Over Her Head Read Online Free Page B

they mean to do it?”
    “That is the question, all right.”
    Shoving his equipment into the back of the SUV, Forrest spoke over his shoulder. “That’s why I didn’t go into police work,
     see. It’s my job to find out how. It’s
your
job to find out why and who.”
    And he would. The memory of that still face, the long-lashed eyes closed in permanent sleep, was probably going to haunt Nick
     long after he found the person responsible for leaving her that way.
    T he elementary school’s
classes ended at 2:45, which meant that if Tim didn’t have band practice, or if he and his buddies didn’t find some piece
     of architecture to try their skate-boards on, he hit the front door at home by 3:15. Today, Laurie’s hug had a little more
     force behind it than usual, and she took a moment to thank God that her baby was home, alive and well.
    “Mom, you’re squishing me.”
    She released him and he tossed his backpack onto the floor by the door on his way into the kitchen.
    “I’m just glad to see you, that’s all.”
    To the ten-year-old mind this was probably just motherly weirdness, since, after all, they saw each other day in and day out.
     But Laurie felt better for having said it. In fact, she was going to start saying it a lot more after this.
    At four o’clock she glanced at the clock on the microwave. Anna would be home any second, and she needed to make a decision.
     Should she ask her if any of her classmates were missing? Should they discuss the girl’s death in a family enclave? Because
     of course she had to tell her kids before anyone asked them about it in the hallway at school.
    Which, she supposed, was pretty much a decision. She’d bring it up when they’d eaten supper, before they scattered. A quiet
     word with Colin beforehand would ensure he didn’t spill the beans before she was ready.
    Her next glance at the clock in the living room said it was 4:15. Anna was probably walking home with a gaggle of her friends
     and dawdling in front of some boy’s house. Or maybe they’d stopped in at the drugstore to try out makeup.
    When the alarm clock in her bedroom, where she was folding laundry, said ten to five, Laurie could stand it no longer. She
     dropped Colin’s underwear back in the basket and grabbed her cell phone.
    Where r u?
    Love, mom
    A minute later, her cell jingled.
    Kates. Home soon.
    Soon? “Soon” had once meant two minutes, but since Anna had hit fourteen, it sometimes meant two hours.
    Dinner 5:15. Home now.
    No reply. Laurie went downstairs to put more tomatoes in the marinara sauce, and by the time she got them stirred in, Anna
     was pushing open the front door.
    “Hi, sweetie.”
    “Mom, can I ask you a favor?” Anna dropped her coat on the floor next to the hall tree instead of hanging it up like a civilized
     person, went straight to the fridge, and pulled out a packet of string cheese.
    “Sure. What?”
    “Can you not ding me when I’m late like I’m a little kid? It’s totally embarrassing to get a call in front of your friends
     and have it be your mom.”
    Laurie bit back her first response and kept her tone calm. “I’ll be happy to, when you text me and let me know you’ll be late.
     Until then, you get dinged.”
    Anna rolled her eyes and headed out of the kitchen.
    “What were you doing?” Laurie called after her. “Hanging with the kids?”
    But Anna was already halfway up the stairs and pretended not to hear her.
    Laurie sighed and stirred the sauce more out of habit than because it needed it. She’d read more books on parenting adolescents
     than she could count. She was patient, supportive, and positive about self-image. She gave advice on the rare occasions when
     Anna asked for it, and on a lot of occasions when she didn’t, but she always tried to couch it in noncritical terms.
    Anna did not seem to appreciate this maternal care one bit. What happened to teenagers? Did they drink some evil potion that
     turned them into careless,