’s cool,” he says with a nod.
    “You’re not pissed?” I ask with
disbelief.
    “What am I gonna do?” he scoffs. “Handcuff
you to me so that you don’t go anywhere? Man, I know you’ll be here
if I need you. I’m happy for you.”
    “Okay,” I nod, a huge wave of relief washing
over me.
    Emmanuel drops me off at my
father’s shop, asking me to come out for drinks later. I tell him
I’ll get back to him and he takes off. Presumably to check if Eva
has bothered to wait a year for him to get out. My money’s on not .
    “Jackson!” Dad calls as I walk in the
door.
    “Yeah,” I say flinging my jacket onto the
chair in the office as I walk by. “Where are you?”
    “Out back!” he yells.
    I walk out to the back of the