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.Extra money? What was that about? Financially, thingshad been going much better for uslately.When I d been younger, Jeremy had spent many a late night hunched over a calculator, trying tojuggle the bills.These days, he turned down work.We certainly weren t wealthy, but we werecomfortable.Maybe he d been referring to the investments.Once Jeremy had begun earning extra money, he d donethe financially cautious thing and invested the extra.Some of it went into conservative stuff like bonds, butat least half had gone into the stock market, under Antonio s direction.A few years back, Antonio hadtaken over the new technology sector of the family business, just as Dominic had been ready to abandonmicro-technology as an unprofitable fad.Although Antonio knew nothing about computers or technology,he had an instinctive grasp of trends and business needs, and had turned a department on the verge ofextinction into a thriving part of the company.He d also invested his own money in the technology sector,and persuaded Jeremy to do the same.Just this summer, a dividend check had bought us a two weektrip to Vermont.From what Jeremy s mentor said, maybe another one was on the way, and maybeanother trip in the works.I could live with that.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlJeremy s birthday came and went.No dividend check or special trip was mentioned, but he loved mygift, so that was enough.The next month, classes gave way to exams, bringing with it the prospect of fourwhole months to call my own.After my last exam, I bolted for the parking lot.and found my car missing.I stood in the lot and looked around.Had I been so preoccupied with my exam that I d accidentallyparked somewhere else? Not likely.My pass was for this lot.I was certain I d parked right there, in myusual spot in the far row.But now I was standing there, in front of the spot I could swear had been mine,scowling at a black Mustang convertible.A beautiful car, and any other time, I d have lingered toappreciate it, but right now I just wanted to go home, and this was, unfortunately, not my car.Hadsomeone stolen mine? Yeah, as if anyone would want a fifteen year old Chevy that needed a swift kick toget started on cold mornings.Had it been towed? Shit, Ihad paid all my tickets, hadn t I?A sharp tinkle of metal on asphalt cut short my thoughts.Following the sound, I looked to see a set ofkeys between my feet.I frowned down at them."Well, pick them up," said a voice behind me."I d have aimed for your hand, but I didn t want to startleyou."I turned to see Jeremy leaning against his truck.He waved at the keys.I picked them up, still frowning."What are you doing here?" I said."Did something happen to my car?""No, it s right there.Where you left it."I turned to the Mustang, looked down at the keys in my hand, then back at the car.I can imagine myexpression because Jeremy burst into a rare laugh."I thought you might like that," he said."Any speeding tickets you earn with it are still yours, though."I looked from the car, to Jeremy, and back again."But how where ?""I came into an unexpected bit of money and thought you deserved something new.Well, it s not new,butnewer , and hopefully nicer.""Shit, yeah," I said, still staring."Thanks.Thanks a lot.""You re welcome."I jangled the keys in my hand, itching to try them, but knowing that before I did that, I needed to be surethis was okay, that Jeremy hadn t gone into hock because I d been bitching and moaning about my carthis winter."The stocks?" I said, tearing my gaze from the car.He shook his head."A long-term investment of another kind.I sold my first painting.Two paintings,actually.One this winter and another last month.""Sold ? When ? I didn t even know you had any up for sale."Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlJeremy brushed his bangs from his face."I wasn t ready to admit to it.Not until something sold.Remember when we were looking for schools or, I should say, whenI was looking for schools? I knewyour teachers thought you d get a full scholarship, but when I saw the tuition prices, I was still worried.Ididn t want something like lack of money to hold you back.Don had been pestering me to put a fewpaintings in his gallery.Eventually I decided to give it a shot.""So they sold?"A tiny smile."For far more than they were worth.And since you took care of your tuition with yourscholarship, I thought it only fitting that I use the money on you.""You didn t need to ""No, but I wanted to.Now get in and let s go home."I grinned."Race you."He shook his head and walked back to his truck.And so our lives underwent another slow change.Over the next couple of years, Jeremy sold morepaintings.He still kept up his translation business, in case the art didn t work out, but he retained only hisbest clients and turned down all new work.Malcolm continued to train me.By the time I was eighteen, I d learned all the tricks he had to impart,but kept up the lessons for practice.That seemed to make him happy as happy as Malcolm wascapable of being.I always knew that part of his reason for training me was political.He saw in me apotentially valuable ally for his fight to become Alpha, and hoped that we d somehow bond over thesesessions and he d woo me away from Jeremy.Never happened, though.I came to tolerate Malcolm, butwould never forget what he d done to Jeremy, and never trust him not to do it again if things didn t go hisway.And what about his failed ploy to get me to persuade Jeremy to drop out of the Alpha race? Being out inthe world so much, Malcolm was first in the Pack to hear what I d done to that mutt.Was he angry thatI d found another way to stop trespassing mutts, one that didn t help his cause? If he was, he never gaveany sign of it.Instead, it seemed to give him something new to brag about, that his pupil had proven notonly a vicious killer but a clever strategist.Although my original plan had only been to keep mutts awayfrom Stonehaven, after hearing what I d done, most mutts decided they d better not take the chance oftrespassing on any Pack wolf s turf, just in case they d misunderstood my message.So, by the time I wastwenty, our sanctuary extended throughout Pack territory.As for the Alpha race, it was more of an Alpha crawl.Dominic had moved Jeremy into the role ofadvisor, and consulted him on every matter of Pack policy.This seemed a monumental step.An Alphatraditionally acted alone or, if he consulted anyone, he did it on the side, so no one knew he certainlydidn t openly ask for opinions as Dominic now did with Jeremy.Yet it was all for show [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]