69 INCHES AND RISING Read Online Free
Author: Rebecca Steinbeck
bother him one little bit.
“Who is this?” Jonathon asked.
“Police Detective Paul Sharman. I have some bad news.”
Jonathon took a deep breath and sat down. “Is it my mom?”
He didn’t know why he thought of his mother, except she was the only one he could think of that something so bad might have happened to that the police would bother ringing him at four a.m.
“She’s dead, son.”
A tear came to Jonathon’s eye. All the money in the world, and he had plenty of it, didn’t mean a thing right now. Nor did the mansion he and Serena shared and nor did the BMW parked in the garage. He looked around the lounge and saw the sixty inch television and the painting by Andy Warhol he bought on a whim and for which he had been offered twice as much as what he paid and the answer he gave the guy was no. A big fat one. Now, none of it meant anything. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. “When did it happen?” he asked.
“Late last night. She was shot once in the chest. We tried calling you several times but there was no answer.”
Jonathon thought back to the missed calls. Ring, ring, holy crapping shit and all that jazz. His heart sank and so did he to the floor. He began to cry and Serena came to the door. She saw him leaning back against the chair and looking out the window at the stars, and when the truth of what had happened sunk in just a little bit more to where it hurts your heart like someone has set fire to it he dropped the phone and cried some more. She went to him and wrapped her arms around him and they held each other tight. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but didn’t because she loved him no matter what and whatever was wrong could wait until the world’s best-selling writer of horror and now a writer of love stories was ready to talk about it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
T he angel that tried to help Jonathon’s mother out of the depths of Hell ascended to Heaven and confronted the band of angels who had sent her there in the first place.
“We have to get her out of there,” the angel pleaded. “We have to help her.”
One of the angels stepped forward. “You failed in your quest to save the good men and women we sent you for. Men and women who were welcome here in Heaven. Why should we then help you save but one scoundrel woman who cheated with a married man and who died at his hand in the hope their affair could be kept secret from a small town? They should both burn in Hell.”
The first angel replied, “Because of what we are instead of what we once were. That’s why.”
The second angel considered the words of the first. It turned back to the other angels who each nodded their heads. The angel turned back to the first angel and said, “You can have the woman’s son. Teach him well for he is your only chance of getting this woman out of Hell. Fail, and you will join her there.”
The band of angels turned as one and disappeared into the snow white clouds behind them. The angel wiped away her tears and left Heaven and returned to planet Earth. She stood with a sad heart outside Jonathon’s mansion, knowing that the young man inside was about to lose everything so his mother might gain one thing, but knowing in her heart that the one thing on offer would, in the much bigger picture, outweigh anything Jonathon had on Earth one hundred times over. She could only hope that he would, sooner rather than later, accept his part in the bigger picture was undeniable and the prize, the safe return of his mother’s soul to the bosom of Almighty God, was worth a whole heap more than the things he would have to give up in order to get it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
J onathon went to the lounge window and ran his palm across the glass and watched as the world went by, painfully aware that its hero’s heart had just been crushed and he knew it had because he was the hero and the heart was his and it hurt like hell.
Serena came up behind him. “Can I get you anything?”
He wondered what even
“Who is this?” Jonathon asked.
“Police Detective Paul Sharman. I have some bad news.”
Jonathon took a deep breath and sat down. “Is it my mom?”
He didn’t know why he thought of his mother, except she was the only one he could think of that something so bad might have happened to that the police would bother ringing him at four a.m.
“She’s dead, son.”
A tear came to Jonathon’s eye. All the money in the world, and he had plenty of it, didn’t mean a thing right now. Nor did the mansion he and Serena shared and nor did the BMW parked in the garage. He looked around the lounge and saw the sixty inch television and the painting by Andy Warhol he bought on a whim and for which he had been offered twice as much as what he paid and the answer he gave the guy was no. A big fat one. Now, none of it meant anything. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. “When did it happen?” he asked.
“Late last night. She was shot once in the chest. We tried calling you several times but there was no answer.”
Jonathon thought back to the missed calls. Ring, ring, holy crapping shit and all that jazz. His heart sank and so did he to the floor. He began to cry and Serena came to the door. She saw him leaning back against the chair and looking out the window at the stars, and when the truth of what had happened sunk in just a little bit more to where it hurts your heart like someone has set fire to it he dropped the phone and cried some more. She went to him and wrapped her arms around him and they held each other tight. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but didn’t because she loved him no matter what and whatever was wrong could wait until the world’s best-selling writer of horror and now a writer of love stories was ready to talk about it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
T he angel that tried to help Jonathon’s mother out of the depths of Hell ascended to Heaven and confronted the band of angels who had sent her there in the first place.
“We have to get her out of there,” the angel pleaded. “We have to help her.”
One of the angels stepped forward. “You failed in your quest to save the good men and women we sent you for. Men and women who were welcome here in Heaven. Why should we then help you save but one scoundrel woman who cheated with a married man and who died at his hand in the hope their affair could be kept secret from a small town? They should both burn in Hell.”
The first angel replied, “Because of what we are instead of what we once were. That’s why.”
The second angel considered the words of the first. It turned back to the other angels who each nodded their heads. The angel turned back to the first angel and said, “You can have the woman’s son. Teach him well for he is your only chance of getting this woman out of Hell. Fail, and you will join her there.”
The band of angels turned as one and disappeared into the snow white clouds behind them. The angel wiped away her tears and left Heaven and returned to planet Earth. She stood with a sad heart outside Jonathon’s mansion, knowing that the young man inside was about to lose everything so his mother might gain one thing, but knowing in her heart that the one thing on offer would, in the much bigger picture, outweigh anything Jonathon had on Earth one hundred times over. She could only hope that he would, sooner rather than later, accept his part in the bigger picture was undeniable and the prize, the safe return of his mother’s soul to the bosom of Almighty God, was worth a whole heap more than the things he would have to give up in order to get it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
J onathon went to the lounge window and ran his palm across the glass and watched as the world went by, painfully aware that its hero’s heart had just been crushed and he knew it had because he was the hero and the heart was his and it hurt like hell.
Serena came up behind him. “Can I get you anything?”
He wondered what even
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