Dying To Be Heard (Book 1): Outcry Read Online Free

next to her at lunch. It was a little awkward at first, but soon it was apparent they would be inseparable, and they were. Fifteen years later, and still joined at the hip.
    She got into her own car. Why did life have to be so complicated ? Just once, she would like for things to somewhat go her way. Of course, she didn’t expect or even want things to be easy. Life wasn’t simple. But it would be nice to not have to struggle and fight so hard just to exist.
    She took a deep breath, exhaled forcefully, and wished that all her worries would leave just as the air was expelled from her lungs. It was so difficult to believe that any of it actually was real or really had happened. These types of things only happened to people in movies or in crime novels in which it started out with the detective staring at the dead body and working backwards to figure out how it all had transpired. She didn’t want to be the starring role in that storyline. That’s not what she wanted her life to become.
    Thankfully, it didn’t happen to people like her from small-town Ridgeton, Washington. She was the one who enjoyed the show from her couch with a bowl of popcorn every Wednesday night. It had to be a nightmare or someone’s sick joke. Right?
    Laughing to herself, she reached to put the keys in the ignition. Rayne hadn’t even made it as far as to close the door, when another something caught her eye. This time, there was no second guessing her sanity on this one. She was certain she had seen it.
    She was well aware that paranoia could play tricks on the mind, make a person see things that allowed the imagination to run rampant, and create anxiety, distress, and misery where none was needed. Even with that knowledge, she was certain that it was real. She’d seen the dark shadow disappear around the corner.
    Rayne moved around the vehicle and squinted against the bright sunlight. One step at a time, she inched closer, her feet moving of their own accord. Before she realized what was happening, she had crossed the parking lot and was on her way toward the back of the building.
    Flattening herself against the brick of the coffee shop, the crunch of her boots on the thin strip of gravel near the wall made her pause as she came to her senses. What am I doing?
    It was too late. She was too far gone at that point. Her curiosity and stubbornness wouldn’t let her just get back into her and drive away from this one. She had to know what was going on.
    So much for doing as I was told.
    She slowed when she neared the back of the establishment and continued to creep toward the corner. Her heart beating faster and faster, she tried to ignore the steady thumping in her chest and ears.
    Her footsteps crunched loudly, making her pause with caution, hoping that she hadn't been heard. Silent and listening, she took a few deep breaths and was able to hear nothing other than the blood rushing in her ears.
    You can do this.
    She jumped around the corner, landing knees bent and hands up, prepared to defend herself. She held her breath, ready for anything...
    Only to stare into the faces of four shocked teenagers.
    They stood in a circle, each one puffing on a cigarette, and neither could be older than sixteen. It was obvious she'd caught them. They tried to hide the smoking sticks behind their backs and failed miserably. Little puffs of smoke billowed up above them.
    "Uh...I, are you kids old enough to be smoking?" she asked, thinking quickly. Her face flushed red in embarrassment.
    They looked at each other, their faces full of fear. Without a word, they all turned and took off running around the opposite side of the building.
    Rayne exhaled forcefully and tried to catch her breath. She fell backwards, her back hitting the brick wall harder than she intended, and she winced. It took a moment to slow the adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Get a grip, Rayne," she told herself. “You just crossed the line into paranoid.”
    Her head spun as she tried to