Chapter 3Jordan opened the door on a summer afternoon with a mere hint of a breeze and blinked in the bright light. In contrast, the house now seemed dark, cramped, chaotic. It was almost a relief to open the screen and step onto the porch. Heat hit him, the smell of dried grass rising from the lawn he’d mowed that morning. What he wouldn’t give to grab Bennie and head for the nearest lake for a swim.
Instead, he peered to the end of the stone walkway at the skinny kid latching the gate of the picket fence behind him. He looked about ten or twelve years old, though that was only a guess.
“Hey, what did you want?” Jordan called, confused. It hadn’t taken him that long to answer the door. Why was the kid leaving?
The boy looked at him and Jordan shivered inexplicably, heart thumping. He t
