Promises to Keep Read Online Free Page B

“He’ll never do it. He’ll never let you go. That’s not how my father is built. He’d kill you in a heartbeat if he thought you’d outlived your purpose, but let you go? No way.”
    He shrugged. Ben was right; Livingston Shaw kept his word only when it suited him. “I know, but that’s a pretty hefty carrot to dangle, which means finding the Maddox kid isn’t just about looking out for an old friend. There’s a reason he’s helping Maddox. If I can figure out why, I might be able to use it as leverage somehow. The only way to do that is to find the boy.”
    Ben un-paused the game only to let his on-screen icon be overtaken by the undead. He watched the carnage for a few seconds before shifting his gaze back to Michael. “Do you miss her?”
    The shift in conversation topic was abrupt. Michael didn’t un derstand the correlation between his feelings for Sabrina and Shaw’s motivations in finding Leo Maddox, but he knew he’d need Ben’s help if he had any hope of succeeding.
    â€œEvery second of every day.”
    â€œWhat would you be willing to do to get back to her? To be able to stay with her?” Ben’s face had taken on a strange gravity, as if the weight of the world rested in this one question.
    â€œAnything.”
    The answer must have been the right one, because Ben tossed the game controller on the floor where the coffee table had once been. He stood. “Good to know. Give me a few minutes to change and we’ll go.” Ben left the room, leaving Michael to wonder exactly what kind of debt he owed and what kind of man he owed it to.

Seven
    Michael stepped around an old man spreading out a tattered blanket before dumping a box out onto it. Matchbox cars and antique lighters tumbled out along with bootleg DVDs and kitchen gadgets. “ Perdóneme, señor ,” he said. The old-timer shot him a glare as he passed, which he returned with a wry smile. He tended to have that effect on people.
    Midmorning at Mercat Del Encants. People were everywhere, young and old, every shape and size. Ben blended perfectly. The kid played Hapless College Student to a T. Having changed into a pair of cargo shorts and a ratty AC/DC concert shirt, he flitted from booth to booth, smiling and chatting his way around the flea market.
    Michael followed at a safe distance, trailing a sting of Pips, as he called FSS lackeys, behind him. Junior’s outburst must’ve rattled Shaw more than he let on if he sent a pack of his specially trained lapdogs to make sure they didn’t screw up. He began to wonder, same as Ben, what the boss was hoping to gain by recovering Leo Maddox. What had the Senator promised him in exchange for his grandson’s safe return?
    Finally, after about an hour of fishing, they got a bite. Ben asked about the scarf girl, described her to an old woman surrounded by several boxes of VHS tapes. He said he’d seen her around a few days ago and he’d thought she was pretty. He confided in the old woman that he’d been hoping to find her so he could ask her out for coffee. The old woman gave him a wide gap-toothed smile.
    Bingo.
    â€œLet me handle it, okay? Her name’s Eliza,” Ben said as they wound their way through the market, heading toward the long low row of wooden structures that housed the food and more high-priced shops. “She takes one look at you, dude, she’s gonna rabbit.”
    Michael looked down at himself and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Faded jeans and an old navy blue Hanes shirt. “What’s wrong with the way I look?”
    â€œIt’s not your clothes,” Ben said. “It’s this .” He waved his hand in Michael’s direction. “You. All of you. The whole thing. Everything about you is hostile. You need to relax.”
    â€œRelax?”
    â€œYeah, relax.” Ben hitched the backpack he carried up on one shoulder. “Do some