Page 25 of Misdirection

Dead.

A sob escaped before she could stop it.

Another thought hit her with the force of a swinging baseball bat.

Her sisters. Where were they? Were they okay?

Olive scrambled to her feet and rushed up the stairs.

With every step, she prayed furiously. Jessie and Jules had to be okay.

Maybe the killer had used a silencer on his gun.

Her sisters probably hadn’t heard a thing and had slept through it.

After all, why would anyone want to hurt those sweet little girls? The twins were only eleven, a strange mix of little girl andsoon-to-be teenager. Jessie and Jules were all pink nail polish, Sour Patch Kids, and cheesy tween movies.

As Olive reached the top step, she froze.

Thoughts hit her like bullets.

What if the killer was still inside the house? What if he was waiting for Olive to return so he could finish her off also?

And why hadn’t she thought about that earlier?

Panic raced through her.

She pulled herself together. It didn’t matter. Even if she was in danger, shehadto check on her sisters. They might need her!

She forced her feet to move, and she darted to her sisters’ room.

She prayed she’d see them sleeping soundly in their twin beds.

Even if her mom and dad were dead, Olive could take care of the girls. She wouldn’t let them go into foster care. She’d do whatever it took to keep them all together.

But as soon as she opened the door and a sickly but familiar odor hit her, she knew the truth.

It was the same scent she’d smelled in her parents’ room.

Blood.

“No . . . !” The word escaped as a cry.

Olive sank to her knees as sobs wracked her body.

How would she ever go on without her family?

She couldn’t.

Then she sucked in a breath and froze.

She couldn’t cry like this. Not now.

Instead, something inside her shifted. Something she couldn’t explain.

A calm certainty washed over her.

No longer did she fear a killer being in the house.

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