The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free

Walter away.; he also had no desire to see the other attendees. Everywhere Walter went, everyone asked for his take on the rumors. Just the day before, he had come close to fighting a former colleague outside of a coffee shop for suggesting that Alan had intentionally crashed his car.
    “Listen,” Walter said gently, “there’s a chance you might hear some stuff about your parents. But I just want you to know that none of it’s true.”
    “What kind of stuff?” Charlie asked.
    “You’ll know when you hear it.”
    “Well, Terry Heins said—”
    Before Charlie could finish, Walter snapped, “Don’t believe one damn word he has to say!”
    It was the first time Charlie had ever seen Walter fly completely off the rails, or even get rattled at all. Charlie was so taken aback by Walter’s sudden display of emotion that every muscle in his body reflexively tightened, and for a split second, he actually forgot where he was.
    Walter took a moment to calm himself. He apologized for his outburst and then asked what Terry had to say.
    Charlie told Walter what Terry had said about Alan being the next Nikola Tesla. Walter agreed with the assessment. Charlie also mentioned the investment Terry had made in their company.
    “He did a lot more than invest,” Walter replied.
    “Like what?” Charlie asked.
    “It’s not for you to worry about,” Walter said. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to cause Charlie any concern. The truth was Walter wasn’t quite sure himself.
    “Well, he seems like a great guy to me,” Charlie said. “He gave me his business card and told me to call him if I need anything. He even said he’d give me a summer internship.”
    “Let me see the business card.”
    Charlie went to retrieve the card but stopped, thinking better of it. “No way. You’re just gonna take it.”
    “I won’t take it. Just let me see it.”
    “Fine,” Charlie said. He reluctantly dug the card from his pocket, gave it one last hard glance, and then handed it over.
    Walter grabbed the card, crumpling it as soon as it met his palm. “The last thing you need is help from Terry Heins. You just have to trust me when I say to avoid him. All right?”
    “Whatever.” Charlie rolled his eyes. He had better things to do than get lectured. “Anyway, I have a ton of homework to catch up on, so I’m gonna get moving on that.” Charlie started toward the back door.
    “Hey!” Walter called out, halting Charlie. “If you ever need anything, you come to me first. Okay? Of course, that’s assuming it doesn’t have anything to do with girls or sports. In which case, you’re on your own.”
    Normally, that would have gotten a solid laugh or at the very least a chuckle out of Charlie, but this wasn’t “normally.” Charlie showed no signs of amusement. He just glared at Walter: Is that it?
    Charlie didn’t receive the reaction he had wanted, or any reaction at all. Walter’s attention had already shifted to something else. Charlie watched as Walter considered the business card that was still cupped in his palm, the wheels in Walter’s head clearly turning.
    After a moment, Walter slipped Terry’s business card into his pocket. “All right, well, I actually need to take care of some work myself. Gotta get the engine running. For your dad.”
    Charlie remembered what Terry had said about telling Walter that he could take as much time off as he needed, but Charlie knew that the suggestion wouldn’t be well received and might just lead to more arguing. So, instead of passing the information along, Charlie said nothing.
    Walter continued, “But why don’t you and me get dinner tomorrow? That is, unless you already have something planned.” Walter smirked. He liked to give Charlie a hard time about his planning, always in good fun.
    “I don’t know,” Charlie said, still putting up his front. “It depends on how much of my homework I get done.”
    “How about I just bring something over, then? We gotta eat,