The Secret Friend Read Online Free

wide open and unblinking.
    Hannah pulled away from the window. The wind, wild and fierce, whipped curtains of snow across the streets.
    ‘I’m sorry, we haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Walter. Walter Smith.’
    ‘Hello.’
    ‘You ready for Johnson’s midterm next week?’
    ‘I’m going to do a little studying once I get home.’
    ‘I hope you’re not waiting for the bus. They’re running waaaay behind schedule on account of the storm. I just heard it on the radio. Hop in. I’ll give you a ride.’
    Hannah wanted nothing more than to get out of the cold, to get home and slip into a warm bath. She had a long weekend of studying, and she planned on getting a head start tonight, but the thought of getting inside the car with this stranger filled her with anxiety.
    ‘Thanks for the offer,’ Hannah said, ‘but I don’t want to put you out of your way.’
    ‘You’re not. I’m heading over to Brighton anyway to visit a friend.’ Walter Smith was already moving the backpack and textbook into the back seat.
    He wasn’t a stranger, not exactly. He was in Professor Johnson’s class. She didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t mean anything. The calculus class was held in a big, musty lecture hall. There were well over a hundred students.
    ‘You’ll freeze to death out there,’ Walter Smith said. ‘Hop in.’
    A small statue of the Virgin Mary was mounted on the dashboard. Seeing the statue sent the anxiety away. Hannah opened the door and hopped in, grateful to be out of the cold wind.
    The inside of the car was warm and smelled of new leather and cologne.
    ‘I live at one twenty-two Carlton Road,’ Hannah said, buckling her seatbelt. ‘Do you know how to get to Allston?’
    Walter Smith nodded as he pulled away from the kerb. ‘One of my friends lives around there,’ he said. ‘Speaking of which, do you mind if I swing by and pick up him up? It’s on the way.’
    ‘No, of course not.’
    The city ploughs were out, busy trying to clear the streets and highways. Traffic was slow.
    ‘So,’ Hannah said, ‘what’s your major?’
    Walter Smith was majoring in computer science. He wanted to design computer games. He grew up on the west coast – he didn’t say where – and told her he was living in the Back Bay although he was seriously considering moving to someplace like Brighton or Allston where rent was considerably cheaper. When Hannah asked him how he liked Northeastern, he shrugged and said he wanted to go to MIT but couldn’t afford it.
    Hannah thought it was odd he could afford a BMW and to rent a place in the Back Bay but couldn’t afford to take out a college loan. If you could go to MIT, why waste your time and money on Northeastern? Hannah didn’t want to come across as nosy, so she didn’t ask.
    By the time they hit Storrow Drive, Walter had grown quiet. He was doing this weird thing with his tongue – gently chewing it on one side of his jaw, then moving it over to the other side. She tried talking to him about music and movies but he seemed distracted. Maybe he was concentrating on the road. The snow was bad, and the roads were pretty slippery. She spotted more than one accident.
    Walter took the Allston exit. Ten minutes later he pulled into a small strip mall with a Radio Shack and two other buildings that looked abandoned. The parking lot was empty. He drove behind the building and parked in front of a loading dock. Crates and trash were stacked up next to several back doors. There was nobody back here.
    ‘Dave must be waiting inside,’ Walter said. ‘Reach inside the glove compartment and grab the yellow sheet of paper. It has Dave’s cell number on it.’
    Hannah leaned forward and opened the glove compartment. Walter smashed her face against the dashboard.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Walter Smith said as he pressed a bandana against her nose and mouth.
    At first Hannah thought he was trying to wipe away the blood; then she inhaled some bitter odour that smelled of spoiled