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

shone in the ceiling light. Cheri was sitting on the floor across from the doorway. Her back was to the wall. Terror filled her eyes as she watched Roger Little loop a short rope through the I-beam that ran across the nine-foot ceiling. He’d placed a chair next to him. A hunting knife lay on the seat.
    “Just another minute,” he said. His voice was friendly, almost kind. “This may not snap your neck, but you’ll strangle soon enough.”
    “I still don’t understand,” Cheri said. She whimpered.
    Roger laughed as if they were sharing a joke. “It’s simple. I want to be partner. I convinced Hannah that I could drive you out of the agency. She went along with it for a while. It was working too. You should never have come back from stress leave.”
    “Hannah was in on this?”
    “Oh yes, but she started getting cold feet when I drugged your tea and your kid got left in the park. She got really bummed out when I cut your brake line. She thought I’d gone way too far when you ended up in the hospital. But I was just starting to have fun.”
    “You nearly killed me.”
    “I know! Who would have thought that I’d enjoy myself so much? The rush I got from breaking you down was incredible, even better than winning a triathlon. It became like a game. Some nights I couldn’t sleep, planning my next move. Anyhow, Hannah was going to tell you and your husband everything. I was sorry to kill her. But she would have ruined my career.”
    He finished tying the knot and tested the hold. “That should about do it. I’m just happy you’ve played crazy so well. You fell for every trick I thought up. Although I was disappointed that the raccoon didn’t have a bigger impact. I was hoping it would send you into a mental hospital. After all, I went to a lot of trouble to copy your house key. Scraping a dead raccoon off the highway was no picnic either.”
    He bent and picked up the knife. “Time for you to say goodbye. I promise you, it will be quick. I’ll say some nice words at your funeral. Maybe I’ll even get Cahill to put up a picture of you in the waiting room when I’m made partner.”
    That’s when I lunged forward with the golf club pulled back to swing. Roger had begun to straighten and turned toward me as I flew the short distance toward him. His eyes went from happy to shocked. The club cracked him with full impact just above his left ear. He crumpled into a heap on the floor.
    “That quick enough for you?” I asked.

CHAPTER NINETEEN
    R oger Little was handcuffed and placed under arrest. Then he was carted off to the hospital on a stretcher. Officer Peter Tang guided me into Cheri’s living room to get my statement. Cheri was taken into the kitchen for hers, once she assured us that she wasn’t hurt. I was constantly amazed at how she could pull herself together. She had an untapped well of grit in her, just like Dad.
    Jimmy burst through the front door as I was finishing up. He looked terrible.
    “Anna,” he said. His voice came out strangled. “Where is she?”
    “Cheri’s in the kitchen. She’s not hurt.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine. Go see Cheri.”
    “Thanks.” He rushed past us and disappeared into the kitchen.
    I turned to Tang. “If you’re done with me, I think I’d like to get some air.”
    He closed his notebook. “Sure. Will you be staying here?”
    “No, but I’ll let you know where I am.”
    I walked out the front door. It was past midnight. I hadn’t expected to be greeted by reporters and a TV camera. Two women came at me with microphones. I looked past them at my father leaning against his truck. One of the officers had called and told him what had happened, and that Cheri and I were okay.
    “No comment,” I said. “I was just called to the scene.”
    “You weren’t the one who saved . . .” The woman looked at her notes. “Cheri Wilson from being killed.”
    “No. You’ve got me mixed up with somebody else.”
    I walked past them to my father.