Deception Read Online Free Page A

guestroom, but instead of entering, she went back to Jamie’s room. For several seconds she stood there, feeling the need to knock, but knew it was ridiculous. She opened the door and walked inside.
    The room had a homey feel to it, unlike the living room downstairs. The furniture, including the bed, was a simple California Mission style with a rich oak color. The soft green wallpaper was complimented by pink curtains and carpet. There were tons of pillows on the unmade bed.
    Other than the bed, the room was spotless.
    Patti smiled and shook her head as she stared at the unmade mess.
    Jamie hadn’t changed much.
    Their mother forced them countless times to make their bed.
    Jamie argued it made no sense when it would get messed up again that very night.
    Patti stood in the middle of the room, not sure what to do. Maybe she could find a clue as to her sister’s whereabouts.
    The computer was a logical place to start, so she walked over to the desk in the corner and booted up. While waiting for the computer, Patti rummaged through the drawers. She found the expected stamps, pens, paper clips and other such items, but nothing personal.
    No address book. No pay stubs. Nothing to tell Patti where Jamie worked, or who her friends were. However, she did find a checkbook.
    Patti opened the cover, and then closed it. It felt like a violation of privacy. She fingered the embossed initials and then flipped it open once again.
    Patti blinked at the numbers.
    Wow. What could Jamie be doing to make that kind of money?
    She set it aside and continued her search. In the third drawer Patti opened, she hit the jackpot. It was stuffed full of papers. Hopefully, she’d could find a clue to Jamie’s job in the mess.
    Patti pulled out the papers and put them in piles. Some were health insurance statements, while others were old bills and an assortment of documents. She came across statements from a stock company.
    She shuffled through the papers until she found the most recent statement. Patti shook her head and stared at the numbers.
    Her sister was a wealthy woman.
    Her own savings account barely contained three thousand and she didn’t own any stocks.
    Ashamed, she shrugged off the jealousy and focused on Jamie.
    Among the statements was a piece of paper with a user name and password written on it.
    Patti snorted.
    The password was “Sabrina.” How obvious.
    Patti hit the keys and within seconds, she was logged in. She looked through the document files. Having found nothing of interest in them, she searched through every file on the hard drive, but again, she found nothing to help her find Jamie.
    She walked over to the closet and stuck her head in. Not a closet, but more like a dressing room. It was huge, but mostly empty. One side held shelves for shoes and purses. Most were sneakers and simple sandals with a few dressier pairs. On the opposite side hung Jamie’s clothes.
    Curiosity got the best of her. Patti browsed through them. Again, nothing fancy. Considering the mansion Patti stood in, Jamie’s clothes weren’t what she expected.
    She walked over to boxes sitting on the far side of the walk-in. She looked through each of the boxes and was disappointed to find nothing.
    She turned to leave, but her gaze fell on a purse thrown haphazardly in the far corner.
    Her stomach clenched.
    Women didn’t leave their purses—for any reason. She’d heard of women running back into burning buildings to get them.
    Maybe Jamie was using a different one at the moment, Patti reasoned, trying to reassure herself.
    Patti opened the Gucci handbag. Just the usual things: a brush, makeup, some gum.
    She opened the billfold. Her breath faltered. Inside were several credit cards and a driver’s license. The license showed the address of the house Patti was sitting in at the moment.
    It was Jamie’s current purse.
    Patti’s concern moved up several notches from mild anxiety to apprehension.
    Why would Jamie walk out of the house without her purse