A Girl Undone by Catherine Linka Read Free Book Online

trusted.”
    “Like I’m supposed to miraculously save the country?”
    Luke started to reassemble his gun. “We should divide the evidence. You carry the phone and the wall hanging. I wear the thumb drive. That way if something happens to you or me, the other still has enough to raise hell on Capitol Hill.”
    I shoved away from the table. It was late. I was tired. “I’m going to sleep.”
    I felt his eyes on my back, but I refused to think about one of us getting killed or captured, and the other still going on. I was doing what he wanted, going to Laramie, and I wished Luke would shut up about it and leave me alone.

 
    8
    Vera was cooking breakfast when there was a knock at the door.
    Luke and I had gotten up when we heard her rattling around the kitchen. We’d moved awkwardly in the cramped bedroom, saying as little as possible, mumbling sorry when we bumped.
    Luke was pretending to sip the coffee Vera’d handed him when we heard the determined tapping on the door.
    Vera threw down her hot mitt. “Only person with the nerve to show up this early is our next-door neighbor.” She pointed at me, then Luke. “Lovebirds, remember?”
    We both nodded, slightly guilty. Clearly, Vera had heard us argue last night.
    Luke and I couldn’t go on being angry with each other like this. As Vera went to the door, I showed Luke the sugar bowl. “Need this?”
    “You know darn well I do,” he said, cracking a smile.
    I held it up out of reach, taunting him for a second before he snatched it away.
    Forgiven, at least for now.
    I leaned forward to catch a peek as Vera talked to Hazel through the screen. Hazel was bundled in a blue coat and wore a raggedy striped hat over her white hair. She smiled behind her big, gray-rimmed glasses, straining for a glimpse past Vera.
    “Hi, Hazel,” Vera said. “You’re up early.”
    “I noticed you have a couple young people visiting.”
    “Did you?”
    Hazel waited a moment, but when Vera didn’t say any more, Hazel pulled something out of her pocket. “The Pocatello Princess Fundraiser Dance is tonight. I thought maybe they’d like to buy a couple tickets.”
    “Well, I don’t know, Hazel. Let me discuss it with them and I’ll—”
    Hazel was a snoop and the only way to deal with a snoop was to let her know there was nothing to snoop about.
    “I’d love to go to a dance, Cousin Vera!” I strode right over to the door and unlocked the screen. “Hi, I’m Tracy,” I said, giving Hazel a big smile. “How much are the tickets?”
    Hazel’s gaze focused on me through thick, yellowing lenses. “Twenty-five dollars a couple. It’s to raise money for the Bannock County Search and Rescue Team.”
    “Honey?” I called back to the kitchen, where Luke leaned against the counter. “Can we? It’s for a good cause.”
    I’d caught Luke in mid-swallow, but his eyes told me he didn’t like the idea.
    “It’ll be fun!” I said.
    Hazel was standing on tiptoe now, trying to see past me. I beamed at Luke, showing off like a lovesick bride.
    He reached for his wallet and acted as if he was counting our money. “I don’t know—”
    “Please,” I whined.
    “Well, if it’ll make you happy.” Luke peeled some bills out of his wallet, and I pecked him on the cheek and snatched the money out of his hands.
    Hazel handed me the tickets. “Will we see you at the dance?” I said.
    She blinked behind her glasses, and her mouth went flat, before she drew it back into a smile. “Yes, indeed. I’m in charge of the cake table.”
    I skipped back to the kitchen, waving the tickets. “Look, we’re going to the dance!”
    Vera lingered at the door, watching Hazel retreat. Then she came back to the kitchen and stood over the half-cooked eggs, dabbing her neck with a paper towel. “Hazel’s cousin’s the chief of police,” she muttered to no one.
    Crap.
    Luke frowned and jerked his head, pointing to Vera with his eyes. We need to move on.
    I nodded, wishing he was wrong.
    “Now