Read Through the Door for Free Online Page A

Once…twice…
    “Hello?” A man’s voice answered.
    “Hello. Is this Rohan Donnelly?” Cedar asked.
    “Yes. Who’s calling?” The man’s voice was not harsh, but there was no warmth in it either.
    “Um, I’m an old friend of your son’s.”
    “Which son?”
    Finn has brothers?
    “Er, Finn,” she said. “I was just wondering if you might know how I can get in touch with him.”
    “Finn doesn’t live here anymore,” Rohan said, this time with a hint of gruffness.
    “Okay. Do you know where he’s living now? I just need a phone number, maybe an e-mail address?” Cedar said.
    “I’m sorry. I can’t help you,” Rohan said. “Good day.” And he hung up.
    Cedar stared down at the phone.
What was that?
    Just then, the door to the stairwell opened and her boss stuck his head in. “There you are. We were going to meet first thing, remember?”
    Cedar whipped her head around, and she immediately felt a piercing pain shoot through her neck. “Ahh, yes,” she said, wincing.
    As they walked down the hall, Cedar tried to drag her mind away from the mystifying phone call and back to her job. But the brusqueness of Rohan’s reply to her simple question lingered in her mind. Why was he so loath to share any information about his son?

    She was still puzzling over it at lunchtime. She considered calling Rohan back, but it had been far too easy for him to hang up on her the first time. He couldn’t hang up on her if she was standing in his doorway.
    She grabbed her keys and purse and ran down the stairs. The address Jane had given her was only ten minutes away, and hopefully she could make it there and back before anyone noticed she was gone.
    A few minutes later, she was driving down Ashfield Drive, slowing to look at the house numbers. Finally, she spotted the right one and pulled over to park on the other side of the road. She sat and watched the house for a minute. It seemed friendly enough to her. It was an older building, as were all the homes in this part of town. But it was well kept, with butter yellow siding and red window boxes filled with a cheerful mix of pansies. A small walkway led up to the front door. Cedar stepped tentatively out of her car and started up the walk. Whenshe was halfway there, the door opened and a woman walked out, slamming the door behind her. When she saw Cedar, she stopped cold and stared at her. Cedar blinked in confusion. The woman was tall, willowy, and breathtakingly beautiful. Her skin was so pale it seemed to emit a soft light. She had powerful features: a long, straight nose, full lips, and strikingly high cheekbones. Her eyes were large, and a brilliant shade of green. And right now they were trained on Cedar with such hatred that it made her take an involuntary step back.
    “What are
you
doing here?” the redhead asked, her voice filled with venom. Cedar tried to say that she didn’t know what the woman was talking about, that she must be mistaking her for someone else, but her head suddenly felt like it was filled with fog. Her thoughts were sluggish, and she couldn’t seem to articulate the words she wanted to say. The redhead turned to shoot another look at the yellow house, then seemed to make a decision. She snapped her head up and walked past Cedar without saying another word. Cedar turned and watched her walk away. Gradually, her head started to feel normal again, though she noticed her hands were shaking.
What was that?
she thought.
    She forced herself the final few steps up the walkway and knocked firmly on the door.
    A woman opened the door and looked at Cedar. Cedar thought the woman’s eyes grew slightly wider at the sight of her, but then the moment passed and she was only gazing expectantly. She appeared to be the same age as Cedar’s own mother. But whereas Maeve was short, plump, and graying, this woman was tall and slim, like a dancer. She had olive skin that looked so soft Cedar wanted to reach out and touch it. Her dark hair was swept up into