Hemlock Read Online Free

I could do for him—at least not at the moment. I could cal the cops when I got home. If I had to. If it looked bad enough.
    I was realy hoping it wouldn’t look that bad. For one thing, I was friends with Trey’s sister. For another, I’d spent my formative years around people who’d had very strong opinions about the police and rats.
    Trey raised an eyebrow, waiting for my reply.
    “Thanks but I’m good. Besides, it looks like you’ve got your hands ful.” I stepped around him just as the figure on the ground hands ful.” I stepped around him just as the figure on the ground looked up.
    The guy they were pounding was Jason.
    UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
    .....................................................................

Chapter 2
    I RAN TO JASON AND CROUCHED AT HIS SIDE. BLOOD trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he was going to have one heck of a bruise on his cheek.
    “Are you okay?”
    He reached into his jacket pocket and hauled out a slim bottle of Jack Daniel’s. “I’m having a blast.” He tried to laugh and ended up coughing. “Don’t be like that,” he complained as I snatched the bottle from his hands. “It’s medicinal.”
    I ignored him and stood. Six months ago, the sight of Jason bleeding on the ground would have had me crazed. Now I just wondered what he had done to deserve it. There was a limited amount of trouble you could find in a town the size of Hemlock, amount of trouble you could find in a town the size of Hemlock, but Jason kept doing his best to sink to new depths. I was starting to worry it was some sort of passive-aggressive suicide.
    I tossed the bottle to Trey. “What did he do?” Trey shrugged, uncomfortable, and I shook my head. “You wouldn’t be using him as a punching bag if he hadn’t done something .” Despite the trouble he was always getting into and the scams he was always running on the side, Serena’s brother was weirdly honorable; he never hit anyone without a reason.
    Jason spat on the sidewalk and tried to stand. It took him two tries. “Gentlemen’s disagreement, Mac. Don’t worry your pretty head about it.” The corner of his mouth quirked up in a condescending grin.
    If anyone else had used that tone with me, I’d have walked away and let Trey go to town. But it was Jason and that made a difference. It was impossible to know exactly what Amy would say or think if she were here, but I did know one thing: she’d want me to take care of him.
    I stared at Trey and repeated my question. “What did he do?”
    Trey sighed and tugged on his earlobe. “He lost on a bet and hasn’t paid up.”
    I couldn’t believe Trey had been stupid enough to take a bet without colecting cash upfront, but the way he ran his high school gambling ring wasn’t any of my business.
    Jason coughed. “It’s not my fault you don’t take AmEx.”
    I glared. “Shut up, Jason.” To Trey I said, “How much does he owe you?”

    owe you?”
    “Eighty and an apology.”
    Eighty dolars. The thirty-seven I had made in tips, plus almost al the cash I kept in my walet for emergencies—enough to cover the power bil if Tess forgot again. I shoved my backpack against Jason’s chest. “Hold this,” I spat, too livid to look at his face.
    “Mac . . .”
    “Don’t say anything.” I unzipped the front pocket and yanked out my walet. I spoke in deliberate, clipped tones, hauling out bils a few at a time to punctuate each word. “You. Are. Going. To.
    Pay. Me. Back.”
    I handed the cash to Trey.
    “Sorry, Dobs,” he said, taking the bils and slipping them into his back pocket. He probably was. Taking money from his kid sister’s friend was different from taking it from a guy like Jason. Besides, Trey probably knew how hard I had worked for it, something Jason—who’d always had everything handed to him—would never get.
    I glared at Jason. “Now tel the nice man with my money that you’re sorry.”
    He spat again and handed me