Hush Money Read Online Free

her sister out of town that week, so I had Jill
and the store. It wasn’t any big deal to me , but you know
dads, right?
    Plus there was the thing with Krista. He’d be
wigged out about that. I knew he knew. He knew I knew. But we
weren’t going to talk about it.
    “Maybe I should stay.”
    “Go!” we both ordered.
    So Dad gave Jill a smacking kiss on the cheek
and walked around the counter to stand in front of me. He grabbed
both my hands and looked hard into my face.
    Dad could change—just like that. One minute
he was a normal dad, attentive parent, responsible business owner.
The next…
    “You’re right. We have to keep things normal
now. The last thing we want to do is draw attention to ourselves.”
His voice was low and intense, and his eyes darted to all points
around the room and back to mine. Away again. “If you see anything, anything suspicious, you know what to do. Under the counter,
shotgun. Handgun’s under the register. Emergency locks?”
    “Panic button in the cabinet locks the door.
Exit through the stockroom. Shoot anyone who doesn’t follow
instructions. Passage behind the boxes in the bathroom leads out to
stockroom next door with roof access. Follow planned route across
to the next building, down the fire escape to the alleyway. Use
untraceable cell phone to contact you to meet us at the rendezvous
point.”
    “And how are you going to contact me with the
cell phone if you don’t remember to pick up the G.O.O.D. pack?”
    G.O.O.D. stands for Get Out Of Dodge. It’s
important—I really can’t stress this enough—it’s really important
not to roll your eyes at Dad when he goes into commando mode.
    “Sorry sir. Secure G.O.O.D. pack from hook
next to delivery door before proceeding to bathroom, as pack
contains contact phone, provisions, medical supplies, extra ammo,
and tear gas which may be necessary in an escape situation.”
    “Good girl, Joss.” And just like that, he
started to fade back into normal dad mode. “I did all the checks
this morning. You’re good to go.”
    “We’re not going to need it, Dad.
Everything’s fine. Go shoot stuff, k?”
    “Yeah. Yeah. It’s all fine. You’re out of
here by 9, bed by 10, got it?”
    “Yeah, Dad.”
    Dad gave me a peck on the forehead and walked
out of the store without looking back. I knew he was thinking about
who might be watching. I took a deep breath and let it out as the
tension level immediately dropped back to normal range.
    And spiked again when I turned around and
Jilly handed me the hugest, pinkest, most beautiful rose anyone has
ever seen.
    “Do my math, pleeeeeeezzzzz?”
    “Jilly! Jesus H. Christ on a Crutch, get rid
of that thing right now!”
    “Don’t you like it? I snagged the leaf from
Mrs. O’Neill’s yard on the way home from school today.”
    And then used her Talent to grow that
incredible blossom from it in the palm of her hand. No wonder Dad
was a basket case.
    “Go to the bathroom and flush it down the
toilet. Right. Now.”
    Jill’s face screwed up and her eyes got
really bright.
    “I love it, ok? It’s great. It’s the most
beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And you know we can’t keep it. So
go get rid of it and when you get back, your homework will
magically be done.”
    “Really?”
    “Go!”
    Jill slid off her stool and ran off toward
the stockroom. I made a mental note to myself to check the place
for petals so Dad wouldn’t have an embolism.
    And you’d think the Universe would have the
decency to call it day by that point, let me relax, feather dust
the holster and accessories display, maybe find a better
arrangement for the new rifle cases Dad had just leaned up against
the wall near the boot “department”… But nooooooo.
    Because no sooner had the stockroom door
started its backswing, than the sensor on the door that tells us a
customer just walked in made its incredibly loud buzz. I just about
had a heart attack, thinking it was Dad coming back in to use the
bathroom before