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"See anything interesting?"

Joanna jumped Scott stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hands hidden in his sweatshirt pouch His eyes glowed, as if she’d turned a flashlight on some wild animal in the woods

Joanna pressed her hand to her breastbone She could feel her heart through her thin sweater "H-How did you get here?"

Scott gestured with his thuet to the h the door of his suite, walk all of four steps, and enter the house through the mud room, which led to the kitchen Instead, Scott had walked the whole way around the outside of the house to this door, the front door He had to know that Joanna and Sylvie and Charles were convened in the kitchen The s the thick walls

So he’d avoided them Of course he didn’t want to see them Was it because he didn’t want to answer their questions about the incident? Although that was laughable; they wouldn’t ask him questions No one ever asked Scott questions Sylvie would flutter about, shove a piece of bread at Scott, and hover over him obsequiously until he ate it Joanna wouldher hands with the bread knife or the catalogs And Charles would sit silent, seething Scott wouldn’t have to face anything Everyone always tiptoed around hi

Scott raised his chin, gazing at her unflinchingly Perhaps he kneas going through her ure out She dared to peek back He looked the same as he always did--disheveled and self-assured, lazily handso like the other Bates-McAllisters, with their wide eyes and thin lips and ears that stuck out slightly While Charles and Sylvie’s skin were pale, Scott’s was more of an olive tone, easily tanned and never blotchy His facial features a curious, intriguing s the family never talked about--that Scott wasn’t white It both was and wasn’t an issue for theh it didn’t matter, yet Joanna wondered if, subconsciously, it affected their every reaction

Scott didn’t seem any different in the wake of the boy’s death Certainly not weighted down or guilty about anything If he was hiding so, the shame would be written all over his face, wouldn’t it?

Joanna lowered her eyes, realizing she’d been staring at hi her head and teetering, idiotically, toward the kitchen

"Leaving because of , wolflike teeth

"Um, no No!" Joanna sputtered Her face felt hot She scra reason to be back in the kitchen but ca

Scott stepped forward until he was just inches fro up his h that Joanna could sht kiss her She could see the V-shaped fibers in his sweatshirt and that the drawstring for his hood was tipped with silvery metal He breathed in and out She barely breathed at all She felt so sbird-frail

"Boo," Scott whispered

"Ha!" Joanna exclai a little

Scott quickly receded In seconds, he was at the front door Once his back was to her, he held a dised shut Joanna listened to his footsteps walking down the flagstone path A car door slammed, the tires screeched The heat kicked on, and an unsavory h the vents She reernails up and down her bare arms There was a wet prickle of sweat on the back of her neck Her skin felt flushed

Boo

When Joanna returned to the kitchen, she expected Charles and Sylvie to look up, instantly aware that soether close, whispering

"But, Mo "The call Don’t you think--"

"There’s nothing to talk about," Sylvie interrupted

Joanna took a step back and slid behind the wall They hadn’t seen her

"Still You should call a lawyer Just in case" Charles hissed

Joanna widened her eyes So he did think a lawyer idea was a good idea

There was the sound of rustling papers "What would be the point of that?" Sylvie asked