Read Deadly Little Lies for Free Online Page A

fund a scholarship at a school he’d randomly chosen from a directory. Having made that call from here, he must disconnect himself from it immediately.
    He fired off an e-mail to his lawyer that would set a sale in motion. Now, for research. He needed to know who else had been offered the contract on Dav, and which of them had taken the bait, for he knew this party would not have waited to hear from him before taking action.
    Dav wasn’t dead yet, but he soon could be. His Caroline didn’t want that, so Jurgens would be sure it didn’t happen.
    Ever.
    Â 
    Â 
    Dav was sick when he woke in the dark. The nausea and pounding headache reminded him of his failings the moment he returned to consciousness. Vibrations thrummed through the metal under his hip and rattled his bound hands. He heard the drone of turbines and the whistle of the wind that told him he was in a plane.
    Given the metallic flooring, he was probably in a cargo hold or the back of a small plane, with the seats removed. His hands were tied behind his back, cuffed maybe, but he wasn’t sure because he couldn’t feel his fingers—the circulation was cut off.
    It took him a minute to conquer the fear and anger that rose to choke him. His father had liked to discipline his son by shoving him into the darkest part of the cellar. Dav could still hear the door slamming behind him and his father yelling, “Grow some balls, boy. Can’t stand to see any son of mine afraid of the dark.”
    It hadn’t been the dark that frightened him. It had been the closed-in space, the dank walls smelling of old bones and old blood. He knew people had died in that room, and died badly. More than that, it had been the roaches and rats that had sniffed at him or crawled on him, a small boy huddled by the door, praying to survive and get out.
    The terror had come from knowing—believing—that he had no control over getting out. Release would come at his father’s whim, or not at all.
    The shudder was impossible to suppress. All these years later, the fear still haunted him. He drew a deep breath and focused on two very important details. There wouldn’t be rats or roaches on a plane.
    â€œThen eeseh enea chronon,” he whispered to himself. I am no longer nine years old.
    Using only small movements, he shifted on the floor. Getting onto his side a bit eased the feeling of illness. He waited a heartbeat to see if anyone noticed him move or was watching him. Facedown as he was, with his head covered, he couldn’t tell if he was alone or not.
    Struggling to quiet his breathing, he strained to hear any other noise over the engine’s roar. Bracing his aching elbows on the floor, he made another shift to the right. He was just getting his balance when the plane banked sharply and threw him over onto his side again. He nearly screamed at the pain in his arms and shoulders, but he worried more when he realized he’d landed on something soft. Something that smelled of flowers and woman.
    Carrie.
    He wanted to leap up, pull her up with him, but it was impossible. Instead, he struggled to calm his racing heart and mind enough to feel or hear if she was alive. She’d made no sound when he crashed into her, so he feared the worst.
    He held his breath and scooted closer, ignoring his aching arms. “Carrie?” he whispered, the bag over his head muffling his voice. “Carrie?”
    Leaning toward her, he searched for some sign of life.
    In a lightning shift from deathly stillness to action, she burst upward, her elbow pressed into his neck. Her skin was warm. She was alive.
    Before he could do more than appreciate the fact, she shifted her weight with a grunt, and knocked him back, pinning him to the floor. Once again, his shoulders and elbows were racked with pain.
    â€œTouch me and I will kill you,” she hissed even as she wobbled above him. Shaky as she was, her arm stayed tight on his