Bed of Lies

Bed of Lies

The McRae's Series

Book Three

by

Teresa Hill

USA Today Bestselling Author

Published by ePublishing Works!

www.epublishingworks.com

ISBN: 978-1-61417-263-5

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Copyright © 2003, 2012 by Teresa Hill. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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Thank You

To Gail Virardi and Vicki Hinze,

Two of the wisest, kindest,

most generous women I am blessed to know.

I would not have made it through 2001

without you both.

Prologue

Racing downstairs and through the family room, twelve-year-old Zach McRae almost missed her, a quiet little girl curled up in a ball in the corner. She was all dark eyes and hair, knobby knees and skinny arms, and every now and then tiny smiles that somehow still seemed somber.

"Julie? You're still here?"

She nodded, looking a bit guilty and maybe afraid.

"It's late. Where's Grace?" His little sister seemed to be best friends with Julie since she moved into a house down the street. They were always here, chattering and playing together.

"She hadda go to bed," Julie whispered.

"Yeah, she would be in bed at this time of night. Why aren't you home? I bet your parents are wondering where you are."

She shook her head back and forth, seeming to think they wouldn't be.

"Hang on a second. I'll be right back," he told her.

In the kitchen, putting dishes away, his mother said she had no idea Julie was still here. Zach promised to walk her home on his way to his friend's house.

Back in the family room, she was still sitting there in her corner on the floor, looking uneasy. He wondered if she ever truly smiled and what had made her such a serious child.

"Come on," he said. "I'll walk you home. I'm headed that way."

Wordlessly, she got up and followed him through the house and to the back door.

"Did you wear a coat? It's kind of cold now." He grabbed a worn hoodie hanging on a hook by the back door.

Standing there in a thin, short-sleeved top and jeans, she shook her head. "No."

"Here. Take this until we get to your house." He slipped his hoodie over her head and waited while she pushed her thin arms through the too-long sleeves. His sister was eight, happy as could be, a beautiful, blonde angel, people often said, pampered and indulged and yet somehow never spoiled by it all. He wondered how the two girls could be such good friends when they seemed so different.

"Come on." He opened the back door and followed her out into the night.

It was truly dark now, the evening already full of night sounds—an owl, a dog barking in the neighbor's yard. Julie edged closer to him at the noise and slipped a small, cold hand shyly into his.