My Sister's Keeper by Brenda Chapman Read Free Book Online Page A

street back toward Cheri’s house. I’d left her alone long enough.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    I didn’t notice anything out of order . . . at first. I took a few minutes in the backyard to stretch. I could see through the patio doors into the kitchen. Cheri wasn’t sitting at the table but a file was open. An empty wine glass sat next to it.
    I climbed the steps and took out my key. The door was still locked. I opened the door and stepped inside. The house was quiet and still. I figured that Cheri must have gone for a nap and shut the door as quietly as I could. I slipped off my runners and padded over to the sink for a drink of water. Halfway to the sink, I stopped and looked over at the table. Something was out of place.
    A second wine glass sat on the table. From the angle I’d looked in through the window, the glass had been hidden behind a vase of purple coneflowers. The glass was half filled with white wine.
    Cheri hadn’t said that company was coming over. I pictured the road in front of her house and the driveway. The only parked car was Cheri’s. So two questions: who had dropped by and why hadn’t they finished their wine?
    I turned back to the sink but something else caught my attention: a folded sheet of white paper with Jimmy’s name on the top. I hesitated. If Cheri hadn’t shown such bad judgement lately, I wouldn’t have even thought about reading it. But these were crazy times.
    I moved closer and picked up the paper. I held it for a few moments, then flicked it open. My eyes skimmed the typewritten words with a signature written in pen. I stopped and read it again more slowly.
    Jimmy,
    I’m so sorry for what I am about to do. I’ve been depressed since you and Evan moved out. Life will never be the same, even if you both move home. I can’t stop thinking about you with Hannah Jones. I didn’t mean to do it. Please forgive me for everything. You and Evan are better off without me.
    I will love you always,
    Cheri
    It was my sister’s signature all right. However, the message was crazy. She hadn’t been depressed an hour ago. In fact, she’d been excited about Jimmy and Evan moving home. She also seemed to be saying in the note that she’d killed Hannah Jones over her affair with Jimmy. At one point, Cheri had thought Jimmy might be having an affair with someone at his work. If she’d suspected Hannah, she would have told me. I hadn’t told Cheri about Hannah’s visit to Jimmy before the hit and run . . . or after. Plus, Cheri’s car had not hit Hannah. Details.
    I looked at the second wine glass again. Cheri had let somebody into the house. They’d sat here and shared a glass of wine. It must have been somebody she knew and trusted. Where could they have gone? If her death was meant to look like a suicide, the killer would have to come back to wash out their glass.
    A muffled crash from beneath my feet made me jump. They were still in the house! I walkedquickly and silently down the hall toward the front entrance.
    The door to the basement stood open.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    I ’d seen enough horror movies to know the evils that could await you in the basement. I took a moment to return to the hall closet. I picked a nine iron from Cheri’s golf bag and started down the stairs. The stairs were carpeted and I was able to step silently to the bottom. I kept to the wall, hoping I wouldn’t be seen.
    The main room with the wide screen TV and sound system was empty. I stood still for a moment and listened. Someone was talking from the direction of the furnace and laundry rooms. The doorway was to my right. I lifted the golf club up to my shoulder.
    I angled my head around the corner of the laundry room and took a quick look. This room was empty. I stepped inside and crossed to the next doorway. A man’s voice grew louder. Please not Jimmy. I still couldn’t make out what he was saying.
    I crept closer, keeping to the wall. The man’s back was to me in the middle of the room. His bald head