Free Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson Page B

saying, maybe you take your military training too seriously.”
    “You think so? I’ve saved hundreds of people in my lifetime. How about you? Any of you ever save a life?”
    Harry and I looked at each other. I’d never felt so intimidated.
    “I didn’t think so. I’ll see you at dinner. We’re having whatever is in a can or a jar. Keep your expectations low.”

22
    That was it?
We were grounded?
    One summer, Hugo got a Big Chop for talking back to Maud. He was sent to boot camp in Hawaii, where he harvested prickly pineapples for two months in the blazing sun and slept in a guarded barracks at night. He was
eight
. Grounding, for us, was nothing.
    I gathered my brothers for a conference in Hugo’s room. I said, “We have to talk.”
    “You don’t even have to say it, Tandy,” Harry said. “We screwed up. What if we
had
been kidnapped? There’s some precedent for that. What was Jacob supposed to think?”
    “Malcolm and Maud never worried where we were,”Hugo said. He kicked at the knees of his tattered life-sized stuffed pony, a baby gift from Uncle Peter.
    “They knew we could take care of ourselves,” Harry said. “Jacob doesn’t know that.”
    “Our parents were self-involved,” said Hugo. “They only cared if we were insubordinate. Or if something we did came back on them.”
    “So what are you saying?” I asked Hugo.
    “We don’t expect people to care.” He flopped down on his back, lying diagonally across his mattress with his arms crossed over his chest. “Jacob actually cares about us.
Us!
”
    Like it was the most impossible thing to fathom. Which it kind of was.
    “It’s weird, but… I think you’re right,” I said.
    “But how
can
he? He’s barely known us for a week,” Hugo said.
    “Maybe he’s suffering a loss?” Harry suggested.
    “Maybe he doesn’t have any kids of his own. Or maybe they died,” Hugo said.
    “Or maybe he
likes
us,” I added. “Maybe he likes us and he
cares
and he’s
responsible
. Isn’t that enough?”
    I let this very alien idea—alien to the Angel kids, at least—sink in. Then we went together to Jacob’s door.
    When he opened it, Hugo said, “Jacob, we’re sorry we were so thoughtless.”
    “In our defense, we’ve never been held to account for our whereabouts during the daytime, but still,” Harry said, “we were wrong. We’ll never go off your radar again.”
    “Is there something we can do to make this up to you?” I asked. “Within reason, of course.” I smiled.
    Jacob put his hands on his hips. “What do you suggest?”
    “I’ve got a hundred bucks,” I joked.
    “And I’ve got fifty,” said Harry.
    “You can’t pay the man off! He’s Israeli military!” Hugo said, wide-eyed.
    “So we’ll treat for a Chinese dinner out. How’s that? If you’ll accept our apologies, Jacob,” I said.
    Jacob cracked a small smile. “Apologies accepted.”
    Then he did the unthinkable. He hugged us. All three of us and Jacob in one big group hug. Even I was moved. But it was Hugo who started to cry.
    Harry and I exchanged a look and backed off so that Jacob could hug Hugo and only Hugo. My little brother just sobbed into Jacob’s chest. He let go of a whole world of pain that he’d been expressing in every way but sadness.
    “I didn’t understand I could hurt you!” Hugo cried.
    “It’s okay. I’m here for you,” Jacob said. “I’ve got you now. We’re all going to be fine.”

23
    My phone rang,
jolting me out of a bottomless sleep.
    I fumbled around at my bedside table and grabbed my phone. It was C.P., and it was barely light out. I rubbed the bleariness from my eyes and checked the clock. It was just after six thirty in the morning.
    I answered on the third ring. “What’s up?”
    “Tandy,” she whispered, her voice strained. “It happened again.”
    “What?” I asked, swinging my legs over the side of my bed, fully alert. “What happened again?”
    “Look.”
    My phone beeped, and I opened the link C.P.