Bullseye Read Online Free Page A

already crossed the room in three long-legged
steps and banged on the door. The guard standing outside opened it
instantly.
    “Wait!” Karina hurried to the door to give Alex one last hug.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. Take care of yourself. Eat all your vegetables.”
    Mason followed at a slower pace, his throat oddly constricted
as he watched their embrace. Alex’s eyes were squeezed shut, and he hugged
Karina tightly, as though this might be the last time he ever saw her. Something’s going on with this kid, that’s for sure. And now that Mason had seen him again, he wanted to find out more.
    But obviously Alex didn’t want his help. And why in the world
not?
    When they broke apart, Mason extended his hand. “I’ll come with
her to see you again, if that’s okay.” He shrugged and grinned. “Might as well.
I’m in town for a few days anyway.”
    Alex took his hand, but to his great surprise, he pulled him
into an embrace. Mason wasn’t sure how to react as the boy’s free arm rose and
thumped him affectionately on the back. But when his mouth drew close to Mason’s
ear, he whispered something so low Mason had to strain to hear.
    “Don’t let anything happen to my sister. Please.”
    When Alex pulled away, Mason saw open, unmasked fear in his
face. An answering foreboding dropped like an icy lump into Mason’s stomach in
response. Then Alex was gone, leaving him alone in the sterile room with Karina,
who wept quietly.
    Alex’s account was a lie, no doubt about it. But he was lying
because he was afraid for his sister. And that made Mason afraid for her,
too.
    It took all his strength not to enfold her in a protective
embrace.

FOUR
    K arina stood beside the metal detector near the front guard’s desk, waiting for her purse and identification to be returned to her and trying hard to maintain an appearance of pleasant composure. Behind the mask the mercury in her temper’s thermometer was climbing upward. What was the matter with Alex? He’d never raised his voice to her before, not once. All his life he’d been an easygoing, cooperative kid. Now all of a sudden when he needed help in the worst kind of way, he turned into a stereotypical teenager, surly and stubborn.
    Of course being in jail had to be wearing on him. He’d always been quiet, even a little shy, and had never been in any trouble. It must be hard, being confined with juvenile delinquents. She glanced around the tiny entry room at the painted concrete walls, the video camera suspended from the ceiling in the corner pointed in her direction, the high counter and thick safety glass embedded with wire mesh behind which the guards sat. No telling what kind of violent kids were in this place. Alex probably had to assume a fake tough-guy persona just to survive.
    She pushed the thought away. If she spent time thinking of her baby brother at the mercy of hardened criminals and violent gang members, she’d lose her mind.
    She turned her head toward Mason, who stood beside her. “I don’t understand why he said—”
    He cut her off with a raised hand, a look of warning on his face. His eyes moved toward the uniformed guard seated behind the counter, and then back to her.
    Karina snapped her mouth shut. Of course Mason was right. Anything they said could be overheard and potentially used against Alex. But for some reason the commanding expression on Mason’s face irritated her even further, and she had to clamp her teeth together in order to hold back a heated reply.
    She’d been so relieved when Mason had agreed to come to Albuquerque and help her. But from the moment she saw him in the airport, she’d regretted her decision to call him. When had he become so sarcastic, his manner so biting? She’d watched him descend the escalator toward the baggage claim area, his eyes darting all around as if he was planning an escape route. She’d always been able to gauge his thoughts by his expression, and that ability had not faded in the years since