Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

Author:Danielle Valentine [Valentine, Danielle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2024-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

12

Reagan

I barely notice the squat, two-room building when it appears between the trees. It’s so overgrown with weeds and vines that it looks like part of the woods. And the pain in my ankle is all-consuming. I don’t think I’ve broken anything, but there’s a goose egg forming below my skin.

I squeeze my eyes shut and take long, deep breaths through my mouth. It’s taking everything I have not to throw up.

“Are you okay?” Jack asks.

“Yeah…” I manage. “It just hurts.”

“Hopefully we can find some painkillers in this nurse’s cabin.”

I nod as Olivia hurries ahead of us to try the door. “Oh no,” she says, her face falling. “It’s locked.”

For a second, the only thing I hear in my head is the slightly muted sound of screaming. Of course it’s locked. Why wouldn’t it be locked? It would be too easy otherwise.

I swallow and try to get a handle on my growing panic. The truth is, I was just putting on a brave face for Jack. I’m not okay. The pain in my ankle is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I swear, it’s like those metal teeth are still digging through my boot, piercing my skin, only now it feels like they’re made of fire. I was really counting on this nurse’s cabin having painkillers.

“Sawyer had the keys,” Olivia is saying when I start to listen again. She looks seriously stressed, probably embarrassed that her big plan is already falling apart. “Maybe I can go back to the lodge and see if they’re in his pocket? Or maybe…”

She trails off as Jack lowers me onto the top step, being extra careful not to knock my bad ankle. Before she can utter another word, he steps past her and slams his shoulder into the door like a freaking battering ram.

It snaps inward, swinging on its hinges.

Jack shakes out his shoulders, grimacing slightly. Then he picks me up again and takes me inside.

I catch sight of Olivia’s face over his shoulder as he carries me past. Her mouth is hanging open, a blush rising in her cheeks. It’s funny, I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly perceptive person before, but I can read Olivia’s emotions as easily as if they were my own. She looks like she’s undressing Jack in her head.

As Jack carries me past her, I motion to my bottom lip. “Hey, Olivia, you have a little drool, right here,” I say.

Olivia snaps her mouth closed, blushing deeper. I can tell, instantly, that she’s mortified.

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