Sanctuary City: A serial killer thriller by Kristi Belcamino

Author:Kristi Belcamino [Belcamino, Kristi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery series
Publisher: Kristi Belcamino
Published: 2019-02-18T16:00:00+00:00

SIENNA’S EYES WIDENED when she saw Charlie trailing behind Ellie in the cafeteria line. It sent a tremor of anxiety through Charlie. But Sienna quickly smiled and Charlie’s limbs relaxed.

Even though the worst was over now, her stomach was still doing somersaults. She grabbed a piece of garlic toast and a tiny dipping bowl of marinara sauce and put them on her tray, even though she knew she wouldn’t eat it.

Sliding into her old seat across from Sienna, she gave a meek smile.

Sienna was chewing and gestured that she couldn’t talk until she swallowed her bite. They sat awkwardly for a few seconds until Ellie scooted in next to Sienna and made a face.

“The salad bar today is disgusting,” she said. “I swear I saw a bug in the lettuce. Barf. That’s why I got the wings.”

“Yuck! Thanks a lot, Ellie.” Sienna pushed her own plate of salad away.

“Your jeans will thank me this weekend when you can button them.”

Charlie usually scolded her friends for talking about weight or dieting, but their friendship now seemed new and tenuous, she quickly took a bite of her bread, munching it until it dissolved in her mouth.

She was embarrassed to feel so meek around her longtime friends and wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it or not, but they did seem to give each other a strange glance once or twice when they thought she wasn’t looking.

Charlie brushed it off, relieved that her friends were willing to leave whatever problems they had behind and get back to where their friendship had been a few weeks ago. She would even bite her tongue about the way Ellie was eating. It was making Charlie feel nauseous.

Ellie didn’t always have the best table manners, but today she was especially gross. She dipped her chicken wings in a small pile of ranch before sticking it partly in her mouth. She gnawed on it a while, running her tiny teeth along the edge of the bone, ripping off little tidbits of remaining meat and then sucking on the bones, making a sound that sent a wave of nausea through Charlie. She wouldn’t look. So gross. But it wasn’t Ellie’s fault. That stepmom probably didn’t have any manners either, so how could Ellie be expected to learn them?

After the bone was picked clean. Ellie licked her lips and turned to smile at her friends. “Oh my God, I love wings. Besides just this once won’t hurt.”

Charlie decided not to point out that her friend still had a little dot of ranch dressing on the corner of her mouth. Ellie might take it the wrong way. Right now, she’d do anything to keep this restored peace and if it meant placating Ellie, well so be it.

“Can you guys come over after school on Friday?” Ellie said. “I thought we could take the city bus over to Sanctuary Lake and maybe swim.”

Ellie’s eyes shone. Swimming in the town reservoir was forbidden. But there were a few spots that were secluded and the high school kids would sneak in and splash around.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.