Read Vicious Love (Barrington Heights #1) for Free Online Page B

here before.” She seemed surprised to see me blushing, but she shrugged it off and continued. “You’re not stalking a student, are you?” She laughed at that.
    “Oh, this is the first time I’ve jogged here.” I still was a little embarrassed, but it was fading. Denise seemed so casual out here—unlike at school, where she was formal and demanding.
    “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I jog here every day.” She looked around with a smirk, as if it were her little secret place. Or at least had been her own little secret place now that I came here.
    “It is. I’m absolutely amazed that it’s a public park. They’re normally not this…this absolutely amazing!”
    We laughed for a bit at my stupid comment.
    “This park is a gift to the city from the Wells family. That’s why it’s like this. I believe you have their son in one of your classes, actually.”
    “Wells? I might. I have so many students.” I tried my best to play it off cool, but I knew exactly who she was talking about. Christopher Wells, the boy who walked me to room 212. I gulped at the thought of him. I gulped at the thought of him and a shiver skittered down my spine.
    “If he were in your class, you’d know. I thought I put him in one of your classes, but now, I’m not sure. I guess I’ll check tomorrow.”
    I smiled at her without saying anything. I was an awful liar, but for some reason, I felt like I had to keep my knowledge of him a secret for now.
    “Well, this is his family’s park anyways. Their house is down here.” She started off down the fork to the right and I followed.
    We continued down the path, talking about music, work, and things related to those. Nothing in particular, just small talk. That lasted for a good four minutes until we came to a small clearing at the very back of the park. It was on a cliff that hung over a creek, and on the other side of the creek was the largest home I had ever seen in my entire life.
    “Well, there it is. Wells Manor. What do you think?” She turned to look at me.
    “It’s huge! How can one family live in a place so large?”
    “There used to be four families in there when it was originally built back in the 1930s. It served as a compound for the Mob, if I can remember correctly. All of the Wells family lived there, extended and all. Now there’s just three of them.”
    “Only three people living there?” I was completely stunned as I spoke. Such a large, magnificent home could easily hold the entire population of the Barrington Heights. Maybe that’s an overstatement, but not by much.
    “Yup. Christopher Wells II, Alexandra Wells, and Christopher Wells III.” She looked nervous for some reason. She was definitely hiding something, but I didn’t want to pursue it right now. Or ever.
    “Wow,” was all I was able to say.
    She turned back as I still stood in the clearing.
    “Come on, Jennet. The sun is going to go down soon.”
    I looked up, and sure enough, the sun was about to set. This would be the longest time I’d jogged since college, when I participated in track. I followed her out of the park and onto Dawngate Avenue. Then we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
    Heading home, I went a little slower than before, but not on purpose. My mind was wandering and I wasn’t paying attention to my pace. What was Mrs. Nugent hiding? Why would she be hiding anything? Did it have something to do with Christopher? I didn’t know why, but I felt defensive at the thought that she would be hiding something about him. I needed to find out what her secrets were to both end my curiosity and protect Christopher. I wasn’t sure why but I felt the need to shelter him.
    When I finally got home, the sun had completely set and Barry was already asleep. It was probably eight thirty or nine. I didn’t check the clock or my phone. I went immediately to my computer to try to find some answers to my questions. First things first, I needed to learn more about the Wellses, so I typed