The Accused Read Online Free PDF

with a connecting bath would be best.”
    “I agree. The master bedroom has a connecting bath but also several ways in and out.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest, as if to ward off the unease she felt at the thought of sleeping in the same bed that her dead stepfather had slept in. “I wouldn’t want to sleep in there anyway.”
    “I don’t blame you. Let’s check downstairs first.”
    Alaina nodded and walked to the left side of the entry as Carter took the right. A careful inspection of the downstairs rooms did not reveal any equipped as a bedroom.
    “We could move some bedroom furniture downstairs,” Carter suggested as they met at the back of the entry.
    She shook her head. “There’s no connecting bath for any of the rooms. There’s a half bath off the kitchen, but that’s the only one I’ve seen downstairs so far.”
    “There’s another off the laundry room.”
    She blew out a breath. “Both of those are hallways away from these rooms, and I can hardly put a bed in the middle of the kitchen or the laundry room, or shower in the sink.”
    “No. Neither of those rooms is secure anyway. They both have wide entries with no doors.”
    “Probably to make carrying laundry and food easier.”
    “Which doesn’t help us at all.”
    “Then I guess I’ll have to stay upstairs.”
    He motioned toward the spiral stairwell. “After you.”
    As she walked up the stairs, she looked out the glass ceiling. The clouds overhead swirled, creating constantly shifting patterns of light and shadows.
    “That storm looks like it’s going to be bad,” she said as they stepped onto the landing.
    “It doesn’t look like a mild one,” he agreed. “I can’t believe that glass ceiling is still intact. We had a horrible storm last week—lots of lightning and hail even.”
    “It’s got a panel that covers it. I accidentally opened it thinking it was a switch for the lights. It didn’t sound like it had been used in some time.”
    Carter looked up and frowned. “Your stepfather was a recluse. Maybe he didn’t like the light either.”
    Preferring to lurk in the shadow like most monsters.
    She shook her head. Now was not the time for fanciful thoughts, especially those that might scare her once she was alone in this house in the dark. She had no concrete memory of her stepfather, but she knew she’d feared him. That was all she wanted to know.
    “I just hope it closes,” she said.
    “Let’s not borrow trouble,” he said and pointed to a hallway on the left side of the landing. “I saw several bedrooms that direction when I was up here earlier. Let’s see if one works.”
    By unspoken agreement, they each took a side of the hall and began inspecting the bedrooms. Alaina made it to the door centered at the end of the hall before Carter. She stepped inside and sucked in a breath.
    This was it. The bedroom she’d shared with her sisters.
    It was situated directly over the kitchen area and just as large. Her memories were fuzzy, but she could remember the single beds and crib, all decked out in pink and white. White dressers stood against the wall across from the beds. The beds and dressers were long gone, but against the far wall stood two wooden school desks.
    She crossed the room and ran her fingers over the dusty desktop. A chill coursed through her when she felt the indentations in the corner. It had been restained and lacquered when she was a child—her punishment had been scrubbing the marble floors downstairs for a week by hand—but even the new stain and lacquer hadn’t erased the single word she’d carved in the corner with her scissors.
    Help.
    “Is everything okay?” Carter’s voice sounded behind her, causing her to spin around.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He studied her for a couple of seconds. “Is something wrong?”
    “No,” she said, straining to keep herself from sounding as anxious as she felt. “Just coming face-to-face with old ghosts.”
    She