The Innocence Game Read Online Free Page B

He doles out information to us as he sees fit. Heck, he was ordering Zombrowski around today.”
    “And we’re going to get what out of this?”
    “The upper hand.” A smirk curled the corner of Sarah’s mouth.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “Nothing.” She swung a right onto Dempster Street. “You don’t think it’s a good idea to be following him?”
    “I think it’s a fine idea.”
    “You’re being sarcastic.”
    “Actually, I’m not.”
    “He doesn’t interest you at all?”
    “Not the way he interests you.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Nothing.”
    She glanced across the car. “Sounded like something.”
    I pointed at the flow of traffic ahead of us. “Where do you think he’s going?”
    “Tell me what you meant.”
    “When?”
    “Just now.”
    “He likes you, Sarah.”
    “That’s what you think?”
    “Yes, that’s what I think. Watch where you’re going.”
    She moved her eyes back to the road. “He doesn’t like me. And he’s not my type anyway.”
    “Maybe you’re just pissed because he beat up your boyfriend?”
    “Kyle’s not my boyfriend. And he got what was coming to him.”
    We drove a couple more blocks in silence. I didn’t know what else to say. Havens had a thing for Sarah. And no one was going to convince me otherwise. I mean, why the hell wouldn’t he? Why wouldn’t anyone? The fact that she couldn’t see it didn’t mean anything. I was walking proof of that.
    “What are we going to do if he catches us?” I said.
    “We’ll tell him the truth.”
    “Which is what?”
    “He’s creeping us out. And we want to know what’s up.”
    “That’ll go over well.”
    We pulled up to a light. Havens’s Honda sat two cars ahead. I wondered if Sarah had ever tailed anyone before. All in all, I thought she was doing a pretty good job. We took a left on McCormick Boulevard, before turning west on Devon.
    “He’s headed to the forest preserve,” I said.
    “The what?”
    “The woods. He’s headed to the woods where they buried the kid.”
    Sarah hadn’t taken a look at the police report, at least not enough to put it together. So I did it for her.
    “Skylar Wingate. The kid James Harrison killed. They found him down here.”
    A sign flashed past: caldwell woods . Up ahead, Havens’s blinker blinked.
    “He’s going in a side entrance,” I said. “I think there’s a small parking lot there.”
    “What should we do?”
    “Take a right.” We pulled into a warren of residential streets and parked.
    “Come on,” I said, “before we lose him.”
    We jogged back across Caldwell Avenue and stopped just inside the entrance to the forest preserve. I heard a car door slam and waited another beat. Then we slipped forward. Havens was just making his way down one of the trails. We followed.

4
    Sunlight washed down the dirt path and cut a filtered edge through the trees. Sarah had a bounce in her step. I didn’t.
    “What should we say if he sees us?” she said.
    “I told you. I don’t know. This whole thing was your idea.”
    Havens had slipped around a bend in the trail, maybe thirty yards ahead.
    “Do you think he’s taking us to the crime scene?” she said.
    “Be a good bet. We should probably get off the trail.” I found a gap in the trees and stepped into the shade. It had rained the night before and the ground here was still damp. The fecund smell of soil mingled with rotting wood and the faint metallic tang of the river.
    “You’ve been here before?” Sarah was pressed up close behind me, and I could feel the swell of her blouse, firm against my skin.
    “Yeah, I’ve been here.”
    “Why?”
    “Good running trails. Sometimes, I take my bike down here. Now stay close and be quiet.” I moved quickly through the trees, my eyes adjusting to the thickening darkness. Sarah struggled to keep pace. I went in about a hundred yards and waited.
    “Sorry,” she said, when she finally caught up. “I think I’m running into every thornbush in the