Private 10 - Suspicion Read Online Free PDF Page A

That had been totally, completely weird.
    I glanced up the beach again, uncurling my legs. A guy in green board shorts and a white T-shirt was walking along the water. For a moment I thought it was Upton. Perhaps sensing that I wasn't quite ready to talk to him about everything just yet, he'd made some lame excuse to go home and promised to meet us for lunch. But one good squint and I realized I was looking at Sawyer, not Upton. I sat up and raised a hand to wave him down.
    Noelle followed my gaze, saw Sawyer, then returned to her reading. As Sawyer turned his steps up the beach, I stood and dusted the sand off the back of my shorts. He was holding a single miniature conch shell, which he toyed with as he approached.
    "Hey, Reed," he said, squinting one eye. "Noelle."
    "What're you doing all the way down here?" Noelle asked.
    "I just wanted to come over and see how Reed was doing," Sawyer said, looking at me.
    "Feelingbetter?"
    "Yeah," I said. "Still a little sore, but better." His eyes flicked down at my chest. "Hey. You're wearing the necklace," he said brightly. Noelle glanced up as my fingers flew to the shell around my neck. "Yeah. I really like it."
    "Cool." Sawyer was blushing. I could feel Noelle's gaze burning into the back of my neck.
    "So, do you ... I mean, are you okay to take a walk? " Sawyer asked as the wind blew his shaggy blond hair over his eyes.
    "Definitely," I said. I grabbed my sunglasses off the beach blanket and put them on. I didn't want to get too far away from Noelle's house, which we were currently parked in front of, but a quick walk with Sawyer wasn't going to kill me. "We'll be right back."
    "I'll be right here," Noelle said, refocusing on the magazine. Sawyer and I walked down to the wet sand, where cool water lapped at our feet. He fiddled with his shell as we continued on down the beach.
    "Listen, I wanted to thank you again," I said, biting my lip.
    He reddened and shook his head. "You don't have to--"
    "No. Not just for the dramatic rescue thing," I said with a laugh. "For sayingyou believe me about being pushed off the boat."
    Sawyer's head snapped up. "I wasn't just saying that. I do believe you."
    "I know. So thanks. I don't think anyone else really does," I told him, curling my toes into the wet, sloppy sand with each step.
    "Not even Upton?" he asked, his voice tight.
    "He says he does, but ..." I looked out at the water. "I think he doesn't want to believe that someone he knows could do that."
    "That sucks," Sawyer said. He stopped, turned toward the ocean, and pulled his arm back. With a flick of his wrist he sent the shell flying. It made the tiniest splash out on the water. Then he stood there and stared after it for a long moment, his expression brooding. "After everything you've been through the past couple of years ... it must just suck when people don't have your back."
    My skin prickled and I looked down at my bare toes. I hadn't told Sawyer anything about my . . . history. "I guess people are talking about me, huh?" Sawyer sighed. "You've been a major topic the last couple of days." He glanced at me quickly as he stooped for another shell to throw. "Sorry."
    "No. It's okay," I said, even as my heart squeezed. I hooked my thumbs into the back pockets of my shorts and drew a wide arc in the sand with my toe. It instantly disappeared, sucked away by the salty water. "Bad things just kind of.. . happen to me," I said. "Sometimes I think there's this big gray cloud following me around. I want it to go away already." Sawyer nodded. He threw the shell, then drew a long line with his own toe. It disappeared, too. "I feel like that sometimes." He looked up, across the water at the horizon, and tucked his hands under his arms. "I guess you've heard that my sister died a few months ago."
    "I did. I'm so sorry," I said, my heart going out to him. Noelle had told me about the Hathaways' loss earlier in the week. "What happened?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I heard the