A Ghost of a Chance by Minnette Meador Page B

extracted her hands from his and stood up. He had seen that expression before, too many times. Tears welled up in Isabella’s eyes. She took a step back from him. Keenan knew that look so well; she thought he was crazy.
    Well, so much for romance . His heart broke.
    Just at that moment, the cloud burst through the windows. Keenan jumped up to yank Isabella out of the way and dived to intercept it before it reached her.
    It was very brave.
    It was also very stupid.
    It hit him like a semi doing a hundred down a hill. Air left his lungs in a rush and he found himself flying. Fortunately, the kitchen wall was there to stop him. The impact took what little was left in his lungs then it all went black.
    When Keenan came to, the cloud…and the girl…were gone. The waitress’ face was close to his when she got him to his feet. Her hands were shaking.
    “What happened?” he demanded, but the words made his head spin.
    “You just jumped into the wall for no reason,” she said, backing away from him as if it were contagious.
    “Where’s the girl?”
    “She left. Ran out the door. Probably to China by now. Sorry, kid, but I think you need some help. How ‘bout I call someone for you?”
    He took his wallet out of his pocket, pulled out a twenty, and pressed it into her hand without saying anything.
    Running out the door, he searched the lot. Isabella’s car was gone.
    Unable to stop it, Keenan fell to his knees, balled his fists until they went numb, and screamed up at the heavens, “Fuck!”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Nine
A Friendly Soul
     
    When Keenan was ten, he was friends with an older kid named Riley McDougal. Riley was the kind of kid most respectable parents would have slammed the door on if he came along looking for a playmate. He didn’t look threatening; thick glasses magnified his eyes so much it was hard to look at them long. He was tall and willowy with hands two sizes too big. But Riley had a special gift; he could spot trouble blind folded with his ears full of wax. He honed into it like a shark on its next kill.
    For some reason he warmed to Keenan instantly and took him under his tutelage, for a fee, of course. Keenan had no problems giving Riley his lunch money every day; it was the least he could do for all the adventures they shared. Everything from stealing the neighborhood bum’s booze (which Riley always insisted they pour into the gutter for his own good) to coasting down Forty-Seventh and Halsey at about thirty miles per hour on their bikes, usually out into traffic. Truancy picked him up so many times he was on a first name basis with all the officers. The lessons Keenan had learned at this dubious friend’s knee served him very well through life… don’t be afraid to take risks and best friends smack you hard to knock sense into you. Sympathetic friends were worse than useless.
    Keenan thought about Riley on his way home from The Hotcake House . Cold penetrated his light shirt and sent uncontrollable shivers through every pore. Keenan liked the pain. It focused his anger, smacked him hard to knock sense into him.
    He stomped the pavement, ignoring the blisters forming on the bottom on his sockless feet and the ringing in his head. Reggie and Constance weren’t the target for his rage. The bull’s eye was smack dab in the middle of his chest, pounding out fury with each accelerated beat.
    What the hell was I thinking?
    For some idiotic reason he thought that once, just once, he might find another human being he could share his own special hell with. In a way, he was grateful Isabella ran away. He wouldn’t wish this life on anyone.
    It was two miles to his house and he could have called a cab, but the walk helped him get his thoughts together. It was hard to keep the anger intact. It eventually melted into a deep depression. Exhaustion and loss left him dry in the biting cold.
    From behind him, he heard something he had been expecting. The quick crack of the siren didn’t even startle