The Lost Sister. Megan Kelley Hall

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СКАЧАТЬ rug. Not surprisingly, he didn’t seem the slightest bit self-conscious or guilty.

      “How’ve you been, Crane?” he asked, beaming as he proudly wore his harbor attire. While in other towns being a harbor cop may have been looked at as a blue-collar position, it was a highly coveted position in Hawthorne, reserved for only the coolest and wealthiest kids. It was really just an excuse to hang out on the harbor all day in the sun and get paid for it. It came as no surprise that Trevor Campbell’s family had bought his way into this cushy position, because he was widely known as a troublemaker. Yet she had no idea why he would commit to the job over Christmas break. He must have done something to piss his parents off for them to make him actually work during his vacation. He definitely had some ulterior motive, yet she couldn’t figure out what it could be. In any case, he was the last person Maddie wanted to see. “I know, I know, I’m hard to recognize in uniform.”

      “No, I could recognize an asshole even when he’s all cleaned up and in uniform,” Maddie said through clenched teeth. Trevor was Kate Endicott’s boyfriend and the boy who used to taunt Maddie and Cordelia mercilessly at Hawthorne Academy. He could even be the father of Cordelia’s child and it didn’t seem to affect him in the least.

      “Ouch!” he said, laughing. “Is that any way to treat an old friend?”

      “I’ll let you know when I see one,” Maddie said. “So, working for the harbormaster, hmm? What prompted the switch to the other side of the law? I didn’t know that assholes were given jobs to serve and protect.”

      He smirked, shaking his head. Even in his crisp uniform of white oxford shirt, khakis, and closely cropped hair, he couldn’t shake the spoiled, party-boy image that existed in her memory. Maddie pictured him passed out on the floor in a drunken stupor at every party. Unless, of course, he was hooking up with one of the many girls that followed him around the halls of Hawthorne Academy. And yet how he managed to do it right under Kate Endicott’s perfectly upturned nose remained a mystery. Luckily, Maddie avoided falling under the spell of his baby-faced, all-American charms.

      “Decided to clean up my act,” he said. “Fresh start. You should be familiar with wanting to start over. Right, boarding school girl?” he asked smugly, holding her gaze a little longer than what felt comfortable.

      “Um…yeah,” Maddie muttered, “I guess so.” She willed herself not to let Trevor Campbell under her skin—not again. Strangely, Maddie could almost feel the shy, awkward Maddie Crane—the one she thought she had disposed of years ago—gingerly rubbing her eyes and coming back to life.

      “So,” he chuckled, “what brings Maddie Crane back to Hawthorne? Was Maine life too much for you? Did you get sick of all the maple syrup and mountain climbing?”

      “Uh, that’s Vermont, Trevor,” Maddie said slowly. She could barely stomach sticking around much longer talking to this bastard. She couldn’t believe that he was related to Reed, the only person she had had feelings for until Luke came into her life. Yet Trevor was one of the few who knew what she had done to Cordelia on Misery Island—who had witnessed the act that she so regretted when she had thrown that stone at Cordelia’s head. And for that, she hated him even more. “Actually, if you really want to know, I came back to take care of my mom for Christmas break.” Then she added, “She needs help with my aunt Rebecca.”

      “Oh yeah,” said Trevor. “How could I forget about that crazy aunt of yours?”

       My God, Maddie thought, some people never change. She was just about to storm off, but not before she told him where he could shove that smug attitude of his, when he caught her off-guard by saying, “It’s good that you’re here to take care of your mother. Especially after what happened this past fall.”

      “This fall?” Maddie asked. She had no idea what he was talking about.

      “Wow, your mom didn’t tell you? That’s weird,” he replied to her confused look. Maddie wanted to punch that smug look off his face, but her desire for information got the best of her.

      “It was the strangest thing. I was at the station, playing a game of poker with the boys. So, it was a Tuesday night, not much really goes on during the week. The bars are empty and the high school keggers don’t really happen until the weekend. Do you remember the parties we used to throw out on Misery? Man, those were the days.”

      “Focus, Trevor,” Maddie said impatiently, wanting to physically hurt him for even mentioning Misery Island, but at the same time she desperately wanted to know what he was talking about.

      “So,” he continued, “this crazy 9–1–1 call comes in. Turns out it’s your mom on the phone just crying and screaming and going on and on about someone in the house, and they need everyone, even me, to help contain the situation. That’s what this is for.” He pulled out a Taser gun and Maddie shivered at the thought of Trevor Campbell, a guy with a drinking problem, a history of assault and rape, and an overwhelming sense of entitlement, being allowed to carry a weapon. “So, Sully—er, do you remember Officer Sullivan? Garrett Sullivan?”

      Maddie bristled. Trevor obviously was aware that she knew Garrett Sullivan. He was the one who was a part of that awful night at Ravenswood. Trevor was just taunting her.

      “Anyway, he tells her to get out of the house and get to a safe place, and she just kept on screaming ‘It’s not my fault,’ blah, blah, blah. Sully barely understood a word of it, y’know? Then, nothing. Silence. He said it was like the phone’s just ripped from the wall.”

      At that point, Maddie couldn’t hide her emotions. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned this before? “What happened?” she yelled.

      “I’m getting to that,” he said, suddenly appearing excited to have such a rapt audience. “So, we pull up to the house and there aren’t any lights on. We knock and knock…nothing. Then they force entry into the house with backup”—he pointed to himself with a self-satisfied grin—“ ’cause they didn’t know what they were walking into. We were pretty jacked by this time, because nothing really happens around here. Well, at least not in a long time.”

      Maddie inhaled sharply, painfully, knowing that he was referring to Cordelia and the night at Ravenswood, the night that ended in her aunt’s attempted suicide and the revelation that Cordelia and Maddie were tied together by a bond deeper than either of them ever could have imagined—they shared a father.

      “Once we got into your house and looked around, well…it was a total disaster. The furniture all tipped over, books were everywhere, smashed glass, and that smell…like something burning. So Sully called out to your mom. And there’s just nothin’. No sounds, no one, nothin’.

      “We started picking our way through the mess when Sully stopped short ’cause he heard this hollow tapping sound. It was coming from the basement. So, we go down to the basement, and man, that is one creepy place. Dirt floors, stone walls, it’s like a dungeon. Then the tapping just filled the room. It was everywhere, all around us, freakin’ us out.

      “So, finally, we head back upstairs, and there’s your mother at the top of the staircase, actin’ like she was half drugged, her hair all crazy and wild. The first thing she asks is, ‘Is it gone?’

      “Sully asks her, ‘Who did this to you, Abigail?’ She just stared at us. Man, I’ve never seen anyone stare like that before—like she just saw the devil himself….” His voice trailed off and he shifted his gaze over her shoulder for a moment.

      He visibly shuddered and then continued. “So we went back into the living room and started picking up the СКАЧАТЬ