Road of the Dead Read Free Page A

right here on your own?”
    She nodded. “Business is pretty quiet just now. Uncle Joe won’t mind staying over for a couple of days to keep an eye on things.”
    “I didn’t mean the business.”
    “I know.” She touched my arm. “I’ll be all right. It’ll probably do me good to be on my own for a while.”
    “Are you sure?”
    She nodded again. “Just keep in touch—OK? And keep your eye on Cole. Try not to let him do anything stupid.” She looked at me. “He listens to you, Ruben. He trusts you. I know he doesn’t show it, but he does.”
    “I’ll look after him.”
    “And see if you can get him to agree to you going. It’ll make things a whole lot easier for both of you.”
    I knew he wouldn’t agree, but I gave it a shot anyway.
    When I went into his room he was sitting on his bed smoking a cigarette. He was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, and his jacket was draped over a small leather backpack on the floor.
    “Hey,” I said.
    He nodded at me.
    I glanced at his backpack. “Going somewhere?”
    “The answer’s no,” he said.
    “No what?”
    “No, you can’t come with me.”
    I went over and sat down beside him. He tapped ash from his cigarette into an ashtray on the bedside table. I smiled at him.
    “It’s no good looking at me like that,” he said. “I’m not going to change my mind.”
    “I haven’t even asked you anything yet.”
    “D’you think you’re the only one who can read people’s minds?”
    “You can’t read minds,” I said. “You can’t even read a newspaper.”
    He glanced at me, then went back to smoking his cigarette. I looked at his face. I like looking at his face. It’s a good face to look at—seventeen years old, dark-eyed and steady and pure. It’s the kind of face that does what it says. The face of a devil’s angel.
    “You need me,” I told him.
    “What?”
    “If you’re going to Dartmoor, you need me to look after you.”
    “Mum’s the one who needs looking after.”
    “So why are you going, then?”
    “I’m going to get Rachel back. That’s my way of looking after Mum. Your way is staying here.” He looked at me. “I can’t talk to her, Rube. I don’t know what to say. I just need to do something.”
    A flicker of emotion showed briefly in his face, and just for a moment I started to feel something, but before I could tell what it was he’d regained control of himself and blanked it out. He was good at blanking things out. I watched him as he put out his cigarette and got up from the bed.
    “How are you going to do it?” I said.
    “Do what?”
    “Find out what happened.”
    “I don’t know yet…I’ll think of something.”
    “Where are you going to stay?”
    He shrugged. “I’ll find somewhere.”
    “How are you going to get there?”
    “Train.”
    “When are you going?”
    “Whenever I’m ready. Any more questions?”
    “Yeah—why don’t you want me to come with you?”
    “I’ve already told you—”
    “I’m not stupid, Cole. I know when you’re lying. You know as well as I do that Mum doesn’t need anyone to stay with her. What’s the real reason you don’t want me to come?”
    He went over to a table by the window, grabbed a couple of things, and shoved them into his backpack. He fiddled around with the bag for a while—tying it, untying it, tying it again—then he stared at the floor, and then finally he turned around and looked at me. I don’t know if he was going to say anything or not, but before he had a chance to speak, the phone rang downstairs.
    We both turned to the door and listened hard. The ringing stopped and we heard the faint murmur of Mum’s voice.
    “Is that Dad she’s talking to?” asked Cole.
    “Sounds like it.”
    “I need to speak to him before I go.”
    He picked up his backpack and headed out of the room.
    “See you later,” I said.
    “Yeah.”
    He walked out without looking back.
    I wasn’t worried. I knew what he was going to do.
    While Cole was speaking to Dad on