Wolf’s Heart Read Online Free Page A

trying to stay cool about the whole thing. He was sure that would work as he looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Just as he pulled his hand out of the pocket and turned, Ryden saw Mr. Holloway standing at the end of the aisle with an exasperated look. Ryden swallowed hard hoping Mr. Holloway hadn’t seen what he had just done.
    When he got closer, Mr. Holloway stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
    “Ryden, this won’t work. Go put it back, son.”
    Ryden’s heart sank, and he knew this was it for him. He’d teetered on the edge of the law for years, often in trouble at school and just being trouble all around. Now, sixteen and having been caught shoplifting, he knew he wasn’t getting off easy this time.
    Instead of calling the cops, he called a friend who dealt with wayward boys. Grant Holloway recognized Ryden’s need for someone to care instead of kicking him farther down into the gutter. Never before had anyone cared about him this much. It was a new experience, one Ryden hadn’t been sure how to deal with at the time.
    Shaking himself from his memories, he took the exit into a residential part of Baltimore and saw the tree-lined streets of his home town. Grant lived on Hawthorne Road while the other man Ryden was there to visit, Justin Walters, lived across town. As he pulled up into Grant’s drive, he saw both men sitting on the porch, each with a cold brew in hand.
    “Damn, this early, guys?” Ryden gave a genuine smile at both men as he got out of his car.
    “Yes, this early. Don’t know when I’ll take my last breath, so I might as well enjoy it,” Grant said as he clinked the long necked bottle to Justin’s raised one.
    “Yeah, what he said.” Justin chuckled as he took a drink of his beer and sat the now-empty bottle on the table beside him. “’Bout time you got here. Took you long enough.”
    Grabbing Ryden in a tight hug, he patted him on the back and turned him to the porch where Grant struggled to get out of his chair.
    “Hold up, Grant. Let me help you.” Ryden quickly ran up the porch steps and helped his old friend to his feet, giving him a gentle hug. The years had not been kind to Grant. Ryden could see the gray hair had thinned, and his weathered face was drawn and pale. Time wasn’t on Grant’s side, hence one of the reasons for this visit. Justin had told him in their last phone conversation that Grant’s cancer was back, and the doctors had given him no hope.
    Helping his old friend back to his comfortable chair, Ryden sat on the top step and leaned against the porch columns of the old home.
    “How’re you feeling Grant? Your daughter been by today?”
    “Aw, I’m alright. Everyone’s gonna die sometime. Just might be today for me. Cathy was here yesterday, said she’d bring some groceries by later. Not much an old man needs, but she makes sure I got it.”
    He lifted his beer and took another swallow. Obviously, it wasn’t the best thing for Grant to be drinking, but why take away anything he loved when he might not live to see another day? And as frail as he looked, Ryden had a sinking feeling this might be the last time he saw his friend.
    “How’s things been for you, Ry?” Justin asked. “Army still treatin’ you right? Keepin’ your nose clean?”
    “Yes, sir.” Ryden smiled at the man who’d been more like a father to him than anyone he’d known, including the many foster parents he’d had as a kid. If not for Grant calling Justin when Ryden attempted to steal that CD from his store, he’d most likely have ended up in juvie or prison.
    Justin had a way of taking young boys who had been in trouble and turning them down the right path to success. Ryden was one of many he’d helped over the years, and for that, he’d never be able to thank him enough.
    “Things have been crazy as you can imagine. War’s war…it is what it is.” Ryden shrugged as if to make light of it, but both Justin and Grant gave him a look that said they knew better.