Runaways Read Online Free

“She was cheating on him.”

24. HER FACE SCREAMED GUILT!
    Glinda was a bit disappointed her big revelation didn’t get more of a reaction from the detectives. Her info was primo fantastico considering who the dead guy was, but these two took it in stride.
    “How did you know Mrs. Abernathy was having an affair?” The younger detective smiled in encouragement. He seemed to like Glinda more than the old dude. It didn’t surprise her. Old dudes generally didn’t approve of her hair. Or her nails. Or her shoes. Or her personality.
    “I was cutting class a few months back. When I do that I usually just wander around the school. My mom would say I was looking for trouble, but really I was looking for entertainment. Anything out of the ordinary, you know? When I cut, it’s usually to get out of English Lit. My teacher, Miss White, so appropriately named, by the way, does not have a creative bone in her brittle little body. The woman wears the same outfit every single day of the year, in different colors: tweed jacket, blouse, skirt, and sensible low-heeled shoes. She’s a crime against vision. Anyway. She wants us to write essays the same way she dresses, boring, with the exact same structure every time.”
    “About the affair?”
    “Right. On that particular day, I’d excused myself to use the restroom, and then decided to take a walk. I was on the administrative area of the school, right outside where we are now. It was during class, so the hall was empty. The door to Dean Van de Sant’s office opened and out walked Kaylee’s mom.”
    “Why was that surprising?”
    “In itself, it’s no big deal to see a parent coming out of the dean’s office, her in particular. She’s one of those ladies who lunch, you know? She’s on every board and committee. She might have loads of reasons to meet with the dean. But I could tell this wasn’t about some committee.”
    “How so?”
    “When she saw me, the look that flashed on her face screamed Guilt! And she was smoothing her hair. It had been mussed. You know? Not messy. Mussed.” Glinda said the last word with a salacious tone.
    “Did you say anything to her?”
    “What was I going to say? ‘Was it good for you?’ I didn’t say anything to her and she didn’t say anything to me. She just got her game face back on and walked by me. I turned to watch her leave. She had a serious strut going, like the hallway was a runway and her dress was part of the new spring collection. Which it wasn’t.”
    The younger detective gave a little cough to get Glinda back on track.
    “Right. So I’m watching her, and then, behind me, the dean opened the door. He was tucking in his shirt.” Glinda demonstrated what she meant. “He may as well have been zipping his fly.” She laughed at the memory. “He was a little out of breath and looked positively perturbed when he saw me. ‘Shouldn’t you be in class, young lady, getting an education?’ He asked, all uptight.” Glinda did a fair job of mimicking Van de Sant’s formal cadence.
    “What did you tell him?” the younger detective asked.
    “I told him I was getting an education at that very moment. I knew way more than I had a few minutes before.”
    The dean’s eye twitched a little when she’d said that. Ever since then, she’d made sure to give him a wink every time she saw him.

    “Yes. I was having an affair with the dead man’s wife,” Van de Sant said with resignation, maintaining his best poker face. He vowed to expel that little monstrosity Glinda the first chance he got. If she so much as littered, he’d boot her. “I realize the implication.”
    What an implication it was. Of all the people to get murdered, it had to be his mistress’s husband. Van de Sant knew it looked bad, but he told the detectives the truth. “I did not kill William Abernathy. While Olivia and I are involved, you mustunderstand there is no ill will among the parties. Was no ill will. Bill Abernathy was an agreeable cuckold,