Read Online Crushed by Kasi Blake - Free Book Online

box with a neon-pink butterfly on the lid, her landline phone in the shape of two red lips, and the small tray where she tossed her keys every day as soon as she got home.
    Grabbing the gold handles, he opened her dual closet doors and stepped into the huge walk-in. Her clothes hung neatly on both sides, evenly spaced and color coordinated, starting with her favorite color—red—and ending at the back with her least favorite—yellow. Shoes were lined in neat rows beneath the clothes, with her purses on the shelf above. When he came out of the closet, he was smiling. For some reason, her room always seemed to cheer him up.
    Their father stopped in front of Cyndi. “Where is the other one at?”
    Cyndi shrugged. “I think Britt is downstairs.”
    “If she snuck out of the house again, she’s toast.”
    “She didn’t sneak out. She’s around here somewhere.”
    “She had better be.” He nodded at Kristen before leaving.
    Once the door was completely shut and they heard his footsteps fading down the hallway, Kristen asked, “ Did Britt take off again?”
    “Naturally.”
    “He’s going to kill her this time. Then he’s going to ground her for three months. I can’t believe she is such an idiot. School just started. What is wrong with her?”
    “Don’t worry. I have it covered.”
    Cyndi headed for the door with a knowing smile.
    “Where are you going?” Kristen asked as she stuffed the letter into the waiting envelope.
    “I’m going to take the back stairs down to the kitchen and pretend to be Britt. He won’t know the difference.”
    “Why do you always look out for her when she’s begging to get caught?”
    “If Britt gets busted, he’ll put us all on lockdown. You know that. Now give me a sec to become her.”
    Cyndi’s eyes drifted shut before snapping open again. She wore a haughty, almost hostile expression. “OMG! Don’t have a cow. I’ll be right back.”
    Kristen shivered with distaste, hating it when Cyndi played the part of her twin. The girl was way too good at it, making Kristen wonder if Cyndi had ever played the trick on her.
    Cyndi left, and Kristen stood up. She stretched with her arms overhead, back arched. A yawn closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide. It had been a long and exhausting day. She went to the bed and fell down on it, promising herself it would just be for a few minutes as her eyes drifted shut.
    Although she didn’t have much homework, it being the first day, she wanted to get a jump on reading some chapters from her new schoolbooks. It was her style to work ahead, and the teachers had come to expect it from her. But she was so tired. Her limbs grew heavy, and she began to float.
    ###
    Zach slammed the front door for the second time that day.
    He had dropped Kristen off five blocks from her house because she’d been afraid her father would catch them together. Sometimes his bad rep was a distinct disadvantage. Zach had wanted to make sure she was safe, so he’d looped around the block a few times. For some reason, the urge to protect Kristen was riding him hard. He couldn’t shake it.
    But there were bigger things to worry about now. When he’d seen Kristen fall off the cliff, it had scared ten years off his life. He had wanted to see her suffer, not die. Someone had intentionally tried to kill her today. He was sure of it. That hadn’t been an ordinary owl at the cliff. Someone wanted her dead, and he was afraid he already knew the identity of that ‘someone’.
    Moving quickly from room to room, he searched for his sister. He finally found her in the family room. Still dressed in pajamas, she was lying on the sofa with a hand on her stomach.
    When she saw him appear in the doorway, she looked pointedly to the grandfather clock across the room. “You’re late. You told me you would be here at three o’clock. I wrote it down in my notebook. We were going to have a snack together.”
    Hiding his suspicions about her, he said, “I can fix you something