In Close by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online

disappearance? Or were the incident with Joe and the kidnapping two separate items?
    “So…Mom took her back to school?” Claire remembered there being some confusion about that in what she’d read.
    “No. She was crying too hard. She’d had a terrible fight with Leanne. You can imagine what it must’ve been like after they left Joe’s. So I closed up and took Leanne back to school for her. I thought it might help your mother to have some time alone.”
    “When was that?”
    “I can’t remember exactly. About one o’clock, I think.”
    But the log said Leanne hadn’t signed in until two. “And Mom was…”
    “At the house. That’s where I left her.”
    “And she was fine?”
    “As fine as could be expected, under the circumstances.”
    That meant Alana had gone missing between one and three-thirty, when she and Leanne got home. “That’s why you were so worried when I called that day.”
    “Yes. I was worried before you called.”
    This made sense, but what about the previous sightings of her car at Joe’s house—if those reports were true? “Thanks for telling me.”
    He lowered his voice. “What are you going to do with the information? Roni, even Joe’s wife—they don’t know, Claire. I don’t want it coming out. It would really hurt Leanne and could cause problems for Joe.”
    Obviously, he felt that being honest with her had betrayed her sister. They’d always been close. “Nothing. For now,” she told him.
    “Leanne’s your sister.” The caution in his tone suggested she should protect the secret as well as he had. But if everyone was protecting this secret or that secret, how would the sheriff’s department ever get to the bottom of what had gone wrong?
    Claire felt she owed Leanne a lot. They were sisters, as her stepfather had just pointed out. She understood how the slightest upset could throw Leanne into a tail-spin, especially since the accident. But did those considerations outweigh the hope that full disclosure and absolute honesty might bring Alana back—or catch the man who killed her?

Demo version limitation

Demo version limitation

9
    C laire frowned at the steak on the plate in front of her. “I told you. I already had dinner.”
    Isaac folded his arms and leaned against the counter. The plastic containers he’d taken from the refrigerator were still strewn across the counter as if he thought she might want seconds. But as good as the food looked—there were sweet potatoes and asparagus to go with the steak—she couldn’t possibly eat more than he’d served her.
    “You’re the reason I cooked extra,” he said with a wink.
    She arched her eyebrows at him. “Don’t act like I stood you up. I told you I wasn’t coming.”
    “You’re here now.”
    Because it hadn’t occurred to her that caller ID would identify the pay phone at the Kicking Horse Saloon. Or that he’d get out of bed to look for her in the middle of the night. “I don’t understand why it matters to you whether I eat.”
    “You mean I’m such a hard-hearted bastard I don’t mind watching you waste away?”
    “I’m not wasting away.”
    “You won’t if you eat.” He motioned to her plate. “Dig in.”
    “Fine.” Too tired to argue, Claire shoveled a bite of sweet potato into her mouth. She should’ve stayed home tonight. She hadn’t expected her date with Rusty to be exciting, but neither had she expected it to fail quite as badly as it did. “It feels weird to be sitting in the kitchen where I lived as a child,” she said.
    He poured a glass of cranberry juice and put it on the table beside her. “Oh, yeah? Do you like what I’ve done with the place?”
    Obviously, he was joking. It was well-maintained, but he hadn’t changed a single thing since he moved in three years ago and neither had the people who’d owned it before him. “I wouldn’t plan on hiring out as a decorator if I were you.”
    He shrugged. “Maybe someday I’ll remodel.”
    He’d done a lot with the