Prelude of Lies

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Book: Read Prelude of Lies for Free Online
Authors: Victoria Smith
spark. He’s like my brother. And he’s all yours.”
    “I’m not sure I want him.” And she wasn’t. At least not long term. God, what was wrong with her? Was she seriously considering following her sister’s advice?
    “Well, just in case you do, I give you my blessing. As if you need it.” Daisy laughed.
    Somehow, that didn’t make her feel any better. “Don’t mention any of this to Marshal. God, I feel like a teenager. The next thing you know I’ll have a zit.”
    “Sister’s honor.” Daisy hooked her pinky and Sydney joined hers in their symbolic act of promise.
    “Heard Graham propositioned you.” Marshal motioned to the chair across from him. Too bad he insisted the question and answer session be done in this freaky cabin. She didn’t feel good in here and told him so.
    “That’s not uncommon. We’ll try to help you find out what’s going on and figure out how to deal with it.” His words were soothing even though Sydney figured he used the speech often.
    “Why do you let Graham tag along? He thinks you guys are nuts and wants to sabotage you.”
    “To be honest, I don’t know. Except to say that underneath all that arrogant machismo, he’s a decent guy. I think he put on an act for you, to see if he could get a different angle on the story.” Marshal leaned back on the chair, his T-shirt stretching over his stomach and chest. Sydney forgot to breathe.
    “Why are you defending him? What’s he got on you that you don’t want out?” She’d meant the question as a joke, but when Marshal’s expression glazed over, she figured she’d hit a nerve. Interesting.
    Marshal shook his head as if he took the statement like the joking she’d meant, but the unmistakable current of tension told a different story. She allowed him to change the subject and recounted the events of yesterday afternoon.
    “So where were you when it touched you?”
    They were standing in the bunk room. She pointed to the wall closest to a neatly made up bunk.
    That bed had to be Graham’s. All the other beds were a mess of sleeping bags, clothes and personal items. “You moved the bed. I was here.” She pointed at a spot near the head of the immaculate lower bunk.
    “We had to. The rain dripped in there. Poor Graham was getting wet. I couldn’t sleep with him whining above me.” He cringed a little as if he knew telling her the cabin leaked would overload her already-packed repair list.
    “Oh. I didn’t realize it rained last night. Sorry.” She ignored that the neat bed belonged to him because she wasn’t sure what it made her feel. As she turned to show him where she’d stood yesterday, icy-cold tendrils wrapped around her. Her breath came out as a fog and she shivered.
    Marshal held up a piece of equipment around her, circling her as he shook his head and grinned. Finally, the freeze lifted. Her shaking did not.
    “Is there anyone here who’d like to speak?” he asked over and over with pauses like someone would actually answer, moving the tiny tape recorder in a slow sweep around the room.
    He patted her shoulder as he passed. “Let’s go.” He motioned, allowing her to exit first.
    She re-seated herself at the table, waiting as Marshal grabbed a briefcase and sat down. The smile on his face was a testament to his love for his job. “Want to hear what we recorded last night?”
    He moved a laptop to the center of the table.
    Sydney nodded, not sure if she really did. Snoring and shuffling blared through the speakers and Marshal fast forwarded the recording.
    “I’m here. Where are you?” The female voice sounded disjointed, and the hair on Sydney’s neck stood.
    “Margaret?” The response seemed to come from farther away.
    “That’s pretty much it. There’s a more, but we ran out of time to clean up the track.” Marshal still grinned.
    “Creepy. I thought you weren’t going to set up equipment last night.” She hadn’t meant for that to come accusing. She didn’t care what he

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