The Game by Linsey Miller

Author:Linsey Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2020-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

Devon’s parents, though skeptical, agreed to let Devon spend the night at Gem’s with Lia so long as all of them were in the living room and their hands were in sight at all times. Gem assumed Devon was joking about that. Lia wasn’t so sure.

“What?” Gem asked as they sat in the car and finished off the last of their snacks. “Like you’re going to go at it while I’m right there?”

Gem fake heaved, and Lia forced herself to smile. She knew she should have laughed. If it were any other day, she would have, but it was today and she felt like happiness was a dream. Maybe if she faked it, she would be happy. There’d been a moment with Gem after Nora was out that she felt vaguely happy. It had faded as fast as it had come, though.

“Ask your mom,” Gem said. “I want to get home.”

Lia’s mom was easier to convince; Lia had spent enough time at Gem’s over the last decade, but Devon’s presence was just a new wrinkle between her mom’s brows. Gem’s mom worked in security and promised to keep an eye on the three. Ben’s killer was still on the loose anyway. Gem’s house was safer.

They agreed to it, Devon texted them midway through their parents’ three-way phone call. Now they’re just talking about Ben.

Lia pushed open the car door. “Let’s clean up before we head back, then.”

The last few days of driving everyone around had tracked in dead leaves and mud. Gem tossed several empty cans to Lia and pulled the floor mats out of their car. Lia bent over the back of the car and gathered up every piece of junk she could find. Arms full, she stood and looked for the trash can. It was bolted to a post at the edge of the parking lot. Behind it stood a hooded figure.

Lia froze, but the figure didn’t. They were short and hooded, and their hands were tucked into their pockets. Lia couldn’t make out their face. Gem shook out another floor mat.

“Lia, just toss it.” Gem looked up at her. “What are you doing?”

“Turn around,” Lia said.

Gem’s eyes widened, and they pivoted. The figure in the distance waved. That was far too friendly for a murderer. Probably.

“Well, screw that,” Gem said. “Let’s get out of here.”

By the time they had locked the car doors, the figure was gone. They had vanished over the crest of the hill and into the neighborhood around the park. Gem kept their water gun up and ready to go. Lia raced to the trash can to toss their trash and studied the footprints near it.

Converse. Not helpful.

“It’s my assassin, right?” Lia asked. “Not—”

“Yeah, has to be. They waved.” Gem laughed. “We’re fine. We’re paranoid, but we’re fine.”

“Let’s just go.” Lia walked backward to the car, one hand clasped tightly around Gem’s jacket. There was no movement in the trees. As they drove away, light flickered twice in the distance like two glowing eyes, but they turned a corner and it was gone.

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.