Free Damage by Anya Parrish Page A

with her good hand. “Someone hired him to break into your dad’s private files.”
    “What?”
    “Your dad’s research. It seems it’s pretty valuable to someone.”
    “But isn’t he still working on that arthritis thing?” I ask, before turning to Jesse to explain. “My dad does research for new medicines. He’s been working on a shot to help people with arthritis since I was in eighth grade.”
    Penny takes one of the carefully folded cloth napkins from the table and presses it to her bleeding arm. “I’m not sure what they’re working on now, but Vince said someone gave him twenty thousand dollars to steal Phillip’s hard drive. He went into your dad’s office while I was getting him coffee. I heard him in there and went to see what he was doing … ” She laughs, a bitter sound that makes me angrier. Penny is always so upbeat and positive—almost annoyingly so. How dare her jerk of a brother make her feel this way when all she’s ever done is try to help him? “He offered me a few thousand dollars to keep my mouth shut and let him take it.”
    Jesse clears his throat. “I … I think I need a drink of water,” he says. “If that’s okay? I can just get it myself.”
    “No, no! I’ll get you something.” Penny jumps to her feet. “I should have offered. I’m so sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Penny, Dani’s stepmom.”
    “Jesse,” Jesse says, but his voice is still strange.
    But then, after the morning we’ve had, and being dragged into the middle of my extended family drama, it’s amazing he can speak at all. “It’s my fault,” I say. “I should have introduced everyone. I’ll get the water, Penny. You sit.” I move to the cabinet where we keep the glasses. “Do you want anything else? Orange juice or apple juice or a Coke or—”
    “Water’s fine. Thank you.”
    I flinch. He sounds angry. Great. So far I’ve done a fabulous job of making the first boy I’ve ever brought home comfortable. I concentrate on pulling down a glass and filling it with ice and water from the refrigerator door. I’m grateful when Penny speaks, reminding me I have bigger things to worry about than Vince’s attack or Jesse’s comfort.
    “What are you guys doing home from school? Was the field trip cancelled?” Penny asks. “I heard there was bad weather coming in from Buffalo and there might be snowstorms. I was worried about the bus coming home on slick roads.”
    My stomach sinks and my arm shakes so badly I nearly drop the glass of water on the floor. I would have if Jesse hadn’t appeared at my side and plucked it from my hand. His takes my other hand with his, as if he senses that I need a bit of borrowed strength to tell my stepmom that my best friend is dead.
    I tell Penny what happened, doing my best to describe everything with a minimum of horror. Still, by the time I get to the explosion, she’s out of her chair, wild-eyed and gasping.
    “Oh my God!” Her napkin-wrapped hand presses against her thin chest. “Oh my God, you two could have died. What about everyone else on the bus? Are there any other survivors? Why did you walk all the way home? Why didn’t you call me?”
    “I—I just, I—”
    “I think we were in shock or something,” Jesse says, coming to my rescue. “We just started running and didn’t even realize how far we’d gone until we were almost back in Madisonville.”
    “Oh my God. Of course, I can’t even imagine … ” Penny shakes her head, tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe this. You poor kids. This is awful. And all your friends … ” Thankfully she doesn’t finish her sentence. If she had, I might have broken down and joined her sob fest.
    After a few uncomfortable seconds, Penny sniffs her last sniff and stands up straighter, obviously making an effort to be strong. “Okay, first things first. You could be hurt. We need to get you both to the hospital. I’ll get my purse.” She heads out of the room, voice rising as she