Absolutely, Positively Read Online Free Page B

murder.
    Shimmying forward on her chair, Preston said, “Then how did Tristan motivate you?”
    “Against my will some of the messages in the hospital starting seeping in. I slowly began to realize that yeah, I’d been dealt a crappy hand in life, but I still had the power to turn it around. Tristan was one thing kept me going. I wanted, I needed, to thank him for everything he’d done for me, for seeing value in me when I couldn’t see it myself.”
    Preston opened her mouth to press, but I cut her off with a look. Meaghan would get there in her own time. “You two met as foster children?”
    “We were both placed in the same house in Jamaica Plain. He had already lived there a year before I arrived. My drug-addicted mother had tried to trade me to a dealer in exchange for a fix. The dealer was an undercover cop. I was put into the system immediately.”
    Whoa.
    “Are you okay with all this going into the article?” Preston asked, showing unexpected sensitivity.
    Meaghan nodded. “Absolutely. I was actually glad to hear about the articles you’re writing. If I can reach one person, change their life with my story, then sharing all the heartbreak will be worth it. The more people I can help the better. I had a happy ending, really. One of the doctors at the hospital ended up fostering me and eventually he and his wife adopted me. Archibald is their name. I used to be Meaghan Chaney. I had an instant family who loved me, was able to get my GED and go to college. It doesn’t get much better. Except…” She trailed off.
    “Tristan?” Preston supplied.
    Meaghan dropped her gaze bashfully.
    For once I was glad to have Preston here. I hadn’t been at all happy about her writing articles about my clients, a deal concocted by her and my father, but I had to admit the pieces had been good. Really good. And Meaghan was right—if this could help one person, then all the aggravation of having Preston around constantly might be justified.
    My thoughts shifted to my own upbringing. Sure, it hadn’t been idyllic, but it had been safe—and I had been loved above all else. How many times had I taken that for granted?
    “When I first arrived at the foster house, I’d been scared and lonely. The foster mom, Mary Ellen Spero, was nice enough. We actually still keep in touch. But it was clear Mr. Spero wasn’t interested in us kids at all. Saw us as a nuisance. Tristan took me under his wing. He was two years older than me, so he was kind of like a big brother.” She smiled again. It made her glow. “At first.”
    “Ah,” I said.
    “I hear a ‘but,’ ” Preston said, eyes wide. “A big one. Like a Romeo and Juliet kind of ‘but.’ I mean, after all, you did try to kill yourself.”
    So much for that sensitivity.
    “Fair enough,” Meaghan said, apparently not taking offense. “Tristan asked me to go to his senior prom, but I didn’t have money for the dress. And let’s just say our foster father wasn’t in the system to care and nurture—he wasn’t about to give me any of his. So I was really surprised when Tristan came home one day with a dress I had admired.”
    “Awww,” Preston said.
    A thin, dark eyebrow arched. “The police showed up not long after.”
    “Uh-oh,” I murmured.
    “He’d shoplifted the dress. They took him away. I was devastated.” She motioned to her scarred wrists. “I haven’t seen him since. I really want to find him. I want to thank him. I want to—” A blush settled in her cheeks. “I want the happy ending. The fairy-tale ending.”
    There was moisture in Preston’s eyes. She was such a romantic at heart. And though Meaghan’s story tugged at my heartstrings, I had to caution her as well. Softly I said, “There is a chance we won’t be able to find him.”
    “I know, but I feel like I have to try. It’s the least I can do.”
    If Tristan Rourke owned property, it would be fairly easy to find him through an appraiser’s office. PI 101—I was slowly learning the