Wilder Boys Read Online Free Page B

doodling a picture of a moose with flowers around its neck. Then he added the word Teton in an arch above it. . . . It still didn’t mean anything to him. But it must have meant something to his dad.
    After a while Jake turned off the light and lay in his bed thinking about the box of letters, the gun, and the big bag of cash—more than enough discoveries for one day. Eventually his eyes grew heavy, and he drifted off to sleep—only to be awoken with a start a couple of hours later.
    â€œHuh?” he grunted, rolling over to look at their clock. At first he thought it might be time to get up, but the red glowing display read only 4:28 a.m.
    Then he heard Cody scratching at the front door.
    â€œCo-deee,” Jake moaned under his breath. “It’s the middle of the night. Can’t you hold it till morning?”
    Still half asleep, Jack staggered to the front door, where he found the terrier prancing impatiently.
    â€œWhat? Didn’t those hot dogs agree with you?” Jake asked as he opened the door.
    Cody leaped to the ground and sprinted away.
    Strange, Jake thought to himself as he sat down in the hallway to wait for Cody to finish his business. The minutes passed, and his eyes were beginning to get heavy once again, but the dog still hadn’t returned.
    â€œShoot,” he said, getting up. He went back to his bedroom and, still in his pajamas, pulled on his sneakers and started out of the room.
    â€œWhere you goin’?”
    Jake looked back to see Taylor rubbing his eyes.
    â€œIt’s nothing,” Jake told him. “I gotta go find Cody. Go back to sleep.”
    Just then they heard a distant yelp.
    â€œThat’s Cody,” Taylor said, bolting up. “I’m comin’ with you!”
    â€œWell, hurry.”
    Taylor hopped out of bed and shoved his feet into his shoes. The brothers crept outside.
    â€œWhere’d the sound come from?” Taylor asked.
    â€œI think down by the jungle. C’mon, let’s run.”
    By the light of a waning moon, the two cut to the alley behind their house and followed it to the next cross street. On the other side of the street, the neighborhood ended, but a single-lane dirt path led through some trees to a small clearing where a lot of people dumped their trash. Neighborhood kids called the area “the jungle.” Creeping silently along the track, the boys spotted Bull’s truck sitting in the clearing, and next to it, a shiny black four-door sedan they didn’t recognize. Suddenly they heard Bull’s voice up ahead.
    Jake held his finger to his lips. “Quiet.”
    They kept moving forward until they could make out the dim shapes of two men in the predawn light.
    Jake and Taylor crouched down behind a bush. “That’s Bull,” Jake whispered. He didn’t recognize the other man.
    â€œLook, there’s Cody!” Taylor hissed.
    Jake squinted and saw the shape of their terrier a few feet behind Bull, staring up at both men.
    From this position, Jake and Taylor could clearly hear their conversation.
    â€œBottom line, Bull, you messed up,” said the stranger.
    â€œI told you. It wasn’t my fault,” Bull said.
    â€œWhat is this? Kindergarten?” said the other man. “It don’t matter whose fault it is, you moron. We hired you for the job, and you made a mess of it.”
    â€œHow was I supposed to know the guy had company? What’d you want me to do: whack all five of ’em?”
    â€œAin’t my problem,” said the stranger. “We paid you cash up front to do the job, and you didn’t do it. Now my boss wants his money back.”
    â€œI—I don’t have it.” For the first time ever, Jake thought he could hear a note of worry in Bull’s voice. “I’ll do the job!” Bull said. “Tomorrow. I promise.”
    â€œYou’d better. Or else. ”
    Something in the stranger’s tone made