Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, Book 1) (30 page)

“Have Eric and Luke been in yet?”
 
Angelle asked, as the big iron gate clanked
open.

Joe’s smile widened.
 
“Mr. Carter came in about twenty minutes
ago,” he chuckled.
 
“He was looking
unusually green today.”

“Green?” Angelle questioned, as she raised
a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

“Oh you’ll see.
 
Trust me, it’s hard to miss,” he replied,
shaking his head and laughing.
 
“You
ladies have a nice day.”

“Thanks, Joe.
 
You, too.”
 
Angelle rolled up her window and thrust the car forward through the
gate, climbing up the hilly street.
 
Trees lined either side, immaculately groomed, and Amelia could just
barely see the tops of the houses past them.
 
Obviously, people here really liked their privacy.

As soon as they were clear of the gate,
Amelia said, “Sorry if I sound really stupid but…” she paused and took a deep,
calming breath, “What do you mean it’s your job to know?
 
Aren’t you a student?”

“Don’t be silly.
 
You don’t sound stupid at all.
 
That’s actually a very good question.
 
None of us are in school.
 
We all work for Mr. Lang managing different
parts of his businesses.
 
I manage the
Dreams Come True Scholarship that you won.
 
Out of all the applications, you definitely deserve this more than
anyone I have ever seen.
 
I just can’t
even begin to imagine what it must have been like for you after your parents
passed away, and to be there when it happened, to see them murdered.” Angelle
made a sad
tsk
sound and then a long
sigh.

Tiny beads of sweat popped up on Amelia’s
forehead and a sudden flash of her parents ripped through her mind.
 
Her mouth opened, and then closed, not sure
of what to say.
 
So many thoughts swirled
through her brain.
 
No one was supposed to know.
 
She
didn’t want the sad looks and the comfort any more.
 
All she wanted was to move on.
 
Amelia swallowed hard, trying to loosen the
orange-sized lump that was lodged in her throat.
 
She wiped at her sweaty forehead, turned to
Angelle, and said in a small voice, “You know about my parents and the foster
homes?”

“I know everything, honey,” Angelle replied
warily, glancing over quickly, eyes red and glassy with unshed tears.
 
She reached over, giving Amelia’s knee a
little reassuring pat.

Amelia leaned against the cool window,
exhausted and unhappy and tried to get her head together.
 
It was all happening.
 
Everything she had wanted to hide from.
 
Everything she had wanted to leave
behind.
 
Was she ever going to be able to
move on?
 
A thick, tense silence fell
over the car, giving an ominous feeling, as if a storm was brewing, rolling in
and surrounding her with darkened clouds.

“But things are going to change for you
now,” Angelle continued, breaking the silence and sending Amelia a dazzling
smile.
 
“We’re so excited to have you
staying with us.
 
You really are
something special.
 
How in the world did
you manage to get such good grades and stay so focused?”

Amelia didn’t want to talk.
 
She just wanted to sit there, silent and
miserable.
 
But she also didn’t want to
be rude.
 
She knew that would just make
it all a whole lot worse, so she took a couple of deep breaths and said, “I
guess I just really love to learn.
 
Well,
that and running.
 
They’re
sorta
my… escape.”
 
She looked at Angelle for a prolonged second, and then asked hesitantly,
“Um, how many people live at the house?”

“There’s Eric and Luke.
 
You’ll meet them today.
 
They handle all the businesses Mr. Lang owns
here in town.
 
There’s also Lola and
sometimes Mr. Lang.
 
They both should be
back in a few weeks.
 
I’m sure you’ll
just love them.
 
You’re going to fit in
wonderfully.
 
I just know it.”

“Wait a minute,” Amelia said, a panicked
knot wrenching tighter in her stomach.
 
“You guys all live with your boss and he’s moving me into his own
house?
 
That’s crazy.
 
Why would he do that?”

“Hmmm.
 
I guess that does sound a bit strange.”
 
Angelle paused, bringing a pink polished fingernail to her lips and then
gave Amelia a thoughtful glance before turning her eyes back to the road.
 
“I never really thought about it before.
 
The five of us grew up together here in
Willowberg
so when we started working together it just made
sense to all be in the same place and since it’s where it all started we made
it the base of operations.
 
But really,
he isn’t around that much anymore.
 
He
stops by every few months for a quick visit and then he’s off again.
 
For you though, it’s all part of the Dreams
Come True experience.
 
You’ll understand
when you see the place.”
 
Angelle turned
off the street onto a hidden driveway lined on both sides by weeping willows
swaying gently in the breeze.
 
“We’re
here!” she announced.

When they passed through the trees Amelia’s
jaw actually dropped.
 
The house was not
so much a house as a mansion, but it reminded her more of a castle from one of
those childhood fairy tales her mom used to read her.
 
It was all arches, turrets, and balconies,
with a brown tiled roof and gray stone walls.
 
And it exuded a magical elegance.

Amelia blinked a few times, licked her lips
and swallowed the nerves that were jumping around like grasshoppers.
 
“You can’t be serious,” she blurted out,
awe-struck.

“Pretty amazing, right?” Angelle chirped with
a sparkle in her eyes.
 
She maneuvered
the big SUV around the west side of the house and into a motor court with large
carports on both sides and parked in between a green Corvette and a mud-caked
Jeep.

“That’s the understatement of the year,”
Amelia mumbled under her breath.

Angelle turned off the car and hopped
out.
 
When Amelia didn’t move, she peeked
her head back in.
 
“Are you coming in or
did you just want to stay in the garage?”

Still gaping, Amelia struggled to unbuckle
her seat belt, which took a few tries and when it finally clicked open, she
snagged her backpack and got out.

Amelia’s legs felt like rubber as she
walked back out to the motor court where Angelle was waiting, looking like a
glossy magazine photo in her low-riding jeans and white empire-cut long-sleeved
top.
 
She looked completely in her
element standing in the expansive court.

“What do you…?” Angelle started, but was
cut off abruptly by the sound of a shrill scream coming from the house.
 
There was a clattering of pots and pans
crashing onto the floor.

Angelle stiffened, and her light bubbly
smile vanished.
 
She whirled around
quickly and gracefully, which Amelia would have thought was impossible in her
six inch stiletto heels, and she moved in front of Amelia, taking on a
protective stance, as if blocking her from some unseen danger that was about to
drop.

The shrill screaming continued,
relentlessly, like a banshee, and it cut through Amelia like a knife, chilling
her to the bone.
 
There was another voice,
a man’s voice, hollering from inside the house.
 
Amelia couldn’t make out what he was saying, but the tone definitely
wasn’t good.
 
Then another clatter
pierced the air, like glass breaking into a million sharp-edged shards.