Betrayal by Gregg Olsen Read Free Book Online Page A

the glass partition.
    Adults , Hayley thought, are always the last to know just about everything.
    Hayley thumbed through the roster of who had been reported absent that morning. Most of the list made complete sense. Alana, the girl who almost never came to school on time, was late again. Her mom was a total freak and never took care of the younger kids, so Alana pulled mom duty at the ripe old age of seventeen because someone in that family had to. Also on the list were a couple of stoner kids who rarely made an appearance—and when they did, they were usually mentally absent anyway. A freshman boy named Cody who was fighting leukemia was out again. Hayley’s already gray mood immediately darkened when she saw his name. Cody was a nice kid, and she had heard he was getting better.
    She continued her way down the list while the girl she worked with, Tammi Mars, chatted with her college boyfriend like she did every day. Hayley was sure Tammi was checking up on him, because she initiated every call and kept the poor guy on the line for at least twenty minutes every morning.
    Hayley’s eyes scanned the paper slips that came from each first-period class.
    Brianna Connors was a no-show. That made total sense, considering she was the one who had found Olivia’s body.
    Definitely an excused absence.
    Drew Marcello was also gone. That fit. He was probably off somewhere consoling Brianna.
    Hayley’s boyfriend Colton James was marked absent, which she already knew about. He had a dental appointment scheduled that morning.
    Beth Lee was out sick. That would have made sense even without a murder. She was probably at home trying to pull herself together after a night of pre-funking with some plum wine and beer at the party.
    There were three others, none of whom Hayley recalled being at the party: Susan Finholm, who was getting a nose job (deviated septum, such a liar!) ; Jacob Wexler, who was competing in the Science Olympiad Nationals in Spokane; and Meghan Aynesworth, whom Hayley had just seen heading toward the mall in her pale green VW bug.
    After going through the list of that morning’s absentees, Hayley started losing faith in her sister’s theory. If the person who killed Olivia was a Kingston High student, then he or she wasn’t stressing out too much and skipping class.

Chapter 6
    FINANCIAL WORRIES WERE A NOOSE around her bony neck and Brianna’s mom, Brandy Connors Baker, preferred a strand of pearls over a noose any day. A double strand, ideally black, would be her choice—that is, if she could still afford a choice. Judging by the state of things in her life right then, she couldn’t. Brandy had pored over the paperwork that Gloria Piccolo had set out in front of her. It had been an early morning meeting on a gorgeous day in mid-October. The Seattle law office smelled of Starbucks and pastries. Brandy had waved them all away. None of that for her.
    Gloria, Brandy’s latest lawyer, had marked with bright yellow stickers cut in the shape of arrows all the spaces in which her client needed to sign.
    â€œSign here, here, and here . . . and over here,” the lawyer had said, pointing with a gold Cross pen.
    Brandy looked past Gloria, through her expansive window as a familiar white and green Washington State ferry glided through Elliott Bay to Colman Dock. The sight was stunning from the high-rise—even better than the view from the condominium a few blocks away that Brandy could no longer afford.
    â€œI see where to sign, Gloria,” Brandy had said, her voice holding a sharp edge.
    Gloria ignored the tone of her client’s remark. She hadn’t worked with Brandy long, but the woman had come with a Ryder truck of personal baggage and was well known in Seattle legal circles as a client who made them earn every second of their billing. Calling Brandy “demanding” was the polite way of calling her impatient, aggressive, and completely unaware that anyone