Double Minds Read Online Free PDF Page A

minister, Daniel. He might even still be there with them, hanging out, playing ping-pong in the rec room before they went home for the night. She didn’t want them posting blogs about her death on My Space while she collected her press clippings. She wasn’t eager to read a thousand eulogies and watch as teenagers picked her life apart and pasted it on websites for all to see.
    Hearing her name drew her thoughts back to the wide screen over Serene’s fireplace mantel.
    “Sources tell us that Parker James was twenty-eight years old—”
    “Twenty- six ,” she muttered.
    “She’d been working at Colgate Studios as receptionist for the past five years. The deceased has a website that describes her as a singer/songwriter, as well. In fact, the site claims that she penned most of Christian artist Serene Stevens’s songs.”
    Serene collapsed in laughter. “You’re gonna be more famous than I am!”
    Butch threw his head back and howled. “Girl, get a grip. You don’t let people think you’re dead just to make another family feel better.”
    She could never make him understand. “They would have broadcast Brenna’s death on TV. Her parents would have found out that way.”
    “But that was true!” Serene said. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
    Parker closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “I know. I panicked and just threw it out there. I kept thinking of her family—”
    “Never mind yours.”
    “I’ve been in touch with them. They know I’m not dead.”
    “What about all your friends? Don’t you realize people are probably crying over their poor murdered friend right now?”
    Parker looked at Serene. Was that true? Would there be people grieving her supposed loss? She did have a lot of friends and acquaintances, though none as close as her family or Serene. Maybe there would be tears shed …
    She hoped so. It would be a terrible thing to have your death pass without a tear.
    She caught herself and looked back at the news. What was she thinking? What kind of self-centered diva was she to crave that kind of mourning? She’d been so worried about Brenna’s friends finding out in the dorms that she hadn’t even considered her own. “What should I do? Go back and talk to the reporters?”
    Butch chuckled. “Probably no need. If it helps any, the other two stations are reporting that it was Brenna.”
    She grunted. “You could have told me that before making me feel like a jerk.”
    “I’m just messing with you,” he said.
    She took the remote and changed the channel. Just as he’d said, Brenna’s name was on the screen, along with her age and the fact that she was a Belmont student. So Parker’s pretense had been unnecessary. Serene and Butch were right. She was a fool.
    Disgusted, she got up. “I think I’ll go home, after all.”
    “Why?” Serene asked. “I told you you could stay here.”
    “I don’t really feel like company tonight. I think I’ll take my chances.”
    “We didn’t mean to laugh at you,” Butch said, still chuckling. “Don’t go.”
    Parker scowled back at him. “What do you care?”
    “He cares because we need you, Parker.”
    “Why?”
    “We need some rewrites … like, tonight.”
    Parker stared at her. Did Serene expect her to write at a time like this? “I’m not in the mood.”
    “There’s nothing you can do for Brenna.”
    “I’m not trying to do anything. I just don’t want to be around people right now.”
    “But you’ve got to help me.” Serene’s hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and strands of it fell into her eyes. She wore a great big sweatshirt with the name of some college Parker had never heard of, and a pair of baggy gym shorts. She stood there barefoot, her hundred-dollar pedicured toenails in living color. She had that look on her face—the one that broadcast her need for another stupid favor, like driving through Wendy’s after a friend had been murdered. “Parker, I didn’t want to tell you on the phone because you