Two Can Keep a Secret

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Book: Read Two Can Keep a Secret for Free Online
Authors: Karen M. McManus
job applications.”
    His brow furrows. “You want to work here?”
    “We’re broke, remember? And where else would we work? I don’t think there’s anyplace in walking distance.” Neither of us have our driver’s license, and I can tell already Nana’s not the chauffeuring type.
    Ezra shrugs. “All right. Hand it over.”
    I fish a couple of pens out of my messenger bag, and we almost complete the applications before it’s our turn to buy tickets. I fold Ezra’s and mine together and stuff them both in the front pocket of my bag as we leave the booths. “We can drop them off before we go home.”
    “Where should we go first?” Ezra asks.
    I unfold my map and study it. “It looks like we’re in the kids’ section right now,” I report. “Dark Matters is to the left. That’s an evil science laboratory. Bloody Big Top to the right. Probably self-explanatory. And the House of Horrors is straight ahead. That doesn’t open till seven, though.”
    Ezra leans over my shoulder and lowers his voice. “Where did Lacey die?”
    I point to a tiny picture of a Ferris wheel. “Under there. Well, that’s where they found her body, anyway. Police thought she was probably meeting someone. Echo Ridge kids used to sneak into the park after hours all the time, I guess. It didn’t have any security cameras back then.” We both glance up at the nearest building, where a red light blinks from one corner. “Does now, obviously.”
    “Do you want to start there?” Ezra asks.
    My throat gets dry. A group of masked kids dressed in black swoop past us, one of them knocking into my shoulder so hard that I stumble. “Maybe we should check out the games,” I say, refolding the map. It was a lot easier to take ghoulish pleasure at visiting a crime scene before I met the victim’s family.
    We walk past snack stands and carnival games, pausing to watch a boy our age sink enough baskets in a row to win a stuffed black cat for his girlfriend. The next station has the kind of shooting gallery game where two players each try to knock over twelve targets in a box. A guy wearing a ratty hunting jacket who looks like he’s forty or so pumps his fist in the air and lets out a loud guffaw. “Beat ya!” he says, punching the shoulder of the kid next to him. The man stumbles a little with the movement, and the boy recoils and backs away.
    “Maybe you should give someone else a turn.” The girl behind the counter is about my age and pretty, with a long brown ponytail that she winds anxiously around her fingers.
    The man in the hunting jacket waves the toy gun he’s holding. “Plenty of room next to me. Anybody can play if they’re not too chicken.” His voice is loud and he’s slurring his words.
    The girl crosses her arms, as if she’s steeling herself to sound tough. “There are lots of other games you could play.”
    “You’re just mad ’cause nobody can beat me. Tell you what, if any of these losers can knock down more than me I’ll bow out. Who wants to try?” He turns toward the small crowd gathering around the stand, revealing a lean, scruffy face.
    Ezra nudges me. “How can you resist?” he asks under his breath.
    I hesitate, waiting to see if someone older or bigger might help out, but when nobody does I step forward. “I will.” I meet the girl’s eyes, which are hazel, heavily mascaraed, and shadowed with dark circles. She looks like she hasn’t slept in a week.
    The guy blinks at me a few times, then bends at the waist in an exaggerated bow. The movement almost topples him, but he rights himself. “Well, hello, madam. Challenge accepted. I’ll even pay for you.” He fishes two crumpled dollars out of his pocket and hands them to the girl. She takes them gingerly and drops them into a box in front of her as if they were on fire. “Never let it be said that Vance Puckett isn’t a gentleman.”
    “Vance Puckett?” I burst out before I can stop myself. This is Sadie’s ex? The “gorgeous” one?

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