Chapter 1Pat Mulcahy shivered as he hurried up the back porch steps of the big house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The temperature was in the single digits, and he felt the chill through his winter jacket. Still, what could you expect a few days before Christmas?
Snow would be nice. He grinned to himself and pulled open the door that led into the Mathesons’ kitchen.
The Mathesons weren’t really his family, but—
They kind of were. John Robert, called JR by the whole family and Jar by his older brother, had been Pat’s best friend for forever, and they had taken him in after his father had beat him up, this time so badly he’d broken Pat’s arm and sent him to the emergency room.
Pat’s smile faded, and he shivered again, but this time it wasn’t from the cold. He didn’t remember much about th
