Runaways Read Online Free Page B

detective assured her.
    “What does that mean? Do you have any leads? Any suspects?”
    The detectives let the last question hang in the air. Olivia immediately knew what they were thinking.
    “Any real suspects?” she clarified. “Other than Mason and Kaylee?”
    “We’re considering all evidence.”
    “Do you have fingerprints? Have you checked the car?”
    “The car was wiped clean.”
    “That’s unfortunate.” Olivia’s voice dripped sincerity. No fingerprints on the car—that certainly made the case more difficult for them to solve.

    Anne smiled, thinking about the look on her mother’s face when Anne told the police about her affair. She was shocked and offended. Anne didn’t know if her mother didn’t realize herdaughter knew, or if she thought she’d keep it a secret. Secrets were so important in their family. Her mother probably took it for granted that Anne wouldn’t talk. She never thought she’d say or do anything controversial. What was she always calling her? Oatmeal? “So bland it’s practically inedible.” Kaylee had snapped at Olivia the last time she insulted Anne like that. She’d be so pleased that Anne outed their mother to the cops. She was always telling Anne to fight back.
    Olivia had insisted to the police she couldn’t answer any questions about her relationship with Jeremy Van de Sant in front of Anne. She was just a child, after all. “She’s had enough to deal with for one day.”
    Anne was excused from the questioning. She quietly snuck into Kaylee’s bedroom. A giant Navajo-print K hung over the bed. The rest of the room was not much different from Anne’s. Olivia had hired a designer a few years ago to redo the house and had insisted the two bedrooms have a unified look. Kaylee and Anne were annoyed, but in the end, they had similar tastes so it wasn’t that big of a deal. They did insist on personalizing them despite Olivia’s protests. She wanted something magazine-spread ready. The rooms were at first, until Kaylee added some of her favorite photos in little frames on the wall and scattered colorful pillowsabout. Anne took down some of the art the designer had chosen in her room. The woman had gone for a French theme and had framed photographs of Parisian landmarks hung in perfect symmetry on the walls. It felt kind of, well, oatmealy. Kaylee would laugh at that.
    Anne knew her sister wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. It just wasn’t like her. She checked under Kaylee’s bed. She had a box where she kept her favorite mementos. Anne smiled as she sorted through them—ticket stubs from a boy-band concert they’d gone to years ago, a dog-eared copy of To Kill a Mockingbird , several spent glow sticks. Kaylee went through a glow-stick phase a while back, largely for Anne’s entertainment. She would make them into various shapes like some people make balloon animals.
    But no note. No message. Think, she told herself. If Kaylee were going to leave something for you, where would she leave it?
    The answer hit her. She got up and went to Kaylee’s bathroom and opened one of the drawers and pulled out a box of tampons. When she and Kaylee wanted to keep things from their dad, they’d always put them inside. It was the one place he would never look.
    She took the box and dumped it on the bed. Sticking out of the pile of tampons was a note. Score!
    A NNA B ANANA .
    I F YOU ’ RE READING THIS, IT MEANS I’ M GONE . I’ M SURE YOU KNOW WHY I HAD TO LEAVE . I’ M SORRY . I’ LL BE BACK FOR YOU . B E READY .
    L OVE , K.

26. BALLS LIKE AN ELEPHANT
    Mason waited as William Abernathy got the extra money from the safe. He heard his own heart pumping in his ears. He was furious that the prick was trying to break up him and Kaylee, but pleased at how he’d managed to turn the situation to his own advantage. He thought back to the night he found out Kaylee’s father was cheating on his wife. It was after he won the community award. The crowd had cleared and Mason