Bullseye Read Online Free

hand inside the kid’s arm and
gave it a gentle tug. “Mason has experience with people who are charged with
crimes they didn’t commit, just like you.”
    Mason folded one leg across the other and asked casually, “You
didn’t do it, did you?”
    Alex didn’t quite meet his eyes. “No. But I’m gonna get a
lawyer, and he’ll prove it.”
    “That’s great. But since I came all the way from Atlanta would
you at least tell me what happened?” He leaned back in his chair and waited.
    Alex stared at the floor, considering. Karina drew a breath to
speak, but Mason warned her with a glance to keep quiet. Something was going on
with this kid, and he didn’t want to push him too hard.
    “Okay. I guess.” He looked up, but his gaze still didn’t
connect with Mason’s. “Me and my friend José were hanging out, you know? We
weren’t doing nothing wrong.” He glanced sideways at Karina. “We should have
stayed at José’s house, like we were supposed to, but we got bored. So we were
walking and talking, and we were cutting through this alley when a guy jumps out
and points a gun at us. He wanted money, but we told the guy we don’t have any,
and he starts yelling at us, like, ‘I know you do. Hand it over.’”
    Karina looked startled. She glanced at Mason, an unreadable
message in her eyes, but kept quiet. He made a mental note to ask her later.
    “Go on,” he urged.
    “The next thing I knew, there was a shot, and José fell
backward on the ground. I was standing there, looking at him, when the guy
shoved the gun in my hand and took off.” Alex finally looked up, and held
Mason’s gaze. “I didn’t kill José. Honest.”
    That was the first truthful comment out of the boy’s mouth.
Mason had studied interrogation techniques, and he felt sure everything Alex had
said up until now was a lie. Oh, there might be a shred of truth in there
somewhere, but it was buried pretty deep.
    “And the blood on your clothes?” he asked, careful to keep any
hint of suspicion out of his voice.
    “José’s. He was still alive.” Tears glimmered in his eyes. “He
was crying, help me, help me. I tried to pick him
up, to carry him out of that alley to get help, but—” his throat moved as he
swallowed “—he died.”
    Agony sounded in Alex’s tortured voice. How well Mason
recognized that emotion. He leaned forward and placed a hand briefly on the
boy’s knee. “I’m sorry. I know how hard that must have been.”
    Karina sniffed and wiped her eyes with a hand. “And then you
came home?”
    He nodded. “I didn’t know where else to go. I should have
stayed there and called 911, but I was scared.” He averted his gaze again, and
leaned back slightly in his chair, away from Mason and Karina both. “But you
don’t have to worry about me. I’ll work it out.”
    Mason started to ask how Alex planned to work things out from
jail without help, but Karina beat him to it. “How can you say that? You’re in
juvy. You need help from anyone who will give it to you.”
    “I don’t need any help.” Alex’s shout echoed off the visitation
room’s bare walls. “You need to just stay out of it. Mind your own
business.”
    Karina reeled backward as if slapped. Blood drained from her
cheeks. “But we’re family, Alex. Whatever happens to you happens to me.”
    The boy leaned sideways and gathered Karina in his arms.
Mason’s first instinct was to jump between them, to protect Karina from this kid
who obviously was having some temper problems and therefore couldn’t be trusted.
But the tender expression on Alex’s face as he hugged his sister stopped him.
There was an ocean full of emotion on the boy’s face, all open for him to see.
Worry. Fear. Anxiety. But primarily love. No doubt at all that he loved Karina
as much as she loved him.
    Then he released her and lumbered to his feet. “I think the
time’s about over.”
    Karina looked at her watch and protested. “We still have a few
minutes.”
    But Alex had