Read Online McCann's Manor by Charlotte Holley - Free Book Online Page A

honest and aboveboard to you?"
    Liz shrugged and replied, “I don't know. Maybe it is just like he said when he is away from it, he forgets how scared the place made him."
    "Maybe, but he is an actor and a very good one. Maybe he's just trying to scare and confuse us. Maybe he doesn't want anyone to be able to stay there because he still has plans to ‘fix’ the place by himself."
    Liz laughed, though Kim's words unnerved her. She knew better than to ignore Kim's observations, but she couldn't decide what had got Kim's hackles up. “Kim, that doesn't make any sense to me. Why mention the place to us in the first place if he intended to sabotage us?"
    Kim sighed, shrugged, “I guess you're right. I just feel like there is something he's leaving out and I don't trust him yet. I was merely trying to make you aware that maybe he has some hidden agendas."
    Liz studied her friend's tense expression, smiled and agreed, “All right. Your reservations have been noted. I'm not going ga-ga over the guy, and I never accept everything anyone tells me without checking it out for myself. Did the house get to you, too?"
    "The house? No, I love the house. I just think John is not telling us everything. We need to be cautious about him,” Kim said.
    "Okay, but it may not be an intentional omission, you know. I'm sure there is no way he could have told us everything in the length of time we've had with him."
    "I know that, Liz, but there's something he's deliberately not telling us and I think it is something important. That's just my gut feeling on it."
    Liz nodded, a bit disappointed, she had to admit. “We can't ignore that kind of feeling; thanks for sharing it with me. I will be careful."

Chapter 5
    Liz woke with a start and reached for the journal she always kept by her bed. Missy had visited her dreams again and she needed to make sure she didn't forget any of what the girl had told her. She clicked on the bedside lamp in the large luxurious master bedroom she had chosen in McCann's house to be hers. She wrote in a hurried scribble:
    "Elizabeth ... Elizabeth...” she called to me in a soft, singsong voice, “You know, don't you?” Missy asked, her blue eyes wide and anxious.
    "Know what, Missy?"
    "You do know. Say it!” she pleaded.
    "I know you didn't kill yourself. Is that what you mean?” I tried to go nearer to the girl, wanted to comfort her somehow. She moved into the shadows.
    "That's part of it. My father didn't kill himself, either. Say you believe me."
    "I want to believe you, Missy. I think you may be right about it, but I need some kind of proof. I can't very well just demand that someone investigate it because I feel you're right. There must be more, some kind of evidence or something to go on."
    Missy came closer, her gleaming long brown hair in soft waves around her shoulders. “You are my friend, aren't you? Always people have pretended to be my friend, but only to get information. No one ever cared about me."
    I reached my hand out toward her, smiled. “I am your friend,” I assured her. “What kind of information?"
    She let me give her hand a reassuring squeeze, then she pulled away, though this time, she didn't move aside. “My parents were both famous. People were always wanting to know about them ... my mother's favorite flower, Daddy's favorite brand of liquor. Were they happily married, or were the rumors true?"
    "Rumors?"
    Tears filled her eyes as she stared at me. “People start such ugly rumors about you when you are famous or rich. My father had many enemies. Some hated him because he was rich; some because he was smart. Some hated him because he had her."
    "Jealousy,” I stated.
    "Yes, jealousy. That was it. My father loved my mother; he was devoted to her. She felt the same about him. She never looked at those other men, though some of them told nasty lies about her and the things she did when Daddy wasn't there."
    "I see, yes people are bad about that sort of thing, aren't they? I'm