The Lost Sister. Megan Kelley Hall
they didn’t know what they were walking into. We were pretty jacked by this time, because nothing really happens around here. Well, at least not in a long time.”
Maddie inhaled sharply, painfully, knowing that he was referring to Cordelia and the night at Ravenswood, the night that ended in her aunt’s attempted suicide and the revelation that Cordelia and Maddie were tied together by a bond deeper than either of them ever could have imagined—they shared a father.
“Once we got into your house and looked around, well…it was a total disaster. The furniture all tipped over, books were everywhere, smashed glass, and that smell…like something burning. So Sully called out to your mom. And there’s just nothin’. No sounds, no one, nothin’.
“We started picking our way through the mess when Sully stopped short ’cause he heard this hollow tapping sound. It was coming from the basement. So, we go down to the basement, and man, that is one creepy place. Dirt floors, stone walls, it’s like a dungeon. Then the tapping just filled the room. It was everywhere, all around us, freakin’ us out.
“So, finally, we head back upstairs, and there’s your mother at the top of the staircase, actin’ like she was half drugged, her hair all crazy and wild. The first thing she asks is, ‘Is it gone?’
“Sully asks her, ‘Who did this to you, Abigail?’ She just stared at us. Man, I’ve never seen anyone stare like that before—like she just saw the devil himself….” His voice trailed off and he shifted his gaze over her shoulder for a moment.
He visibly shuddered and then continued. “So we went back into the living room and started picking up the furniture and putting everything back in place. Then your mom walks downstairs like nothin’s happened. Sully wanted to take her down to the station for questioning, but she wouldn’t have it. She just looked at us for a long time. Said it wouldn’t be necessary.”
“So they never filed a report? They never found out who did this to her? Trevor, who the hell broke into my house?”
“Dunno. They got nothing,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Your mom just said she had a bad reaction to the medication she was taking and it caused her to go all crazy and destructive. So we just left it at that. But…”
“But what? How could they believe that? There’s no way that Abigail could have caused all that damage by herself. There has to be more to it, Trevor.” Maddie was getting more and more frustrated—she was squeezing the handlebar of the grocery cart so hard that her knuckles were white.
“That’s just it. She couldn’t have done it herself. And no one was sure if she wasn’t just covering up for someone. Like maybe you or your dad…?”
“Well, I was up at school and as far as I know, my father hasn’t set foot out of Maine in over a decade, and my aunt…well, obviously, you know she’s been hospitalized since Cordelia…” Maddie let her voice trail off, noticing the way his eyes bored into her at the mention of Rebecca and Cordelia.
“Sully contacted your dad—his alibi checked out,” he said, rocking back and forth on his feet, hands in his pockets. “Then he even went to Fairview to talk to your aunt. Total waste of time, that was. She hasn’t talked to anyone since, well, for a long time.”
“So it’s just another unsolved case, then,” Maddie said angrily.
“Yup,” Trevor said, smiling in that pampered prep school way. “Pretty much how it is with your family, isn’t it? Trouble just follows you around.”
Maddie gave him a dirty look.
“That’s okay, Maddie,” he said, his voice turning husky. “I like girls who stir up some trouble.”
“Then I guess you and Kate are still perfect for each other.” Maddie wasn’t going to let him off the hook. “Or are you with Darcy now? Have you made up your mind yet, Trevor?”
A wave of disgust washed over Maddie as she was pulled out of his story and saw how he was leering at her. She remembered when he attacked her in Potter’s Grove. His fleeting interest in Cordelia made Kate so crazy with jealousy that she took the hazing ritual out on Misery Island too far, leading to Cordelia’s disappearance. And all of it was because Kate thought that Trevor was into Cordelia. All of their lives irrevocably altered because of one spoiled, bitchy girl’s insecurities and one repulsively violent boy who had an overwhelming sense of entitlement. It was all coming back and she suddenly wanted to be nowhere near Trevor Campbell.
“I can always make space for one more in my harem,” he said huskily through a stiff jaw. She almost felt violated as he looked her up and down from under his half-lidded eyes. “Especially a boarding school girl. Do they make you wear those cute little outfits?”
“You disgust me, Trevor,” she stated.
“Hasn’t stopped other girls—didn’t stop Cordelia,” he said smugly when he noticed her bristle. “You don’t know what you’re missing. Or are you still pining away for my big brother? Too bad he’s found someone else to play house with.”
“If you mention Cordelia’s name again, I’ll march down to the police station myself and have you arrested for rape, you smug bastard.”
“Hey, my boys down at the station know that you can’t call it rape when you have a willing participant.” He then lowered his voice and added, “Besides, who are they gonna believe? A runaway girl with a mom locked up in the loony bin, or one of their own?”
Maddie steeled herself against his taunts. She hated how he was acting, like being harbor patrol gave him the same rights and privileges as a regular town cop. It was obvious that he felt superior to the lowly police force, but at the same time he probably thought it made him look cool to hang out, smoke cigars, and play poker with the police—like they were his boys. He acted like he could get away with anything in this town. Even rape…or murder….
Maddie shoved past him, forcing him to spill hot coffee on his hands.
“Ow, Crane, watch it!” he called after her. She heard him mutter about some “crazy bitches in this town.”
She’d deal with Trevor and the police station later, Maddie thought. She had her own interrogation to conduct as soon as she got home.
Abigail brushed her off when confronted with the information from Trevor. “It was nothing,” Abigail fumed. “A bad reaction to my medication. Made me all jumpy and crazy.” She shook her head emphatically. “Stupid doctors and their ridiculous pills. That’s why they call it a practice, you know, because they haven’t gotten it right yet.”
Maddie tried to reason with her that there was no way she could have done the damage Trevor described. Cancer patients usually have less energy, not enough to destroy a house.
Again, she shrugged it off. “You know how those boys are down at the station. Always blowing things out of proportion. You’ve read the police log in town, haven’t you? A squirrel crosses the street and you’d think the town was under attack by wild animals. Nonsense. Utter nonsense. Besides, why would you believe a word from that good-for-nothing Campbell boy? If you recall, his older brother was the one they think was involved with Cordelia before she disappeared.” Abigail put an exaggerated emphasis on that last word to remind Maddie of her feelings on the subject.
Abigail continued to mutter to herself as she stormed out of the room. “Just because those Campbells have all that money from that oil company doesn’t make them any better than the trash they are.”
Maddie heard her stomp up the stairs and the bedroom door slam. And she knew then that the discussion was permanently over.
Consumed by anger and frustration, Maddie left the Victorian to walk down the street to the beach. This was where she and Cordelia used to sneak off to when they went for midnight swims. The wintry night air felt good on her skin and helped to cool her down.
For some reason, the streets of Hawthorne had never scared Maddie until Cordelia’s disappearance. Nights