Nobody Knows Read Online Free PDF Page A

the man to talk to her, but it gave her some peace of mind to give him the money. She just had to hope that he really did buy food and didn’t blow it on booze.
    Didn’t the poor creature have anyone who cared about him? It was so sad and so scary.
There, but for the grace of God, go I
. Cassie shivered as she jogged away.
Life sure turns on a dime. I could end up where that man is. Anyone could
.
    All those years she had worked hard to accomplish what she had professionally, so many times at the expense of her personal life. Now her profession had hung Cassie out to dry, and her husband and daughter weren’t there for her either. She couldn’t blame Jim or Hannah, really. They had formed their own special bond during Hannah’s formative years. Jim had simply spent more time with their daughter. Jim Sheridan, high school English teacher, with his predictable hours and long summer vacations, had done more of the day-to-dayraising of their child, helping Hannah with her homework, coaching her softball team, taking her to dance lessons and doctors’ appointments. The beeper that Cassie always wore had sounded too many times, calling Mommy to work, calling the wife away from her husband.
    Cassie rationalized that it was her work that had allowed Hannah to have all the advantages. While Jim made a respectable salary, it was Cassie who brought home the real bacon, earning five times what her husband did. That income made their four-bedroom, three-bathroom brick colonial in Alexandria possible. That income paid for her Saab convertible and Jim’s Volvo station wagon. That income had paid for Hannah’s summer camp when she was younger and for the shopping sprees at Abercrombie & Fitch now. That income was paying for all that was going on in the home that Cassie wasn’t a part of anymore.
    Because, now, Jim wanted a divorce, thirteen-year-old Hannah wanted to stay with her father, and KEY News had transferred Cassie out of her beloved Washington Bureau to Miami, where she was marking time while she and KEY News were being sued for the wrongful death of Maggie Lynch, the daughter of the first female director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Yep, life could turn on a dime.

CHAPTER 3
    The freshly shaven face peered back at him in the makeup mirror. It was important to start with a clean, dry face.
    He dipped his finger into the white grease-based makeup and began to smooth it around his eyes and mouth, careful to use only a little bit. Too much would look heavy. Once the round shapes were applied, he used his fingertips to pat, helping the makeup get into the pores and smoothing out the streaks. Next he took a Q-tip and swirled it in his mouth to moisten it. The saliva-sharpened tip outlined the white painted area, making it more distinct.
    Picking up an old tube sock filled with the baby powder he had taken from Maggie Lynch’s bathroom, he shook it over the area he had made up and applied the sock to his face to press in the precious dust. He sat back and contemplated his reflection as he waited a minute for the powder to sit. Then he took a brush and flicked off the excess. Next, he applied the flesh-colored makeup to the rest of his face, except the areaaround his nose where the red would go. He repeated the routine of patting with his fingertips and powdering, followed by drawing black lines around his eyes.
    He picked up a theatrical makeup pencil and colored in a red, down-turned mouth and filled in a red circle over the tip of his nose. He didn’t have time this morning to bother with the prosthetic nose. He picked up the spray bottle from the dressing table and misted his face. Some blue around the eyes to make the clown’s face look scarier and a mascara wand to his eyelashes and the work was done.
    He turned his head from side to side and admired himself in the mirror. What would his mother say if she could see him now? Something mean and screeching, to be sure.
The harridan
.
    He ached to get out there