Read All Due Respect for Free Online Page A

at his lips, then stared up at Seth. “Thank you for checking on me.”
    Hell, when a kid looked up at you as awed as if you were Michael Jordan, what was a measly couple hours of driving time and a few phone calls? “No problem, buddy. That’s what friends are for.”
    “Yeah, buddy.” Jeff smiled.
    The warmth in it captured a corner of Seth’s heart, and he smiled back. “Yeah.”
    Jeff tapped the tip of his shoe against the metal fence, and his smile faded. “Dr. Seth?”
    “What is it, Jeff?”
    “Buddies don’t lie to buddies, right?”
    “Buddies don’t lie period.”
    “I didn’t have ray listening ears on, but I heard Dad when he yelled at you.” Jeff rubbed at his bruise. “I didn’t fall playing football.”
    Admitting that took guts. And of all the people in the world he could have chosen to trust, Jeff had picked him. The kid had courage—and he’d snagged another corner of Seth’s heart.
    Honored and humbled, Seth squatted down. He curled his fingers through the wire fencing and around Jeff’s tiny ones, and then looked the boy straight in the eye. “I know, son.”
    Jeff’s eyes stretched wide. “He told you?”
    “No.” Hard to admit even to Jeff, even after all these years. But necessary. “My dad used to get mad and hit, too.”
    “Did you have to live with him?”
    “No. I lived with strangers.” Twenty-three foster homes in twelve years.
    “You didn’t have nobody to love you, neither?”
    “Just myself,” Seth said, then winked at Jeff. “But now I’ve got a buddy.”
    “Yeah, two buddies. Me and Dr. Julia.”
    Seth smiled, wishing that were true.
    JULIA stared through the windshield at the four-story beige brick building. Deep down, she felt the stir, the old surge of excitement and enthusiasm she had always felt on entering a lab. But this return was temporary, and this lab was unlike any she had worked in before—it had windows.
    Someone rapped on her car window.
    Startled, she darted her gaze, saw Seth, and chided herself for being so jumpy. Her living on an adrenaline rush, being ready at all times for fight or flight, once had been normal, but she couldn’t afford the costs of stressing her nerves anymore.
    She grabbed her keys out of the ignition, her purse from the passenger’s seat, and then got out of the blue Camry she had bought before moving to Grace—and had reregistered three times since in three different states, creating a paper trail away from her true location.
    A lot of good that did.
    ” ‘Morning.” Seth closed her door behind her. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”
    “None at all.” Julia shifted around him and moved to the sidewalk. “The maps you faxed over were great.”
    Seth stepped to her side. “Is the apartment okay?”
    It was beautiful. Lots of pastels and cushy furniture. Definitely feminine, welcoming, and it had great locks. On the knobs and keyed dead bolts that slid a full inch into the metal door’s frame. “It’s perfect.” The best thing about it was that Seth had leased it and put all the utilities— including the phone—in his name. She really would get a break from Karl and his threats.
    At least until some uninformed, well-intentioned soul made the connection between her and Seth and passed it along.
    She gave Seth a broad smile. “Thanks for stocking the pantry and fridge.” What a nice surprise to arrive thirsty and tired and find something to drink and no need for immediate shopping. Julia hated immediate shopping. She had just finished doing some the night she had been attacked and nearly had died. Too many bad memories there. “How did you know my favorite brands?”
    “We worked together for over two years, Julia. You brought your lunch every day. It didn’t take a genius.”
    She supposed not, though for the life of her she couldn’t recall even which kind of soda Seth preferred. God, but she had been unconscious in those days.
    No. Not unconscious. Preoccupied with staying healthy