What Lies in the Darkness (Shadow Cove Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

you have any idea how worried I’ve been for the last couple of hours?” she yells. “And all that worry could’ve been cleared up if you’d just answered your damn phone.”
    “I-I’m sorry,” I stammer. “I didn’t mean to let the battery go dead. I just forget to charge it sometimes.”
    “Well, maybe if you weren’t so distracted with this shit”—she flings her arm in the direction of the skate park—“then you’d remember to do half the stuff you forget about.”
    “I’m sorry,” I repeat. I don’t know what else to say since I really don’t think this is about my phone battery dying. “I’ll make sure it stays charged from now on.”
    “You better.” She points at her old, beat-up truck in the parking lot. “Now get in the car. You’re coming home with me, and then you and I are going to have a nice, long talk about something.”
    I point over at my car. “But I drove my friends here.”
    She scowls at my friends. “Fine. Take them home then drive your ass straight to the house. Do not make any extra stops.”
    Nodding, I hurry toward my car. With each step, worry laces my thoughts. After all, the last time my mom told me we had to talk about something was the day she told me my father left us. And I can’t help wondering if maybe my dad is the reason the police were hauling ass up to the lake this afternoon.

LOCATION: MAK’S CAR
    TIME: 9:33 PM
    DATE: SATURDAY, MARCH 20 TH
     
    Right before my dad vanished, he spent a lot of time up near Shadow Cove Lake, looking for clues about my brother’s death. When I reported my dad missing, I suggested to the police that they look for him there. I’m not sure if they ever did. I thought about going up and looking around myself, but I never got the guts to do it, fearing what I’d find. Or what I wouldn’t.
    My stomach kinks in knots as images of my dad’s body floating in the lake flood my mind. What if he’s been dead up there this entire time?
    Then Dixon takes it upon himself to shout at the top of his lungs, “Hey, Mak! Last night was really fun! You’re damn good in bed, girl!” and the images go poof .
    I would be grateful that he momentarily got rid of the morbid images in my head, but my mom isn’t in her car yet. The look of horror and disgust on her face lets me know I just went from being in deep shit to being buried alive in it.
    “Well, at least he said you were good,” Kennedy offers as she hops off the hood of my car. She hands me a melted snow cone, and I down it like a soda.
    “I don’t care about that. But now everyone at school’s probably going to think I slept with him.” I yank open the driver side door, slide into the seat, and my friends follow, climbing in.
    “Maybe not very many people heard him,” Ev suggests, drawing her seatbelt over her shoulder.
    “Yeah, right. I think the whole town heard him.” I flip on the headlights. “Man, this night went from okay to sucky in about two minutes flat.”
    “Cheer up, buttercup.” Kennedy reaches over my seat and pats my shoulder. “We’ll get him back. Don’t you worry.”
    That gets me to smile.
    “And how do we do that?” I ask.
    Embry pops her knuckles. “I could kick his ass. Getting his ass handed to him by a girl would be the ultimate punishment for his stupid, sexist ass.”
    I consider the thought, but not for very long. “No way. He’d probably end up suing you and pressing charges.”
    She slumps back in the seat. “Yeah, you’re probably right, but dammit, it might be worth it.”
    Kennedy shakes her head. “Beating his ass isn’t enough. We need to kick him where it really counts.”
    “And how do we do that when his dad always bails him out of trouble?” I ask, steering out of the parking lot.
    She half-shrugs. “Give me a few days. I’ll think of something sinister.”
    “Please don’t think of something that’s going to get us into too much trouble,” Ev pleads with her hands clasped. “The last time you came up with a