Read Online Jonah Havensby by Bob Bannon - Free Book Online Page B

knew his father was a scientist and the name matched perfectly, so he clicked on the story.
    It was published five years ago. It read that his father had worked in Special Projects at the International Aeronautics Laboratory or I.A.L., and was involved in some very top-level research and development programs up until the time he had falsified documents gaining himself some three million dollars. When confronted, he fled taking the three million dollars with him in untraceable accounts the world over.
    The story seemed implausible. This was not at all the man he grew up with. That man certainly didn’t have three million dollars lying around in banks all over the world. Even if he was trying to hide some money, he could have sprung for a pair of hockey skates at least once. The father he knew was frugal to the point of belt-tightening. And they had never moved, not even once, in Jonah’s whole life. If this happened five years ago, they could have found his father in the same place they’d always been.
    Jonah tapped back to the search page and continued on through the headlines. It seemed the story was very newsworthy for two months, each story re-telling the account with very little new information. Then it seemed to have dried up.
    But didn’t some part of this ring true? They did live very far from any neighbors. And they never came into town if it wasn’t completely necessary. Even their groceries were delivered and left on the front porch. That could be the sign of a man who doesn’t want to be found.
    Were the ‘dangerous men’ from the government? Did the government want his father so much they were willing to blow up the house to get him? More questions. He was getting sick of questions. One thing was certain, whether or not those men were satisfied with killing his father or if they were coming for him too, Jonah had to keep a very low profile.
    He looked around and then stood up. He put his coat back on and flipped up the hood. He returned the tablet to the back of his pants and went for a walk around the mall.
    Hours later, he’d done about as much window shopping as he could take. He didn’t dare go inside any one of the stores. People might ask what he was doing.
    His stomach was really growling now. He’d have to go back to the nest and eat that peanut butter, if it was, in fact, still there. On the way out, he passed one of the miniature fountains that people threw coins into.
    He made a subtle circle to make sure no one was anywhere near or looking out a store window. Fortunately, this time of day seemed to be very slow for the mall.
    He hiked his sleeve up and plunged his hand into the fountain as fast as he could. He came up with a handful of change, but didn’t even look at it before he shoved his hand into his pocket.
    “There,” he thought. “Like father, like son.”
    He made sure no one saw him and then walked out the door.
    He immediately felt bad about it. He wondered if he should go throw the change back in the fountain, but felt sure that if anyone saw him take it, they’d catch him if he went back. No, he should just keep going. Back to the nest. To see if anyone was there to catch him as well.
    As he walked he tried not to think about the cold and he tried not to think about food. He failed at both. He found himself walking faster and faster toward the warehouse.
    As he turned on Main Street, he slowed. There was a police car with its lights flashing, stopped just up the block. They weren’t looking for him, obviously, but he felt no need to draw attention to himself.  He was glad he flipped up the hood of his coat when he walked out of the mall.
    He tried to maintain a casual speed as he walked past the car just on the other side of the street, but he couldn’t help looking.
    The front window of the hardware store had been broken through. Jagged pieces of glass remained, but it was evident that someone had smashed the window in and not out. He could see pieces of the window all