Theodore Boone: The Scandal Read Online Free

mean I can skip school tomorrow?”
    “It does not.”

Chapter 4
    W hen Judge began growling at 2:14 a.m., he was standing near Theo’s head and staring at the front door less than twenty feet away. Theo woke up and knew something was wrong. He crawled to a window and saw a pickup truck parked at the curb by the mailbox. Then he saw a shadow move near the front steps.
    “What is it, Theo?” Mrs. Holland whispered. She was on the sofa, wrapped up in a quilt with Sally. It was no surprise she had not been sleeping.
    “Someone’s out there,” Theo said. He scampered to the foyer and turned on the outside lights. A split second later, a loud boom rattled the front door, again and again. A very angry man was yelling and banging with his fists. Judge began barking loudly as everybody in the house panicked and bolted upright. Mr. Boone yelled, “Call the police!” and Mrs. Boone went for the phone.
    “Open up!” the man yelled as he banged away. “I know you’re in there, Carrie!”
    “It’s Randy,” Mrs. Holland said. “Good old Randy. Drunk as a skunk.”
    “Take the kids to the kitchen,” Mr. Boone said. He walked to the door and said, “We’re calling the police, Mr. Holland.”
    “Open the door! I have the right to see my wife and kids.”
    “They don’t want to see you right now. Please stop banging or you’ll wake up the neighbors.”
    “Don’t really care. I want my family!”
    “Why don’t you leave, and we’ll sit down tomorrow and discuss everything? There’s nothing to be gained by causing a big scene in the middle of the night.”
    Judge was barking like an idiot but not advancing on the door. Mr. Boone growled, “Shut up, Judge. Theo, get the dog!”
    “The police are right around the corner,” Mrs. Boone said softly as she stepped in from the kitchen. “Keep talking to him.”
    Mr. Boone cracked the door but left the chain hooked. He looked at Randy through the glass of a metal storm door. When Randy saw the crack, he began banging away again. “Open the door! I want my wife and kids!”
    “Please settle down, Mr. Holland,” Mr. Boone said. From across the street, the lights of the Ferguson home came on. Suddenly, Randy picked up a large rock from the flower bed and crashed it through the glass of the storm door. Mr. Boone managed to slam the wooden door just as everything shattered. Judge bravely retreated to a safe spot behind the sofa, whimpering. In the kitchen, Sally and Sharon were crying as Pete tried to console them.
    “He’s crazy,” Mr. Boone said in shock.
    “I told you so,” Carrie said from the kitchen doorway. “Crazy and drunk.”
    “What a cheap door!” Randy yelled, and he began laughing. Theo was hiding behind a chair and peeking through the blinds. The man was indeed frightening. He was thick and burly, with a beard, and long hair sticking out from under a cap. He was weaving and staggering, obviously intoxicated. He took a step back and bellowed, “You think you’re so smart, don’t you, Carrie? Well, you’re pretty stupid. I found you by tracking your cell phone. Pretty stupid.” He almost fell off the stoop but caught himself on an iron railing.
    Mr. Boone cracked the door about an inch and calmly said, “Mr. Holland, I’ve called the police and they are on the way. Now would you please settle down?”
    “I don’t care who you call,” he yelled. “Call the cops, call the sheriff, call the FBI, hell, call the Marines for all I care. I just want to see my family.”
    Calmly, Mr. Boone said, “Well, they don’t want to see you, and you’re headed back to jail if you don’t leave.”
    “I ain’t leaving, okay, mister? Not without my wife and kids. You have no right to keep them in there.”
    More lights from across the street. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson were standing on the front porch in their pajamas. Randy tried to pick up another rock from the flower bed but lost his balance and fell into some shrubs. As he scrambled to get up, mumbling