Dead Girls Don't Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf Read Free Book Online

gets out behind him, hurries over and throws her arms around me. “Cee Cee, I’m so sorry.”
    “It’s okay.” I stiffen and can’t return her hug.
    She leans into my ear. “Why did you come here ?” She emphasizes the word, like crossing the lake is equal to crossing into enemy territory. “I thought you were going to drown. And when that guy …” She looks around, maybe realizing that her voice is too loud.
    I pull away. “I’m okay. The weeds at the edge of the lake kind of freaked me out.” I glance over and see Rachel’s friend watching me. He’s still wearing his gray tank top, soaking wet from going into the lake after me. Taylor shrinks against Skyler. He looks from me to my rescuer, his face a weird mix offear and suspicion. Skyler says something under his breath to him in Spanish. It doesn’t sound like “thank you for pulling her out of the lake.” When Rachel’s friend answers back, it doesn’t sound like “you’re welcome.”
    I pull the blanket off my shoulders and set it on a log beside the woman who gave it to me. “Thank you,” I say. She smiles and nods as she fills another tortilla to give to the man waiting for it. I turn to thank Rachel’s friend, but he’s gone. I didn’t even find out his name.
    Skyler, Taylor, and I walk back to Skyler’s pickup. Claire is still sitting there, looking terrified. “Are you okay?” she says dramatically.
    “Fine.” I squeeze between Skyler and the gearshift in the cab of a truck that wasn’t made for four. Not wearing my seat-belt makes about the millionth of Dad’s rules I’ve broken today, along with no motorcycles, no talking to strangers, and no crossing the lake.
    “That’s so gross.” Claire points through the window. Next to the lake, two little boys, about two or three, are playing in the water, completely naked. Beside them, a woman is nursing a baby, her breasts only covered by the baby’s head. “They have, like, no shame at all.” Claire adjusts the straps on the tiny cups of fabric that pass for her bikini top. It’s the kind of swimsuit Dad would never let me wear. I stare at her, but she doesn’t catch the irony.
    I shake my head and look out the window, trying to catch another glimpse of Rachel’s friend.
    “I didn’t know you could speak Spanish,” Taylor croons toSkyler over the top of me. Maybe she’s in the market for a starter boyfriend.
    Skyler keeps his eyes on the road. “My dad has a lot of Mexicans that work on the farm. I picked up a few words.” He shrugs. “Most of them bad.”
    “What did you say to him?” Now Taylor is leaning so close to me that I can see the silver cross she always wears, crushed between her boobs. If he turned his head, Skyler could see it too.
    He doesn’t look, but after he shifts gears he sets his hand on my bare leg. “I just said hi.” The look on Taylor’s face tells me that she doesn’t believe that either.
    Skyler stops on the other side of the lake. Claire gets out, but Taylor lingers until Claire drags on her arm. When they finally shut the door, I’m left sitting next to Skyler, closer now than I need to be. I slide over, but not far enough that he has to move his hand. I’m not sure what I should say. The radio doesn’t quite cover our silence. Finally he says, “I need to get back to work. I drove over on my lunch break, to cool off.”
    “Oh,” I answer, moving toward the door.
    He grips my leg to keep me from leaving. “And to see you. Like I said I would.”
    “Oh,” I say again.
    “I got to the dock when you were about halfway across. I saw …” He grips the steering wheel with one hand and my leg with the other. “Where were you going?”
    I twirl my fingers around my wet ponytail, trying to figure out how to explain why I had to leave, why I felt so smothered by Claire and Taylor. “Nowhere, I just—”
    “Do you know that guy who pulled you out of the water?” His voice has a flash of jealousy, a flash of suspicion, or maybe