Page 1 of Dirty Looks

PROLOGUE

She loved games.

The girl put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. Hide-and-seek was her favorite, but she had to be quiet if she wanted to win. She peeked through the crack in the secret door, watching her grandmother to make sure she was really asleep.

She gnawed at her lip, wondering if she should check on Grandma. She hadn’t been feeling well and she’d said she just needed a little rest, but the girl knew Grandma had caught the stomach bug because her face had turned a horrible shade of green when Molly had brought up dinner.

The girl pushed the door open a crack, thinking she could tuck Grandma under the covers a little better and maybe get a sweatshirt and her house slippers. Her pajamas were thin and the passageways were chilly. Even as she had the thought a violent shiver racked her body.

The decision made, she started to step out of the passageway and back into the bedroom when she heard footsteps from the hallway. She hurriedly closed the secret door and ran down the narrow steps.

She didn’t know how many were playing the game, but the grown-ups liked to play as much as she and her siblings andcousins. It was one of the best things about coming to Grandma’s house. Everybody liked to play. It was most fun when they were all there together. But this time, it was just her.

There was another noise, what sounded like a door closing, and she squeezed her body into a crevice, wiping her damp hands on her pajama pants. And then when she thought enough time had passed, she ran as fast as she could down another flight of stairs and to the secret door that led to Grandpa’s office. She wasn’t supposed to be in there, but Grandpa wasn’t home so probably no one would notice if she used the doors that led out onto the patio where he liked to smoke.

Grandma didn’t like it when he smoked, and he thought no one could see him on the private patio. But she could see him just fine from her bedroom. Sometimes she could even hear him talking on his phone and saying lots of bad words when she opened the windows.

She stifled another giggle as she crept into the dark office, her feet sinking into the thick rug as she made her way behind the desk and toward the door. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to go outside, but the rain had stopped and she was just going to run back around to the front of the house and slip in the kitchen door. Besides, there was still daylight left, and if she was the last one found then she’d win the game. And then maybe Molly would give her something besides soup. Like a chocolate chip cookie. She made the best cookies. Even better than her mom’s.

The girl grasped the black metal handle of the door and opened the door, freezing when the hinges creaked loudly. She could barely breathe as she waited, her ears straining for someone to come in and catch her. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, and she looked down at her bare feet, wishing she’d put on her shoes.

But there was no time for such regrets. She gathered her courage and pushed the door open the rest of the way, andstarted running. She was outside and halfway around the house, just about to breathe a sigh of relief, when arms came around her and tossed her into the air. She squealed with laughter.

“Oh, man,” she said, looking up into the face of her captor. Disappointment filled her. “How’d you find me? I was so quiet.”

“You’re predictable. You always take the same route. You’ve got to mix it up a little. And I won’t tell your grandfather you were in his office again.”

She blew out a sigh, already thinking about where she would hide the next time. Maybe she’d climb out a window and go down to the stables. They’d never find her there.

“You won’t find me next time,” she said.

“That’s what you always say. Come on. Let’s go see your horse while it’s still daylight.”

“Oh, can I?” she asked, jumping up and down. “I’ve been wanting to go see her, but Grandma said I was too sick. But I’m better now. Pinky promise. And I’ve been so bored. I’ve read all my books, and I practiced my golf swing, and I didn’t throw up my dinner.”

There was a chuckle. “Come on. We’ll go down in the car. Last thing we need is you catching a cold.”

“I should put on my riding clothes,” she said, looking down at her pajamas. She was starting to shiver with the sun going down, and it looked like it might start to rain again.

“No riding tonight. If Molly catches you out of your room she’ll have your neck. Maybe you can ride in the morning if the weather is nice.”

The girl kicked at the ground and watched water droplets scatter across the grass, knowing there was no point in arguing. Molly would tell her she was too sick to be out and about, and that she’d catch her death being out in the damp. Molly liked to fuss.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go before it gets too dark. It’s been ages since I’ve seen Megan Thee Stallion.”

“It hasn’t been ages. And I can’t believe your grandmother let you name one of her horses that.”

“That’s what Daddy said,” she said. “He said Grandma keeps her head buried in the sand to the ways of the world now that she’s retired. He said she doesn’t have near enough to do and it’s making her crazy. But Grandma said the horse was mine and I could name her what I wanted to. Megan doesn’t have the hind legs to be a contender, but she’s just right for me.”

There was another chuckle as she hopped into the back seat of the black Land Rover and didn’t bother buckling her seat belt. It smelled of polished leather and sandalwood and she bounced slightly on the seat. She was excited. She’d been cooped up in the house way too long.

She hummed to herself as they drove through the tree tunnel, and she pretended, just as she had when she was a very little girl, that it was the secret entrance to a magical place of fairytales and dragons and knights on white horses. Grandma’s house was always like coming to a magical place.

Lost in her song, she didn’t notice when they didn’t take the turn toward the stables. They passed the garages and through a thicker covering of trees.

“Where are we going?” she asked. “You missed the turn for the stables.”

“I just need make a quick errand. It won’t take long.”

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