Read The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) for Free Online

“I’m moving, by the way.”
    “Out of student housing?” Steven asked.
    “Yes,” Jason said.
    “Where?”
    “Well,” Jason said, “I met this girl. She lives in a house
with several other roommates. One of the rooms opened up. So I’m taking it.”
    “Can you afford it?” Steven asked.
    “I definitely thought your first question would be, ‘who is
she?’” Jason said.
    “OK, we’ll start there,” Steven said. “Who is she?”
    “Her name is Jennifer,” Jason said. “She’s from Montana.”
    “Is it serious?” Steven asked.
    “Kinda,” Jason said. “More me than her.” Jason reached for
his phone and flicked his finger across the surface a few times. “Here’s her
picture,” he said, turning the phone to Steven.
    “She’s pretty,” Steven said, proud but not surprised that his
son had landed a good-looking girl. Jason had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a
dimpled chin. He’d always been popular with girls.
    “She rides horses,” Jason said, pulling the phone back. “Her
father is a rancher.”
    “What’s she studying?” Steven asked.
    “Biology,” Jason said. “Wants to find the cure for cancer.”
    “I hope she does,” Steven said, and a waitress showed up at
the table to take their orders. She returned quickly with their drinks.
    “There’s something I wanted to ask you,” Jason said.
    “No,” Steven said reflexively. “No more money. I’m jobless at
the moment.”
    “I don’t need any money,” Jason said. “Mom gives me plenty.”
    Steven felt his irritation rising. Sheryl, his ex-wife, had
agreed to keep Jason on a tight budget while he was in school, but he was
always a momma’s boy, and Steven knew she was a pushover whenever Jason begged.
    “How much has she given you?” Steven asked, careful not to
let his irritation show.
    “Well, she gave me a thousand for my birthday last month.”
    Steven gulped his drink and resolved to call Sheryl to
discuss the agreement they’d made and find out why she was breaking it. Somehow
Jason saw this on Steven’s face.
    “You always do this,” Jason said.
    “Do what?” Steven said.
    “Turn everything into an issue with Mom,” Jason said. “All I
wanted to do was talk to you about something which has nothing to do with money
or with her, but you’ve turned the whole thing that direction.”
    “Sorry,” Steven said. “Old habits die hard. What did you want
to talk to me about?”
    “This is going to sound a little weird,” Jason said, stirring
his iced tea with a straw, “so please hear me out before you say anything.”
    “Alright,” Steven said, sitting back in his booth seat a
little.
    “I’ve told you before about the dream I’ve had with you and
Grandpa Roy in it,” Jason said. “The one with the book.”
    “Yes?” Steven said. He remembered Jason mentioning the dream
once or twice in his teen years. Steven had dismissed the dream previously, but
now that he’d learned about the River, and Roy had shown him the family book,
he knew what Jason’s dreams must have been about.
     “Well, I had the dream again,” Jason said, “but this time you
and Roy fought about it. And you killed him.”
    Not what I was expecting, Steven thought.
    “Not what you were expecting?” Jason said, studying Steven’s
reaction.
    “No,” Steven said, “but then, crazy things happen in dreams.”
    “This one was different,” Jason said. “It was more vivid than
the other dreams. More real. I woke up really jarred by it. It still bothers
me.”
    “Sorry to hear that,” Steven said, not sure what exactly he
should say about it.
    “So,” Jason said, “I was wondering, do you have dreams like
that? Really vivid ones, where people die?”
    “No,” Steven said, “I don’t.”
    “So it’s not inherited?” Jason said. “Maybe I should ask
Grandpa Roy.”
    “Why would you think it’s inherited?” Steven asked. “Dreams
are weird. Lots of things are inherited, but everybody has strange dreams now
and