Read Online The Innocent: The New Ryan Lock Novel by Sean Black - Free Book Online

sure I have some somewhere.’
    “Water's fine,” said Malik.
    He followed her through into the living room. The curtains were closed. The TV was on. Jack was sitting on the floor with a games controller in his hand, his eyes glued to the screen as he played GTA V. Landon played it with his friends. Kim was dead set against the violence, but Malik, having lived through the real-world version growing up in Long Beach, took a more relaxed approach. Landon had a pretty level head on those broad shoulders. He was a good kid who’d been taught the difference between right and wrong, and Malik doubted a video game would knock him off course.
    ‘Hey, Jack,’ said Malik. ‘I got your program signed.’
    'I'll get you that water. Jack, will you please switch that thing off?’
    Jack hit the pause button, the screen freezing on a car careening down a street full of pedestrians. Avoiding eye contact, he took the program from Malik. Malik knew that he had just a few seconds before Eve came back from the kitchen with his water.
    ‘Jack?’
    The boy looked up at Malik, eyes narrowed. He was scared, but the fear was expressing itself as anger. It came off him in waves. Malik was so used to dealing with young men and usually read them better than their own parents could. When one of his team came in to practice, he could tell almost straight off the bat where his head was.
    ‘You said if someone found out they’d kill you. Who are they , Jack?’
    The boy picked up the program and threw it to the floor. ‘I don’t want it. I don’t even like basketball. It’s stupid.’
    ‘I can help you, Jack,’ Malik whispered. ‘I can make sure no one hurts you.’
    The boy resumed the game, and pushed forward on the black hand controller. On screen, the car mounted the sidewalk and rolled over a woman pushing an infant in a buggy. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ the boy said, just as his mom appeared with the glass of water.
    ‘Jack,’ she scolded. ‘Will you please turn that off while we have company!’
    ‘It’s fine,’ said Malik. ‘I really need to get home anyway.’ He waved away the glass of water.
    ‘Are you sure?’ said Eve.
    ‘If you need anything else,’ said Malik, digging into his wallet, ‘here’s my card.’ He scrawled his cell number on the back, handed it to her and made to leave.
    Flustered, Eve turned back to her son. ‘Can you at least thank the coach for bringing over the program for you?’
    ‘Thanks,’ muttered Jack.
    Eve chased after Malik as he headed for the door. He needed to get some fresh air. If he’d had any doubt about what he’d stumbled over in that locker room, it was gone now. The boy was scared. Sacred of them , whoever they were.
    At the door, Eve Barnes grabbed his elbow. ‘I’m sorry, Coach. He can be very …’ She trailed off. ‘It’s been tough since his dad left.’
    Malik sensed an opening. ‘Can be tough if a young man doesn’t have some kind of male presence. A teacher, family friend.’
    He waited for her to offer a name, but she simply nodded. ‘Thanks for coming over, and getting that signed for Jack.’
    ‘No problem.’
    The door closed on him. He stood there for a second, then walked back down the path. As he stepped onto the sidewalk, he heard a squeal as a car parked directly behind his, pulled out at speed and roared off down the street. It was a sedan, dark blue or grey — hard to tell in the fading light of late afternoon. The windows were tinted so he hadn’t been able to see the driver.
    The only thing he was sure about was that whoever had been sitting inside the car had been watching him.

Eighteen
    Malik kept checking his rear-view mirror as he drove home. He was pretty sure that the car that had been parked outside the Barneses’ place wasn’t the same as the grey car that had been at the stadium. Pretty sure, but not certain.
    He jumped as his cell phone rang. It was Kim. He hit the button to answer it, trying to keep his