The Unearthed: Book One, The Eddie McCloskey Series Read Online Free

back in a ponytail like always. She smiled, until she noticed Billy’s eye.
    “Oh, my God.” She rushed over to him. “What happened to you?”
    Billy put on a brave face. “It was Ryan Ken-ner. He cornered me … and …”
    “It’s okay, hon. I’ll call the Principal tomorrow. This has got to stop. Let me get you some ice.” She pulled an ice pack from the freezer and wrapped it in a towel.
    Billy put the towel to his face. The coldness stung. “Mom, don’t call the school.”
    “Oh, I am. And I’m calling his mother.”
    “Mom—”
    “This has gone on too long,” Mom said. “Why don’t you go sit down and watch some TV or play your video games? I’ll have dinner ready in an hour or so.”
    “Okay.” Billy didn’t want her calling anyone, but he didn’t press further. She couldn’t call the school until tomorrow anyway. And Billy doubted she had the Kenners’ number.
    * * * *
    “That fucking Kenner kid again,” Talia said once Billy was upstairs and out of earshot.
    Jackie pursed his lips.
    “What?” she snapped.
    “We need to toughen him up. He’ll be in high school next year.”
    “He’s just a kid. He’s innocent compared to others his age.”
    “He’s not a kid anymore, hon. And the world won’t wait for him to grow up.”
    “He’s a good person. If anything, he’s too good.”
    “Look, I wanted to hug him when I saw his eye. But—”
    “Why didn’t you?”
    “Hon—”
    “Why not?” she asked.
    “Don’t turn this around on me.”
    “I’m…sorry.” She looked up at him. He was still so handsome.
    Jackie said, “I don’t get it. He holds his own when we spar. I don’t get why his self-esteem is so low.”
    “Maybe it’s because we’re too hard on him.” She went to the sink and started filling a pot with water.
    “What you’re really saying is that I’m too hard on him?” Jackie asked.
    She turned the water off, blew out a big sigh. “Hon, let’s not argue right now.”
    “Oh, no you don’t,” he said. “You can’t start an argument and then try to pretend I started it.”
    She hated how logical men could be.
    “Fine,” she said. “I just think we should give him a little slack.”
    “Those boys at the high school won’t cut him any. He needs to be prepared.”
    “You keep pushing him and he’ll …”
    “He’ll what?”
    “I’m worried about him, Jackie.”
    “Oh don’t start with that. Every kid goes through this at some point. It’s not like he’s going to take a gun into school.”
    “Not a gun, Jackie, but you hear these things about kids these days.”
    He put his hands on her shoulders. She loved his smile.
    He said, “Everything will be alright. I promise.”
    “I know. I’m sorry if I’ve been short. It’s just…”
    “It’s okay, hon.”
    “I do think we should at least consider having him talk to somebody.”
    “Tal—”
    “It doesn’t make him any less of a man.”
    “I want him to take care of his own problems.”
    Talia didn’t want to say this but a big part of the problem was that Billy couldn’t talk to Jackie.
    Jackie said, “He’s too old to have an imaginary friend. But he doesn’t need to talk to someone else about it. He should come to me and you about it.”
    “He comes to me about it.”
    “Oh, I get it. It’s always my fault.”
    “I’m not saying that--” Damnit, she hated it when she cried.
    The anger drained out of his face and he wrapped her in his arms.
    She said, “I’m going out of my mind here, babe.”
    He squeezed her tighter. Sometimes all it took was a hug from her man. She buried her head in his chest.
    “Do you think these paranormal guys can help us?” she asked.
    “They can’t hurt.”
    “You sure?”
    “They were all right. One knew what he was talking about but was standoffish. The other was extremely unprofessional but pretty friendly. Tossup.”
    She put her head back in his chest and closed her eyes. She knew he didn’t really want their help; he was doing