Crossroads Read Online Free Page A

worst of times, but not nearly as good as her mother could, and not all that good right now.
    "You okay in there?"
    The sheriff’s voice rattled around the little restroom, shaking Kira out of her daze.
    "Yeah. Just a minute."
    She went ahead and used the toilet, not sure when she’d get to another, then nodded at Jen who opened the door. The cop let out a sigh of relief, leading them quickly back into his office, where he took the chair across from her again.
    "Honey, I know this is hard, but you need to tell us why anyone would want to hurt your parents or anyone else in your show."
    Kira shook her head.
    "Then just tell me more about what you saw and heard last night."
    "I didn’t really see anything."
    "How did you get away?"
    "My mother said to run into the swamp."
    The sheriff nodded. "She knew bad people were coming?"
    Kira nodded.
    "The screams," she said, fighting a tight feeling in her chest, trying to hold the memories at bay. But the screams echoed inside her head, and the knowledge that somewhere among those shrieks some of them must have come from her mother and father...
    "You heard a lot of screaming?"
    Why did he have to keep talking about it? He wasn’t going to be able to fix anything. He was a cop not a magician. Stupid towner.
    Kira nodded, staring at the floor.
    "What exactly did your mother tell you?"
    "She said to run and hide," said Kira.
    "Why didn’t your mother go with you?"
    Kira shook her head. "She tried to save my dad, and maybe some of the others."
    The sheriff looked off across the room, and Kira could see that his eyes were damp now. When he turned back to Kira, she nodded again in understanding. Whatever had happened to her mother, and father, and Fat Alice, and all the others, it had been even worse than she could imagine.
    "The screams stopped pretty fast," she said, hoping that he could affirm that.
    "I don’t think they suffered long, sweetheart."
    A knock on the door caused both of them to start. The sheriff grimaced as he rose slowly and opened it. A bulky, dark-haired woman in a knee-length, blue skirt and matching jacket stood there frowning, and the sheriff frowned back. The woman smiled when she spotted Kira, but Kira was reluctant to return it.
    "Been giving her the old bright lights and rubber hose?" the woman asked the sheriff.
    The sheriff sighed. "Doing my job, Roseanne."
    The woman nodded, and her dark eyes gleamed. "You can do your job after I make sure this little girl," she glanced at a clipboard, "Kira, isn’t permanently traumatized by you and your cops. My department has gotten hammered enough for kids slipping through the cracks."
    "And my department gets hammered all the time for people slipping through the cracks , and then other people get killed. Or haven’t you noticed what’s been going on around this county?"
    The woman’s frown spread, but she nodded. "I notice what’s going on around the world, but my job is just to take care of the little bit of it under my jurisdiction."
    "Me, too," muttered the sheriff, sadly.
    "I’ve signed all the forms," said Roseanne. "You can make an appointment with my office."
    The sheriff nodded. "You’ll have to go with Roseanne, Honey. We’ll talk later. Okay?"
    As Kira passed by him, she held out her hand, and he shook it.
    "You’re okay," she said. "For a towner."
    His smile turned into the smirk she’d seen on the faces of other cops, but it was soft and not malicious. "You’re not half bad yourself. For a carney."
    She stiffened as Roseanne placed a guiding hand on her shoulder.  
    "You won’t catch anyone," Kira told the sheriff.
    "Yes, I will."
    She bit her lip, wondering if she told him more, if she could somehow get him to believe, but she didn’t think so, and right now her priorities had to be her and Jen.
    "Don’t go back out there after dark. Okay?"
    After a moment, he nodded, and Roseanne ushered her and Jen through the doors and into the blinding sunshine.
     
     
     

 
     
     
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