Kelly Jo Read Free Page B

?"
    "Go find me some clothes," she said sternly.  "Steal some from a clothesline if you have to, but get something ."
    Jack let loose with a rip-roaring belly-laugh.  "I'm thinking....NO."
    She rose to her feet, then realized from the way his brows shot up in interest that too much showed, so she lowered to a near-squat, still using her arms and hair to cover herself.  "Jack," she said sweetly.  "I'll take the blame for everything...I'll even call Robert if you want me to, but PLEASE find me some clothes."
    "Call Robert first," he said flatly, his gaze holding hers level, despite where his brain ordered his gaze to travel.
    Kelly Jo lowered her head, then sank to her knees.  She nodded, then lifted her gaze to Jack's.  "I'll call him for you, Jack, but I'm not going back."
    "Kelly Jo..."
    "No," she said quietly.  "This is it for me and I'm not throwing away my last chance.  For you or for anyone else.  Even if it means I get kicked out of Heaven."
    Jack sighed.  "Your theatrics are getting old, Kelly Jo.  You won't get kicked out of Heaven."  He studied her face and his alarm grew at the haunted expression in her eyes.  "Will you?"
    Jack heard the catch in her voice when she admitted, "Not actually kicked out."  Compassion stirred deep in his heart when she added, "I'll remain where you first saw me.  For a long, long time to come."
    From behind Jack, Robert's voice boomed, "Kelly Jo!"
    Jack spun to see a very angry Robert approach.  "Where is she?"
    Rattled at the punishment looming for Kelly Jo, Jack stammered, "Uh...uh...she's uh...we were...her clothes..."
    Robert shot Jack a look and again called Kelly Jo. 
    Jack turned to the bushes but Kelly Jo was gone.  How she'd sprinted to the nearby woods without he or Robert spotting her he didn't know, but somehow she'd made it.
    "She's naked," Jack remarked, not with a little amazement.
    "Yes," Robert confirmed.  "I've stripped her power.  It should be nearly gone."
    Jack stared at Robert.  Stripped was the operative word, all right.
    Robert locked gazes with Jack.  "I've permitted her only enough power for the both of you to return.  You need to find her immediately, which shouldn't be too hard, given her choices are limited without clothing."
    Puzzled, Jack asked, "Find her?  You mean I can't return with you?"
    Robert shook his head.  "No.  You can only return through her, just as you came here through her power.  Find her."
    "Can't you just...do whatever it is you do...see through things or whatever...and bring her back here with your power?" 
    Robert scanned the entrance to the woods.  "No.  It seems that one of Kelly Jo's final acts before I stripped her power was to use some of it to put up a field that blocks me from locating her."  He turned to Jack.  "She's made the consequences for her actions much more serious than they needed to be."  He gave Jack one final up-and-down look.  "No one can see you in your current form, but they can now see her.  Call to me as soon as you locate her.  I'll take it from there."  Robert disappeared.
    Jack took a step back.  Whoa!  Robert was one ticked off angel and Jack was glad that he wasn't the target of the anger emanating from him.  Poor Kelly Jo.
    Jack shook his head, as though to clear it.  Poor Kelly Jo?   She sure didn't deserve any sympathy or soft feelings, after all the uproar she'd caused.  So, then, why was he feeling sorry for her, almost regretting that he hadn't gone along with her plea for his help?
    He ran his gaze along the distant tree line, not at all happy about having to hunt down a troublesome naked woman.
    "Pssst!"
    Jack looked around, wondering if Robert had returned.  Nothing and nobody but him and  the clear afternoon sunshine.
    This time the "Pssst!" was impatient, then followed by a whispered, "Jack!"
    Bewildered, he turned to look in every direction.  "Kelly Jo?"
    "I'm over here."
    "Where?"
    He started toward the woods, then heard "No, I'm here," from the