Go-Between Read Online Free Page A

she’d lost everything else. She wasn’t going to lose what was left of her family.
    Their parents had been older. They’d gone from retirement community to assisted living to nursing home, the kind of journey where the horizons shrunk to a room and a wheelchair. Mom was gone. Dad had Alzheimer’s. It was a weird blessing, in a way, that there wasn’t enough left of him to miss her.
    She put money into an account for his care, every month. Derek, their lawyer, took care of that. It was supposed to be untraceable.
    She didn’t necessarily trust Derek.
    Michelle dialed Maggie’s number. If her sister’s phone was tapped, so what? She didn’t have to worry about them pinging the cell phone tower, about them locating her. Gary was here. They already knew.
    It took five rings for Maggie to pick up.
    â€œIt’s me,” Michelle said quickly. “Is everything okay there? Just answer yes, or no.”
    â€œYes. Michelle?” Maggie sounded sleepy. It was almost 11:00 p.m. , and she usually went to bed around now, so she could get up in the morning, make Ben his lunch, drop him off at school and get to the office on time.
    â€œYou’re sure? There’s no one . . . no one’s making you say that?”
    â€œ No . Jesus. What is this, a spy movie or something?”
    Michelle nearly laughed.
    â€œLook, do me a favor,” she said. “Can you, can you just . . . take a few days off? Go somewhere. You and Ben. I’ll cover the cost.”
    â€œNo, I can’t ‘go somewhere.’ Lucia’s on maternity leave, I’m covering her desk, they’d kill me. Seriously, Michelle, what the fuck is going on?”
    Maggie sounded royally pissed. Michelle supposed she couldn’t blame her.
    â€œI can’t get into it right now. It’s . . . it’s complicated.”
    What could she tell her? If they were listening, what could she say that wouldn’t make things worse?
    â€œI’m glad everything’s okay,” she said. “Just . . . if you have any problems, if anything . . . call me, okay? If the number doesn’t work, email me.”
    â€œOkay.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Look,” Maggie finally said. “Whatever’s going on, just tell me. We’ll figure out how to deal with it. This, this whole mystery act of yours, it’s ridiculous. It can’t be that bad.” She laughed, a nervous chuckle. “I mean, you didn’t kill anyone, did you?”
    Michelle took an Ambien. She didn’t like taking them, but the natural sleep aids, the melatonin spray, the herbs, weren’t going to work tonight, and she knew it.

Chapter Three
    Better a chemically induced sleep than none at all. You can’t sleep, you can’t think straight, and she needed to be able to think.
    Even with the Ambien, her thoughts went in circles.
    At 6:33 a.m. , her Emily phone rang. She might have been awake before it rang.
    Danny had programmed her ringtones. She’d never cared about that stuff, but he liked doing it, and his choices made her smile.
    â€œLawyers, Guns and Money.” The ringtone for business.
    Derek Girard. Their attorney.
    Her heart pounded. If she hadn’t been awake before, she was wide-awake now.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œEmily? Derek Girard. Sorry to call so early. But we have a situation.”
    Michelle pulled into the Evergreen parking lot just after 9 a.m . She could have parked by Lady Jane’s, but she needed to steady herself, and the walk would help. No matter how scared she was, no matter how angry, she had to play this right.
    She cut across the green expanse of the Arcata Plaza, past the statue of President McKinley at its center, then down G Street by the Arcata Hotel, ignoring the panhandlers begging for change, or if not that, a joint. Normally she enjoyed lingering in the Plaza, with its mix of Settlement, Victorian and Craftsman buildings,