Read Online Questing (Cosmis Connections, Book One) by Barbara Huffert - Free Book Online Page A

people to their doctor’s appointments or stop at the store if someone couldn’t get around. He still helps out when he’s needed.”
    “Your family sounds terrific.”
    “They are. I, however, was a constant nuisance growing up. If there was trouble to be found, I’d be in the middle of it. More often than not, Brett would get sucked right in with me but it was generally my fault. I think that’s another reason Shane is a cop. He was always dragging me out of something or reading me the riot act when he heard what I’d been up to. There were many occasions that he dealt with the problems I caused on his own instead of turning me in to our parents.
    “I don’t think they were ever fooled though. Mom and Dad could see right through me. If they asked me directly if I’d done something, I never lied. I’d tell them what it was and take whatever punishment they gave out. There were lots of times when Brett was sent home and instructed to come clean with his parents. He always did too, once we’d been caught so my parents never had to call his. And they all knew I was the instigator so they were slightly less hard on Brett most of the time. Of course, they always pointed out that he knew better than to follow me but he was my best friend. He never backed down once I started something.
    “You’ve seen how Brett is. Well he’s always been like that, always happy and out for fun. The few times I’ve seen him honestly angry were my fault. Shane didn’t hesitate to give him the same lecture I got. Brett took it but, on occasion, Shane would give me an extra dose. If Shane was being exceptionally hard-nosed to me, he’d jump right in the middle of it like he was trying to protect me.”
    “Why did you do things if you knew you’d get caught?”
    “To be honest, Kiley, I only got caught when I let myself get caught. I’d set it up so Shane would find out because I wanted his attention. I’d tried all his activities, football, basketball, baseball but it backfired. The coaches were always comparing us and I think Shane was disappointed that I didn’t measure up. Our grades were about the same. Then one day, I was rambling about nothing and Brett rearranged some words and we were onto our first scheme.
    “After I saw how well it worked, I started pushing the limits. I’d come up with the basic plan. Brett would find a way to sell it and then I would talk us into or out of whatever it was. I usually avoided doing things that were too illegal but not always.”
    “Illegal, Jordan?”
    “Well yeah but like I said, it wasn’t really anything that bad. I mean, take the car incident for example. There was a married couple who taught at our school. When I was fifteen, I went and told the wife that her husband locked his keys in the car and had sent me to get hers for him.”
    “He didn’t really send you?”
    “Nope but Brett told me just how to phrase it so she’d believe me. It was hot and we were bored so we drove out to the lake for a swim. We brought the car back before school was over and had planned on slipping the keys back on her desk where we knew she kept them even though we knew I’d probably get caught but figured it would be worth it. What I didn’t count on was Shane being there, waiting with the teachers when we got back. See, he’d been trying to get them to call to report their car stolen. I’d never seen him so furious or so close to physical violence before. It was fascinating in a twisted way. Fortunately, for Brett and me, our teachers had a different idea in mind. School was over the next week and we spent the summer at their disposal. We did unlimited yard work, house painting and garage cleaning. We also had individualized unofficial summer school. Shane made a point to check in with them every week and I’m sure our parents knew about it but they never mentioned it. Now, you’d think that would have reformed most kids, right? Not me though. Brett would occasionally try to talk me