Crossroads Read Online Free

heard them."
    "What did they say?"
    "They didn't say anything. They sounded like big bugs grinding their wings."
    "Bugs," muttered the cop, and Kira could tell by the look on his face that he didn’t believe her. Maybe it would be better from now on to just not mention the sounds.
    "I’m sorry," he said, frowning again. "Look. I’m Sheriff Coates. I know that you’re Kira Graves. Right?"
    She nodded.
    "We’re trying to find out who did this terrible thing, Kira. I want to catch them and punish them. You understand?"         
    "Yes."
    "Anything you can tell me will help."
    The deputy stuck his head in the door and passed the sheriff a greasy bag and a can of Coke. The sheriff handed both to Kira.
    "Sheriff," said the deputy. "Could I see you for a moment?"
    The sheriff stepped outside while Kira dug into the bag that was half-filled with pastry donuts. She wolfed one down before opening the soda and passing it to Jen who gulped-and burped-with gusto but saved some for Kira. The two of them finished the donuts, and the cop had still not returned, so Kira eased the door open just enough to listen.
    "Since her parents are both dead," said the deputy, quietly, "Human Services wants to take her now. They’re sending over one of their case workers."
    "We need her to tell us what happened!"
    "I know, sheriff, but she’s a minor. They want to make sure she wasn’t traumatized first."
    "Traumatized! The kid is a basket case. She thinks bugs killed her parents, but she’s the only lead we have. If she can give us some clues maybe we can nail these guys."
    "Then you’d better get them soon. The case worker will be here in ten minutes."
    Case workers, cops. Whatever happened she and Jen were going to be locked away with people they didn’t know and didn’t care about for a long time. Maybe years. Kira closed the door.
    Maybe she’d get a good towner family that wouldn’t be too stupid, but the government people would almost certainly separate her and Jen, and she couldn’t allow that to happen. Now that her mom and dad were gone, Jen was all she had, just as she was all Jen had.
    "We have to get out of here," she said.
    Jen nodded.
    When the sheriff stepped back into the room, Kira danced on one foot, biting her lower lip.
    "I need to use the bathroom."          
    "Right now?"
    Kira nodded, and the sheriff sighed, leading them through the desks outside and around the corner.
    He tapped on a door marked Women , peeked inside, then stepped back out. Kira closed the door behind them and quietly slid the latch into place. The room had one window with more frosted glass. Kira couldn’t reach the lock, but Jen released it and raised the window. Unfortunately there were heavy steel bars outside.
    "Can you loosen them?" asked Kira.
    Jen shrugged, gripping two of the black rods and grunting mightily. The bolts looked as though they were about rusted out, and Kira could hear them grinding against the stone, but when Jen finally shook her head and shrugged, Kira knew they weren’t escaping so easily. She sat on the toilet, trying to reason another way out.
    "What do we do now?" she asked.                          
    Jen was staring into the mirror.
    Kira slipped over beside her, fear tightening her chest.
    "Don’t do that," she whispered, fighting the urge for her eyes to follow Jen’s.
    Finally Jen looked down at her.
    "You scared me," said Kira.
    Jen turned back to the mirror and pointed.
    "Look closer," she said.
    Kira frowned, refusing to be sucked back now that she had broken the spell.
    "At what?"
    Jen nodded toward the mirror. "Answers."
    "Jen," said Kira, making a face, "we don’t have time for this. You need to help me think of a way out."
    Suddenly all the grief and horror and exhaustion of the past hours crushed down on her fourteen-year-old shoulders. Jen rested her hands there, and Kira drew a little strength from them. Jen could do that, make her feel better even at the