Shackled Read Online Free Page A

“Okay. Well, cool. I’ll just tell Eli you made an emergency call and brought the police screaming down onto his business, and you can explain it all to him.”
    I tried to shoot David an evil glare, but evil glares weren’t in my repertoire. Plus I knew David well enough to know he’d never really tell our boss.
    I stared at the scrap of paper with the license plate and other info written on it. “That girl who came in,” I said. “She’s a friend of mine. It has to be her.”
    â€œShe was kidnapped,” David said.
    â€œYeah. I haven’t seen her in six years.”
    â€œSo . . . what happened? I mean, back then. What went on? Was there an investigation and all that?”
    â€œOh yeah. One minute she was there, outside the doors. Then someone must have lured her to his car, scooped her up . . . and that’s it.”
    â€œWow,” David said again, searching my eyes with his. I’m not sure why.
    â€œIt took a while to figure out that she was gone,” I said. “When I found her mom, she was only mad that Tara was hiding, at first. It must’ve been twenty or thirty minutes before we figured out something might be really wrong. So the search was just limited to the store, then the mall. I mean, by the timethe cops were actually involved, it had been hours. They looked for years. The whole thing was even on one of those missing persons shows. Abducted. I don’t think it’s on anymore. . . .”
    I only kept talking because I didn’t like the way David’s expression had shifted. Like he wasn’t really listening.
    â€œIt must have really hurt you,” he said.
    I guess he was listening after all. Except he was hearing things I wasn’t saying. I didn’t like it.
    â€œI’m over it,” I said.
    â€œReally,” David said, but it wasn’t a question.
    â€œReally,” I said, and turned back to start rewashing the sink. Just to have something to do other than look into his face.
    â€œ So over it that when a girl comes into the shop and reminds you of her, you write down the license plate of the car she got into and call 911?”
    â€œIt was her, goddammit, it was Tara, and I just stood here and didn’t—”
    I cut myself off. He wouldn’t understand.
    â€œHey, Pelly?” David said.
    â€œWhat.”
    â€œI’m sorry. Seriously.”
    I ground my teeth for a few seconds, then finally grunted, “Thanks.”
    â€œSo what are you going to—”
    â€œCustomers,” I said, pointing to the door just as a couple of business-exec types came walking in. “Slumming it,” as David liked to say, for a caffeine hit.
    David gave me a look like the conversation wasn’t over, but I knew it was. I knew it because I decided it. I didn’t want to go into it anymore. I just wanted to be better. Normal. Like it never happened.
    Except it did.
    And now the only places I ever went anymore were less than a mile from home. Now my only friends were psychos like me or anonymous Internet denizens. Or, sort of, David. But not really.
    I snapped my rubber band against my wrist.
    Stop intrusive thoughts. Stop intrusive thoughts.

FOUR
    â€œWatch!” my little brother, Jeffrey, said as soon as I opened the front door. “Watch what I can do, Pelly!”
    I had picked up the nickname Pelly from Jeffrey. When he was littler, he couldn’t make all the right syllables of Penelope. Tara and I both thought it was endlessly cute.
    I didn’t know what I thought of it anymore.
    Jeffrey sat parked in front of our TV playing some game. I didn’t recognize it beyond it being on regular rotation during his school’s winter break. Since Jeffrey wasn’t insane, he got to go to regular school. He’d never understand how lucky he was to be able to go without a complete psychological meltdown.
    I’d love to go back. I’d