Matchbox Girls by Chrysoula Tzavelas Read Free Book Online Page B

occurred.
    It was a beautiful day despite the fires charring the mountains. A nearly annual occurrence, the danger they represented to the civilized parts of the Valley varied from year to year. Right now, they were a television worry compared to the continued mystery of Zachariah’s disappearance. Marley tried to listen to the news on the radio as she navigated her way through some errands, but the chatter of the girls in the back seat drew her attention. They hadn’t liked changing clothes at all and she was anxious to keep them in good moods.
    Their last errand was to the Pasadena Central Library. She wanted to do some research while the girls entertained themselves in the children’s section; Penny and Branwyn didn't call her Research Girl for nothing. Finding a library was always her first recourse when she ran into something new, although it had been months since she'd felt inspired to research much of anything.
    The reference librarian suggested the encrypted book was a prank or prop, which Marley rejected purely on gut instinct. She spent an hour moving back and forth between the stacks and a bank of computers, and finally collapsed into a chair, rubbing her eyes in annoyance. She’d learned nothing about Zachariah, a little about Senyaza Corporation, and quite a lot of utterly useless information about encryption techniques. She could have spent all day there, but the twins were getting bored despite their basket of books.
    Lissa knelt on a chair at a table, pretending to read in a voice too loud for a library, while Kari sat under the table, playing with her doll and listening. Marley moved to their table to quiet Lissa and smiled to herself as she noticed that the book, full of pictures of a pixie’s adventures, was upside down. The little girl noticed Marley and abruptly fell silent.
    “Would you like to go back to the children’s section and I’ll read this to you?”
    Lissa shrugged and pushed the book across the table. Marley glanced at the open page as she picked it up. She frowned and ran her mind back over what Lissa had just been saying.
    “Can you really read, Lissa?” She'd been more fluent than Marley had believed possible in somebody who wasn't even in kindergarten.
    Lissa shrugged again, acquiring a familiar uncomfortable expression. “I dunno.”
    Kari scrambled out from under the table. “She can!”
    Marley said, “It’s all right if you can, Liss. It's very good! I just didn’t know.”
    Lissa addressed the table sulkily. “Can’t. Not properly. Real reading is with all the letters.”
    “Oh.” Marley frowned. “You've got the book at home, then? You've memorized it.”
    “No...?” said Lissa uncertainly. “Kari just found the book and wanted to hear the story.”
    “Because it's like the dolls Miss Penny gave us,” explained Kari. She glanced sideways at her sister. “Reading is reading, Liss.”
    Lissa hesitated until finally Kari poked her viciously. “I just say what the book tells me. That’s all.”
    Marley realized that Lissa's body language was identical to Kari's right before she admitted she could open the SUV. There was another secret here. She shook her head in wonder and said brightly, “Let’s check it out so you can finish reading it at home.”
    As she started to the self-checkout counter, her gaze fell on a man sprawled in a soft chair, who was looking at her. He had a worn paperback closed over one finger. Something about him was familiar. He seemed lanky, even sitting down, with unkempt black hair and shadowed eyes. He wore hiking boots, faded black jeans, and a worn grey t-shirt.
    He met her eyes and stood up.
    Marley’s breath caught in her throat. He’d been at the park the day before, eavesdropping on her conversation with Jeremy the lawyer. At first she’d thought he’d been Jeremy’s ally and then, when the lawyer had left, she’d thought he was just a passerby.
    There was an intensity in the way he stared at her that made her certain