Read Online Tangled Lies by Connie Mann - Free Book Online Page A

it.”
    “Maybe I just wanted to say good-bye to Eve.”
    “And maybe I’m Lady Gaga.”
    Blaze folded her arms and huffed out a breath. “I know you and Eve went to the police station to ask about Tony.”
    Sasha tried to remember when she and Eve had talked about it and whom they’d said anything to. “So after you ran from the room, you came back for a little eavesdropping?”
    “It’s the only way I find out what’s going on. Nobody tells me anything. I’m not a little kid!”
    Sasha looked over at Blaze and was reminded, once again, of how very much she had been like Blaze at that age. “It’s rough to be a teenager, no question. Adults think you’re too young to understand. Or they think you don’t care.”
    “I do care. This is Mama we’re talking about. And nobody tells me anything.”
    Sasha gripped the steering wheel when Blaze swiped angrily at her tears. What was it with crying females this morning? She hadn’t even had breakfast yet.
    “Look, Blaze, nobody is trying to exclude you. Yes, Eve and I went to the police station. We asked for the report on Tony’s disappearance.”
    “What did it say?”
    Sasha shrugged. “We don’t know. They said it will take a couple of days to get it out of storage.”
    “Don’t they have it on the computer?”
    “Not yet. They said they’re working on scanning in all their old files, but they haven’t gotten that far back yet.”
    “That really stinks. So now what? What’s our next step?”
    Sasha turned to stare at her, taking in the stubborn chin and determination in her green eyes. “What do you mean, our next step? When they call, I’ll go take a look.”
    Blaze crossed her arms. “I’m going with you. Now that Eve isn’t here, I’m your partner in this investigation.”
    “I, ah, that is . . .” Sasha tried and failed to come up with a good reason why she shouldn’t have this surly teenager underfoot for the foreseeable future.
    “Don’t even try to get rid of me. I’ll camp out in front of your bedroom door if I have to. I want to help with this. I need to.”
    Sasha glanced at her again and sighed. Oh yeah, she understood. Better than most. “Look, Blaze, you’re welcome to come with me, see what we find out.” She scrambled for the right words and finally said, “But none of that, and nothing we do or don’t do, is going to change what’s happening with Mama.”
    Tears rolled down Blaze’s cheeks as she stared out the side window, but she didn’t say anything. Sasha reached over to take her hand, but Blaze jerked it away and swiped the tears from her face.
    They drove in silence for the next thirty miles, then Sasha pulled into the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant.
    “OK, partner, what’ll ya have?”
    They ordered breakfast and got back on the highway, neither saying a word. But all the way home, Sasha tried to figure out how on earth she was going to find answers for Mama. And how they would all live with them once she did.

    Jesse woke before sunrise and winced when his almost-healed knife wound protested as he sat up. He’d be glad when he didn’t get reminded of his stint behind bars every time he moved without thinking.
    He eased out of the sagging twin bed he’d slept in throughout his childhood summers and padded to the kitchen to start coffee. At some point he’d move into Aunt Clarabelle’s bedroom, but not yet. He wasn’t ready. Besides, he couldn’t see sleeping under flowered sheets and waking up to flowered wallpaper. He shuddered and headed for the bathroom while the coffee did its thing.
    The sun hadn’t yet peeked over the horizon when he trotted down the porch steps to his truck and stopped short, coffee sloshing out of his mug. The security light from the neighbor’s house illuminated the truck. Both tires on the driver’s side were flat. Jesse muttered a curse and marched over for a closer look. Not just flat. Slashed.
    He walked around to the other side and froze. Whoever it was had