Page 98 of Liar's Point

“I’m dying for some.” She stopped in the middle of the kitchen. “You made pancakes?”

“Ha. Not a chance. Those are from Mom.”

Nicole reached over and lifted a paper towel off a plate and found six crispy strips of bacon.

“I thought I was dreaming.” She turned around. “Why didn’t Mom wake me up?”

“You were completely zonked, and she wanted you to sleep.” Kate eyed her over the rim of her coffee cup. “Those pills must have really knocked you out.”

“Yeah.” She checked the clock again. She was due for another one in twenty minutes.

She glanced at Kate, and the expression on her sister’s face set off a little warning bell.

“What’s that look?” Nicole reached for a piece of bacon and winced when a jolt of fire shot up from her hip. She didn’t even want to look at the bruise today.

“I’m here to get the straight story,” Kate said. “No more dodging me.”

Nicole nibbled the crispy bacon, and the salty goodness melted on her tongue.

“I want to know what really happened yesterday. Emmet said it wasn’t an accident.”

Hearing his name put a flutter in Nicole’s stomach. She grabbed another piece of bacon and maneuvered over to the counter, where a mug of coffee sat waiting for her.

“I honestly don’t know,” Nicole said. “Some psycho tried to barrel into me.” The memory of that big silver grille flashed through her brain, and a chill went down her spine.

She glanced at Kate, and her sister was watching her with a worried frown.

“Don’t worry, though. We’ll figure it out.”

Kate’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“What else do you want me to say?”

“How can you be so calm? You were almost killed yesterday!”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“You’re severely injured!”

“That’s because I leaped over a car hood and then tripped over my own feet getting up.”

“Nicole! You could have been hit.”

“It wasn’t really that big a thing.”

“That’s not what Emmet said.”

Again, his name made her stomach flutter. She remembered his face during the drive home from the hospital. He’d looked like a thundercloud.

“What all did he tell you?” Nicole asked.

“That someone intentionally tried to run you down. He seemed very concerned about it.”

Nicole nodded. “Well, we’re investigating. We’ll figure out what happened,” she said, hoping to project more confidence than she felt. She wasn’t up for a debate with her sister right now, not when every inch of her body ached. “I’ll update you when we know more. But can you please not freak out about this? I don’t want all this getting back to Mom and Dad and having to deal with Mom’s hysterics.”

Kate sighed. When it came to their mom, Nicole and Kate had each other’s backs. Renee Lawson was constantly worrying about her daughters’ safety. With Nicole’s job, it was understandable. But Kate was a real estate agent, and even she was constantly getting pelted with news articles about people who had been attacked in vacant houses by perverts pretending to be home buyers. Only their brother, Kevin, was spared her constant fretting.

“Okay, fine,” Kate said. “But don’t hide shit from me, all right?”

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