Read Fire in the Woods for Free Online Page B

perfect.
    David smiled as I raised the lens again. I set off the shutter on high speed repetition, hoping to get some of the sparkle from the spider’s web.
    “You like to take pictures, huh?”
    “Yeah. It’s an obsession of mine. You don’t mind, do you?”
    He shook his head, and I snapped some more. The last one had a beam of sunlight in the background. Damn if I couldn’t sell those as pictures of Jared Linden and gotten away with it.
    I closed the lens. “I’m still waiting for your story. I love photography, but I’m not that easily distracted.” Well, not right now, at least.
    “I’m not sure where to begin. Do you get along with your dad?”
    I leaned back, surprised. “I guess. I mean, most of the time. He’s a little judgmental, though.”
    “Mine too. In a big way.”
    “Is he the reason why you’re out here?” A fly buzzed my ear. I swatted it away.
    David shrugged. “Indirectly. If he’d just listen, just try to understand…”
    “I know what you mean. My dad’s got this crazy idea I can’t make good decisions.”
    “Yeah, mine too. He said I was worthless, and I’ve never done a selfless thing in my life. What does that mean, anyway?”
    “My dad thinks I don’t listen.”
    David propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his fist. “Well, you’re listening now.”
    I smiled. A little girly tingle jittered through my chest. He was cute, and said the right things. Score another notch in that lottery ticket.
    My cheeks burned up in a flush under his sparkling gaze. Those eyes—so darn blue. I broke our stare, clearing my throat. “So, you had a fight with your dad, huh?”
    “Something like that. I tried to prove I was worth something.”
    “Did it work?”
    He took a deep breath and let it out in a puff. “If it did I wouldn’t be here.”
    The fly buzzed around David’s head and darted toward his right, snagging itself in the spider web. The more it thrashed, the more the webbing ripped and covered its wings…until the struggle abruptly ended. The web seemed to wink in and out of existence as the spider inched toward its prey.
    Despair settled into my gut. The thought of being totally overpowered—and to die like that—it just didn’t seem fair. The clouds drifted, and the web faded once more. So beautiful, but nothing more than an elaborate trap.
    David’s gaze moved from the spider back to me. He seemed to search through me, and his brow furrowed. Did I surprise him somehow, or was that confusion in his eyes?
    His expression faded into a smile. “Jess, you…”
    Another cooling breeze encircled us. David clamped his arms around his shoulders. His hands shook as they rubbed his skin.
    The hair on my arms stood on end as the sky darkened ominously overhead. “David, are you all right?”
    He wheezed, his body trembling as he bent over into a ball.
    “Okay, that’s it,” I said. “I’m getting you out of here.” I lifted him to his feet. He barely struggled, but drew away once we were standing.
    “I can’t leave the woods,” he said.
    “Oh, yes you can.”
    I nestled my camera into my backpack and flung the bag over my shoulder. David’s body seemed rigid as I pulled him to his feet.
    “Jess, please don’t…” His words were lost between chattering teeth.
    “Don’t nothing. You need help.”
    I yanked on his arm. Luckily for me, he was too busy trembling to fight me. We slunk through the trees, stopping each time David’s chill shook him too hard to walk.
    This is insane, Jess. You don’t know anything about this guy. Lord knows what’s wrong with him, and… A moist tap hit my head, then another. I glanced up. The clouds thickened. Another raindrop grazed my nose as a few birds flew for cover.
    Great.A rainstorm was all I needed.
    David studied a drip run down his arm, and turned his eyes up to the trees. “What…”
    “Come on,” I said, giving him a tug. “The trail is this way.” At least I hoped it was.
    Ferns scraped against my