Read Torched for Free Online

caught a glimpse of Richter’s face, he was still studying me. He seemed in no hurry.
    Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s going to happen to my parents?”
    Richter ignored my question. “What were you doing there, Ellie?”
    “What do you mean, what was I doing there? I live there.” All my anger and fear came boiling up. “I was just doing my homework, like any other kid, and these cops came busting in.”
    “Only you’re not like every other kid, are you, Ellie? The people you live with are drug dealers.”
    Drug dealers? He can’t be serious. “They’re not drug dealers. Maybe they smoke pot, but that’s all.” And maybe they sell it to a few friends. But nothing more than that.
    “And they’re not your parents, either, are they? Not your real parents.”
    “Hey, it doesn’t matter who gives birth to you,” I said, stung. “They are my parents. And they’re good parents.”
    Richter gave an exaggerated sigh. “It’s sad, really. We see this all the time. Kids who don’t know anything better, so they don’t want to leave their lousy homes. But you’re going to have to leave, I’m afraid. Unless you’re willing to help us.”
    “What do you mean, leave?”
    “With luck, you’ll get sent to a foster home. That is, if we can find room in one. At your age, frankly, that’s not going to be easy. Babies are one thing, but the number of families who are willing to take in a troubled teen is pretty small. Which means you’ll probably go to juvenile hall. You may end up down in Salem if there’s not room in Portland.”
    “But I haven’t done anything wrong!” I protested. My eyes stung, and I blinked furiously. I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry.
    “It’s for your own good, Ellie. For your own protection.”
    “Protection?” I had to force the words out. “From what?”
    “This atmosphere those people are raising you in. You and their marijuana plants. It’s tantamount to abuse to bring up a child in that situation.”
    This was all such BS. But Richter had the power. Desperate, I snatched at the phrase he had used earlier. “But you said that if I helped you . . . ?”
    He looked at me for a long moment. Finally, he nodded, seemingly more to himself than to me. “Tell me about this group of people your parents have been meeting with. The ones who were at your house earlier today. Do you know who those people are, Ellie?”
    I shrugged, suddenly glad that I didn’t know, not really. “They’re Mother Earth Defenders. But I don’t know their real names. I honestly don’t.” I wasn’t going to tell them that Coyote’s name was Ethan, or that he worked at the Multnomah Bike Shop.
    Richter leaned toward me, his expression intent. “Tell me this, Ellie, what do you think of their cause?”
    “Well, the Earth is getting hotter. You know, the glaciers are melting, and there’s dead spots in the ocean, and more people are getting skin cancer.”
    “So how do Mother Earth Defenders stop that?”
    I thought about what they’d been discussing at our house. “Protests, petitioning, tree-sits, stuff like that, I guess.”
    He looked disappointed. “They aren’t all peaceful tree-sitters, Ellie. These people are terrorists. Domestic, homegrown terrorists.”
    “That’s ridiculous!” I wasn’t that naïve. “They’re not flying airplanes into buildings full of people.”
    Richter slapped his palm on the table, making me jump. “Just because they’re Americans doesn’t mean they aren’t terrorists. Some of the worst terrorists are homegrown. Have you heard of Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing? Some of the Mother Earth Defenders are violent fire bombers who destroy anything they don’t approve of. So far, they’ve been lucky, but we know it’s only a matter of time until someone is killed. That’s where the FBI comes in. And that’s where we need your help.”
    “Help? What do you mean by help?”
    “We need someone who can get