Don't Say a Word (Strangers Series) by Jennifer Jaynes Read Free Book Online

neonatal intensive care unit. He hadn’t even helped with the expenses.
    During the first couple of years, she’d been hell-bent on being the perfect partner to Johnny, thinking that if she was, she’d make herself indispensable to him and he’d finally step up to the plate. Without fail, she put his needs before her own and didn’t complain about anything, no matter what he did—or didn’t do. But then, one day about a year ago, something Bitty told her really hit home. She’d said that you teach people how to treat you.
    The words hit her like a punch to the stomach because it was true. She had taught Johnny that it didn’t matter if he was dishonest. That there’d be no real consequence if he didn’t keep his word, help with Sammy’s expenses, or wasn’t there for her when she needed him. She’d taught him that no matter what, she’d still be there.
    But that was going to change.
    Allie went to the kitchen and prepared lunch. She was carrying a tray of food to the bedroom when she heard the roar of an engine, then tires squealing.
    What the—?
    She rushed to the front window and pulled back the drapes to see a black truck barreling away, kicking up dirt. Her stomach flooded with anxiety as she watched the truck disappear around the bend.
    Could someone just be lost? she wondered. But her gut said no. After all, their house was almost two acres from the closest paved road. And their nearest neighbor was a good quarter of a mile away. You had to really search for their house to find it.
    Her mind flashed to the caller this morning, and fear curled in the pit of her stomach.
    Could the two be connected?
    Could they be connected to the girls?
    To their parents’ murders?
    She walked down the hallway and pressed her ear to Bitty’s bedroom door, listening for any signs she was awake from her nap, but there were none. After a quick check of the locks, Allie went to her bedroom and tried to rationalize the situation. After all, it was possible that the person driving the truck had simply been lost. Or, it could’ve been some kids looking for a place to go four wheeling. The possibilities were endless, really, once she thought about it.
    She pushed open her bedroom door. “Who was that?” Johnny asked, propped up against a pillow in bed. Sammy was curled up beside him, clutching Johnny’s torso as though if he let go of him, he’d vanish into a puff of air.
    “I don’t know,” Allie answered. “Someone probably got lost.”
    He flipped through the channels. “Way out here? That’s pretty unlikely, don’t you think?”
    She glared at him.
    But even she wasn’t buying it.
    “What I smell, Mommy?” Sammy asked.
    “Grilled tomato sandwiches and cream of chicken soup.”
    “Mmm!” Sammy released his father and sat up. “Yummy! I want some!”
    “Hold on. Let me get a TV tray for you.” She went to her closet and reached for one of the folded TV trays. When she straightened, she felt Johnny standing behind her. Before she could move, Johnny’s big arms were embracing her. He spoke softly. “C’mon. Relax a little, babe. I came here to have fun. Not fight.”
    “I am relaxed.”
    He kneaded her shoulders, apparently oblivious to the fact that she was flinching beneath his touch.
    “Wow. I can feel your heart racing. You okay?”
    “I’m fine,” she said, wiggling out from beneath his grasp.
    But she wasn’t fine. She was worried.

    Later that night, after Sammy fell asleep, Allie placed him on a cot next to the bed and covered him with warm blankets. She set Emmet, his favorite Lego man, next to him and kissed him on the forehead.
    Sammy had his own bedroom in the five-bedroom ranch-style house, but these days, they used it more for toy storage than anything else. Allie and Sammy had co-slept since he was born, and Allie found it extremely bonding.
    Allie crawled back on the bed, next to where Johnny lay queuing up Breaking Bad on Netflix. It was one of Allie’s favorite things to do with