Crossing Lines: A gripping psychological thriller (Behind Closed Doors Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

reflection, I see Caleb carrying yet more coffee towards me and my gaze instantly falls to my cell. 11:09 . Jeez! Where the hell is she?
    I leap up, almost knocking Caleb over as I begin to pace. I have to do something with all this nervous energy before I kill someone.
    “I don't know why you're being so nice to him, Caleb,” Georgia barks from the doorway. “You know this is his fault. If he'd have just agreed to let Lisa attend the school she wanted, none of this would have happened!”
    “That’s why you're not her guardian,” Caleb retorts. “You can't give into a child’s every whim. She'll end up spoiled and bratty, and never grow into a perfectly rounded human being.”
    “Dad gave me everything I wanted.”
    “Case in point,” he quips.
    “Look at me, Caleb!” she snaps again. “I'm one of the most respected post-trauma specialists in the world.”
    “You're where you are because you're a McKenzie. You qualified just as Mom's life story hit the box office number one, and everyone thought the sun shone out of your—”
    “Enough!” I shout.
    They both look at me like I’ve grown a second head. Honestly, I don’t care if they argue anymore, but they insist on doing it as close to me as possible, and I can’t cope with it any longer. “Caleb, give your sister the respect she deserves. She wouldn’t have made it five years as a rising star in her field, especially if she was riding on the back of the family name alone.”
    “I don’t need you to stand up for me.” Georgia sneers down her nose, as if I’ve insulted her rather than standing up for her. “I don’t need anything from—”
    “All right!” This time my voice booms throughout the living room. “I get it. This is my fault. Everything is my fault. You've made your opinion plainly obvious, at every opportunity in the last seven years. And frankly, your opinion is not going to change the fact that Lisa is missing.” She begins to protest again.
    “I said, enough!” My temper explodes. “You're right, Georgia. You're always right. So, just shut the hell up!”
    I can’t deal with her. Not now. Not ever. When my oldest niece isn't ignoring me, I have to listen to her whine, complain, shout, or blame me for everything that’s happened. Ever. To top everything off, she's been on my case about something, every five goddamn minutes since she arrived yesterday morning.
    Caleb promised he’d talk to her when he arrived. I knew what would happen the moment he did. It would piss her off, and she’d be worse than ever. But Caleb didn’t listen.
    “Mom and John should never have left Lisa in your care! They should never have left you in charge of anything!” she shouts in my direction. The spiteful insult stings. “ I could have looked after Lisa better than you, ” she continues. “and I would have found Cate and Zoe by now too!”
    “There’s a reason you could find them, though, isn’t there?” I spin around so fast I go a little dizzy. I shouldn’t tell her what I know, or what the police have revealed to me; that she’s still in contact with her miserable father, and they’re trying to track Calvin through the help she’s providing him. “Because you wouldn't have to look for them, would you?”
    Georgia gasps, her dark eyes growing wide like a deer caught in the headlights. “I … I don't know what you're talking about.” Her gaze flickers from me to Caleb. The guilt sparks in her eyes and then fades as she hisses, “I refuse to talk to you, either of you, when you're being unreasonable like this!” She turns her back on us.
    When I…? But she…? Oh no, she did not! Years of professional training disintegrate in nanoseconds. The swell of anger floods my blood stream and steals my ability to breathe. A gush of vile heat pushes my hand high above my head as I roar with angry frustration. I’m ready to launch my cell phone across the room.
    “D, don't!” A wall of muscle crashes into me and takes me out like a