Read Online The Edge of the Shadows by Elizabeth George - Free Book Online

She’ll probably tell you what’s going on eventually. When you talk about your family, she’ll probably talk about hers, too. And if something’s going on with her family that’s making her act sort of strange . . .” Becca’s voice faded as she saw the immediate change in Hayley. She’d said something to affect the other girl. But she didn’t know what it was. She loosened the ear bud casually so that it dropped onto her shoulder, away from Hayley’s view. Immediately she heard
after the walker
 . . .
the worse it gets and when there’s a wheelchair
 . . .
got to deal with that because no way can Mom
 . . .
and now with Brooke being such a pill
 . . .
I don’t care I don’t care only don’t lie Hayley because you do and you know it
 . . .
shut up shut up shut up
.
    Becca was startled with the ferocity of Hayley’s thoughts, all of them running beneath the pleasant exterior of the girl. Slowly, she returned the ear bud to her ear.
    What she knew at the end of their conversation was pretty simple, as things turned out. If something was going on with Isis and Aidan Martin, something was going on with Hayley Cartwright, too.

NINE
    D erric and his Little Brother came out of the Cliff Motel just as Becca left Hayley’s pickup. The Little Brother lived at the Cliff, not in one of the motel’s rooms but in the apartment behind and above the office. His dad was in prison, his mother was long gone to meth addiction, and Josh and his little sister, Chloe, were being raised by their grandmother, who owned the place.
    Both of the children knew Becca, as did their grandmother. For along with her grandkids, she’d taken in Becca as well when she’d first ridden her bike into Langley, wondering what she was going to do when her mom’s plans for her fell apart in an instant.
    Josh yelled, “Hey! Hi, Becca! Me ’n’ Derric’s going for a hike. He’s takin me to th’ institute.
Whidbey
Institute. Up in th’ woods. You ever been there?”
    At this, Derric saw Becca as well. He gave her a grin and strolled over to her. Josh accompanied him, darting around at his side. He punched the air and scuffed his feet and said, “There’s
tons
of trails, Derric said.
An’
he said we can’t get lost ’cause he’s got a map only we’ve got compasses, too, so we’re not using the map at
all
. We have it just in case.”
    Derric said, “Think we should invite Becca, Josh?”
    â€œBecca? No way. She’s a girl. Bleagh. This’s for
guys
. Anyways, she c’n play Barbies with Chloe.”
    â€œWay cool,” Becca said. “I
love
Barbies.” She exchanged a look with Derric and added, “Among other things,” and stepped up to kiss him. Derric’s arms went around her, and he made the kiss last.
    â€œYuck!” Josh shouted. “Gross! Stop it! Come
on
, you guys. We got to
go
.”
    â€œThat’s telling them, Josh,” a man’s voice said from the other side of the street. “Break it up, you two. Come up for air. You’re out in public.”
    The tone was jovial. It was also highly recognizable. While they were kissing, Derric’s dad had pulled his sheriff’s car into the front parking lot of the arts center. He’d got out and he stood there at the edge of the lot. He was watching them, his arms folded across his chest and his head shaking in one of those kids-will-be-kids kinds of movements.
    It was odd that Dave Mathieson would be in Langley. As the undersheriff of the county, he had his office twenty-eight miles to the north in the county seat, which was the old Victorian town of Coupeville. Langley had its own tiny police department to handle the routine problems in the village, so if he’d come to town, it was an indication that something was going on.
    â€œWhatcha doing here,