The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online Page A

To keep the confusion to a minimum, they might not have contacted the other parents yet.
    Maybe Mom is home, finishing a dress design, papers and swatches of fabric spread over her worktable, as she looks forward to a quiet night alone, with me here and Sloane out with her friends. I hope that’s what she’s doing. I hope they haven’t told her and won’t until they need to.
    “Brienne was right.” It’s Max, his voice startling us out of the silence. “It should have been Riley. Letting her go early sets the right tone. Holding her hostage will turn the press against you even more.”
    “Umm, hello?” Brienne waves her hand in front of him. “Nice of you to join us, Max, but next time? Chime in
before
it’s a done deal.”
    I lift my hand to back her down and say to Max, “I appreciate that, but I’m fine.”
    “I know it’s too late for this round, but I’m saying …” He turns to X-Files. “You should send Riley home sooner rather than later.”
    “She’s cute, isn’t she?” X-Files mock-whispers. “You’re a little slow, but you finally realized it may be in your best interests to support the cute girl’s cause. Improves your chances of—what’s the word you Brits use?—shagging her?”
    Max’s response is remarkably calm. Measured, even. “Given that I’m the least likely to leave this building alive, I doubt that’s an option. Even if I do get out, something tells me none of us are going to want to see each other again. This is hardly a bonding experience. I’m only pointing out that the others are right, and there’s more advantage to releasing Riley than to keeping her.”
    “Riley, Riley, Riley,” Gideon says. “Everyone’s so worried about Riley. The local hero who saved two people from— Oh, wait. No, she didn’t. She was under the bedwhen they got shot. And now you want to give her another free pass?”
    I feel everyone’s gaze on me, and there’s no impulse to hang my head or avert my gaze. That comes when they lie and call me a hero. This is truth.
    “She
did
save someone,” Brienne says. “That little girl. She did the smart thing. If she’d interfered, they would have both been killed, along with the girl’s parents.”
    “Brienne is right,” Aimee says. “Riley’s response was the correct one. She didn’t panic. She didn’t foolishly interfere. She did what the Porters would have wanted by protecting their daughter and—”
    “I think we can skip this,” Max says.
    Brienne turns on him. “God, you’re
such
a jerk. You say one nice thing, and then you have to follow it up with assholery.”
    “Don’t believe I said anything nice. Not really my style. I just pointed out you were right that Riley should be released. Now I’m saying Riley doesn’t need you to defend her. She’s heard it in therapy. Over and over. It hasn’t helped then. It won’t help now.”
    And
that
just might be the nicest thing he’s ever said, even if he doesn’t mean to be kind.
    “If you want to pass the time,” he continues, “may I suggest a game of cards to take our minds off this?”
    “Do we have cards?” Maria asks.
    “Are you
joking
?” Gideon says.
    “No,” Maria says. “We have to pass the time, and we’re just getting on each other’s nerves otherwise.”
    I look at the counselors. “She’s right. Do we have cards? Board games?”
    “Uh …” Lorenzo says. “There’s a deck in the desk over there, but I don’t think anyone’s really in the mood …”
    “I am,” Brienne says.
    “Sure, I’ll play,” Aaron says, and Maria goes to get the cards, and with that, we have our distraction while the waiting continues.

CHAPTER 6
    Over the next hour, X-Files takes two more phone calls outside the room. We’re all trying to gauge his reaction when he comes back. We whisper and compare observations. It’s Maria, Brienne, Aaron and me playing cards. Max is watching. He occasionally offers advice, which has a fifty percent chance of being useful