Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald

Author:Christina McDonald [Christina McDonald]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2020-02-03T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

The winter sun was dwindling as we trudged toward home, leaving everything a smudged shade of dirty gray. Giant flakes of snow had started to fall. After spending the morning at the lake, we’d walked to the grocery store to stock up on food. A car horn sounded, and Mike leaned his head out of a rusted Ford Escort.

“Hey, Kat! Get in, I’ll give you a ride home.”

I hesitated, but I was more practical than paranoid. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I was just on my way home from work. Glad I saw you.”

I carefully set the bags of groceries in the backseat, then got in front and maneuvered Eva awkwardly onto my lap and pulled the seat belt over us. She slumped against my shoulder, her eyelids drooping.

Mike glanced at her as he pulled into traffic. “Looks like she’s all tuckered out.”

“Yes. Finally.” I forced a polite laugh, wiping my glasses on the inside of my sleeve. “Are you just now returning home from work?”

“Yep.”

“That’s a terribly long day, isn’t it?”

He shrugged and chuckled. “I’m a car parts salesman after a promotion. I work all the hours they want me to.”

Mike nosed the car into a parking space in front of the apartment complex. I lifted Eva onto my shoulder, and Mike opened the front door, following behind as we climbed the stairs.

“Thank you for the lift,” I said.

“Anytime. Bye.”

He waved and headed into his apartment, then paused.

“I’m single,” he said, turning to me. He ran a hand over thinning brown hair, his skin reddening under my gaze. “In case you were wondering. I mean … what I mean is … I’d love to take you to dinner. Sometime.”

“I have Eva,” I said stupidly.

“Okay. Well.” He raised a hand. “Night.”

I jostled Eva on my hip, flustered, trying to get my keys out of my pocket.

“Evening, Kat! Need any help?” Nancy Mitchell, our next-door neighbor, called. She was peering out her front door, her cotton-ball hair a poof around her face.

“No, thank you, Mrs. Mitchell.” I turned the key, hustling inside before she could say anything else. I deposited Eva in the darkened bedroom we shared and flexed my bloodless fingers. A muscle twinged in my lower back.

I turned the heater up, relieved when I heard the telltale clunk. The apartment was dingy and old, the carpet stained, the curtains the dull yellow of old pee. But it was the best I could afford on our limited funds. I had withdrawn some money from the account Rose set up before we left London, but it didn’t feel right spending money Rose had given her life for. I endeavored to keep it for Eva for university when she was older.

In the kitchen I got a glass of water from the tap and drank it thirstily.

That’s when I saw it. My passport was on the kitchen counter. Open.

Ice trickled down my spine.

I had not left it there.

I looked around. The curtain in front of the balcony swayed, a cold draft swirling around my ankles.

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