Read Online Three Wishes by Juli Alexander - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Juli Alexander
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lose the time, but I need to keep up appearances. I can’t exactly quit the band and have Ian think I’m spending all my time with you.”
“I’m out with Alex, remember.” The car smelled of something warm and yummy. Leo’s aftershave?
“Oh, right. I appreciate you riding with me. We have a lot of houses to check for Lexus crossovers.”
He paused at a red light.
“Do you think it’s about revenge or about the five billion dollars?”
“I don’t know, but if anybody has too much money, they’ll be easy to spot. What do they pay at Genie Communications anyway?”
“I doubt any of these guys would make over a hundred grand. Mom does two jobs and she makes a little more.”
The light turned green and he pressed on the gas. “So we search for somebody who has left town, gotten in debt, or bought something expensive. I shared the list with Dad and none of them rang a bell.”
“How did you show him the list without them knowing?” I hadn’t imagined private visitation.
“They were probably watching, but I had no choice.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’ll hit a few of the names and then we’ll head over to Emory.”
Emory. “You mean we’re really going to that meeting.”
“Yeah,” Leo said. “Katie’s doing the program, and she asked me to come.”
“But she’ll see us together.” I hadn’t planned on being seen by anyone we knew. It was way too risky. I thought we’d be pretty anonymous driving around in Atlanta traffic.
“Katie’s cool. She won’t tell. She’s working on retracing dad’s steps for the last week or two before the thefts. She knows I asked for your help.”
“I don’t know, Leo.” How could that be safe? Leo seemed like a great guy, with maybe a weird sense of humor, but I didn’t want to be banished for him.
“Katie’s been great ever since the arrest. She’s been stocking the fridge at our place, cooking me meals, doing laundry. She’s awesome. She really cares about my dad. They wouldn’t have let her leave the visitation with her memory intact if she hadn’t agreed to be bonded to him. So even if they aren’t married, they kind of are, now. Dad’s already talked to her about watching out for me if he gets sent away. Besides, with all the laptops, cell phones, and MP3’s on campus, the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. would have trouble tracking us.”
Either he was nuts, or I was an idiot. “What do phones and laptops have to do with anything?”
“Technology interferes with the magic monitoring systems used by the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E.”
I whipped my head around to look at him.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know that,” he said with a laugh.
I just stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“The major technological advances were made by genies, Jen. And in addition to making money and helping mankind, those genies were motivated by the fact that modern technology interferes with the monitoring systems in place. The Techno Echo. Doesn’t your mother tell you anything?”
Apparently not.
“It’s common knowledge in the genie world.”
“Like the mirror trick.”
Doubt clouded his eyes. “I’m surprised your mother would keep it from you. The upcoming Summit will have a debate about easing the restraints on genies.”
My dad always said we shouldn’t bury our heads in the sand. Know what’s going on, he said. Don’t stand by and let others make the decisions for you.
And yet, I had buried my head in the sand. Or Mom had buried it for me. Did Dad know about all this?
“If you’re so overprotected, how did you get out of the house today?”
“I’m not really. About normal things.” When Mom told me I’d been activated early, she’d warned me that she wasn’t going to complete my education until later. I just thought that meant I couldn’t do all the wish granting stuff. I had no idea she was hiding important things from me. “She does work for the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. Maybe she isn’t allowed to tell me.” Now, I understood why the
“I’m out with Alex, remember.” The car smelled of something warm and yummy. Leo’s aftershave?
“Oh, right. I appreciate you riding with me. We have a lot of houses to check for Lexus crossovers.”
He paused at a red light.
“Do you think it’s about revenge or about the five billion dollars?”
“I don’t know, but if anybody has too much money, they’ll be easy to spot. What do they pay at Genie Communications anyway?”
“I doubt any of these guys would make over a hundred grand. Mom does two jobs and she makes a little more.”
The light turned green and he pressed on the gas. “So we search for somebody who has left town, gotten in debt, or bought something expensive. I shared the list with Dad and none of them rang a bell.”
“How did you show him the list without them knowing?” I hadn’t imagined private visitation.
“They were probably watching, but I had no choice.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’ll hit a few of the names and then we’ll head over to Emory.”
Emory. “You mean we’re really going to that meeting.”
“Yeah,” Leo said. “Katie’s doing the program, and she asked me to come.”
“But she’ll see us together.” I hadn’t planned on being seen by anyone we knew. It was way too risky. I thought we’d be pretty anonymous driving around in Atlanta traffic.
“Katie’s cool. She won’t tell. She’s working on retracing dad’s steps for the last week or two before the thefts. She knows I asked for your help.”
“I don’t know, Leo.” How could that be safe? Leo seemed like a great guy, with maybe a weird sense of humor, but I didn’t want to be banished for him.
“Katie’s been great ever since the arrest. She’s been stocking the fridge at our place, cooking me meals, doing laundry. She’s awesome. She really cares about my dad. They wouldn’t have let her leave the visitation with her memory intact if she hadn’t agreed to be bonded to him. So even if they aren’t married, they kind of are, now. Dad’s already talked to her about watching out for me if he gets sent away. Besides, with all the laptops, cell phones, and MP3’s on campus, the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. would have trouble tracking us.”
Either he was nuts, or I was an idiot. “What do phones and laptops have to do with anything?”
“Technology interferes with the magic monitoring systems used by the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E.”
I whipped my head around to look at him.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know that,” he said with a laugh.
I just stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“The major technological advances were made by genies, Jen. And in addition to making money and helping mankind, those genies were motivated by the fact that modern technology interferes with the monitoring systems in place. The Techno Echo. Doesn’t your mother tell you anything?”
Apparently not.
“It’s common knowledge in the genie world.”
“Like the mirror trick.”
Doubt clouded his eyes. “I’m surprised your mother would keep it from you. The upcoming Summit will have a debate about easing the restraints on genies.”
My dad always said we shouldn’t bury our heads in the sand. Know what’s going on, he said. Don’t stand by and let others make the decisions for you.
And yet, I had buried my head in the sand. Or Mom had buried it for me. Did Dad know about all this?
“If you’re so overprotected, how did you get out of the house today?”
“I’m not really. About normal things.” When Mom told me I’d been activated early, she’d warned me that she wasn’t going to complete my education until later. I just thought that meant I couldn’t do all the wish granting stuff. I had no idea she was hiding important things from me. “She does work for the U.N.I.V.E.R.S.E. Maybe she isn’t allowed to tell me.” Now, I understood why the
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