Your Eyes Don't Lie by Rachel Branton Read Free Book Online Page A

happened?” he asked. “Did you drop something on your hand?” That was how he’d bruised his foot, toppling over a stack of books at school.
    Makay rubbed the bruise that circled her wrist, before pulling down the sleeve of her navy sweatshirt. “Hmm, maybe it was the cans yesterday.” She hated lying to him, but she would not let Lenny frighten him. Not even if it killed her.
    “Oh, yeah,” he said, the furrow on his brow easing. “Those cans are heavy. Remember when I dropped one on Snoop and he squawked? Poor dog.”
    It had been more Snoop’s fault than Nate’s, but he loved the dog blindly and believed the creature could do no wrong.
    “Okay, looks like you’re not going to be late.” Makay brought the Sebring to a stop outside the school. “Want me to come in with you?”
    Nate rolled his eyes. “I’m not a baby.”
    “Of course not.”
    He reached over, his arm going around her neck as he kissed her cheek. “I still love you,” he whispered.
    “I love you, too, squirt.” As he climbed out of the car, she called after him, “We need to get you a haircut tomorrow. It’s Saturday. Don’t forget.”
    He waved without really looking around. She watched him saunter up the sidewalk and fall into step with another child. How long would it be before he no longer wanted to kiss her goodbye? She hoped a long, long time.
    Her next stop was Mesa Community College, where she would take her test and use the library to begin her investigation on Lenny. She didn’t have a lot of time since she was supposed to be at IHOP at eleven for several hours of training on her new job. She was already wearing the required black pants, and the striped shirts they’d given her were still in the trunk of her car.
    She arrived at the school before nine and completed her test twenty minutes later. The male student who handed over her test score gave her a once-over that almost made her laugh out loud. He was all of twenty, if that, and just looking at him made her feel old. Had she even combed her hair today? Yes . . . er, maybe. She hurried away before he could ask for her phone number. A romantic relationship with a man so young was the last thing she was looking for; she already had one little boy to look after.
    Due to her lack of studying last night, she only received a ninety on the test, but even that should be an A grade once her teacher threw out a few questions the other students always contested.
    The school library was more crowded than usual, but she managed to find a free desk in the fiction area. The place almost felt like home to her. Her classes were all in the afternoons or online, and that meant she came here or to the public library four times a week to use the Internet, especially on Fridays when she didn’t have any physical classes. Even on the days she had to bring Nate, he loved to sit and read books, so it worked out as long as she gave him a snack before they went.
    She pulled her old laptop from her backpack, followed by the manila folder. Lenny had included detailed information about the birth and adoption, including the hospital where the baby was born, the name of the adoption agency, and the target’s current relationship status. However, he’d been careful, as usual, to leave out actual names and other easily identifiable information. Along with this information, there was a storyline she was supposed to use, tidbits to drop about her fake life so she would seem more real to the mark. Presumably, Lenny took them from the real birth child’s life, but maybe he actually made them up. Who knew? Only a couple of times had she ever used all of the tidbits. One thing the folders never prepared her for was the uniqueness of each target. Some liked to chat a bit before turning over the funds while others didn’t even want to know her fake name.
    There has to be something I can use against Lenny, she thought. But he’d been careful. There was that line she’d seen before about leaving a note