Hey, you’re up, Daniel said behind me.I turned to see him in the kitchen doorway, a box of cereal in his hand.No milk, but they do have Froot Loops. I know you love Froot Loops.Thanks. I took a step t...
He lunged again. This time I stood my ground and he checked his leap at the last second....and toppled sideways. I didn't hide my laugh that time. His face twisted fast, grabbed my pajama leg and wren...
He bent, lips coming to mine and —'Derek? Chloe?' It was Kit, opening the back door. Derek let out a low growl.'Never fails.' I turned to Kit. 'How is she?''We’re going to take her back to the house n...
Go on, then, Daniel said. But don’t expect me to come to your rescue if you do something stupid again.Rafe stopped, crouching. Stupid? What the hell did I--?Standing up to a bear? Yeah, kinda stupid.
Everything comes so easy for you, doesn’t it, Maya? School, boys, friends, sports. Even your precious animals. You can’t just take care of them like any normal person. You have to be some kind of anim...
Everyone's life is interesting, if it's different from your own.
Drinks and snacks on me, apparently. Chow down, guys.I’m a little more interested in finding a phone, I said. And figuring out if that open front door means someone’s here.Nah, Corey said. They were s...
Do you know what that word meant? The one she called me?She shook her head. No idea. I don’t even know if it’s Navajo. She may have lived with them, but she’s white. The language is nearly impossible...
Daniel and I kept running. We could see the ridge now. Safety. Just get--Something whizzed past me.Dan--! I whirled, shouting a warning, only to see him stagger backward, a dart embedded in his should...
Damned hellhole, he muttered. Oh, sure, there’ll be cell service. Right. The only thing this island has is mosquitoes.Our mosquitoes weren’t bad at all--I only had a bite or two after a day in the woo...
Dad! he shouted, loud enough to make my ears ring. Dad! You need to get down here! (Derek)Chloe held open the door and whispered to me, I could say he's not always like this, but I'd be lying.
Corey kept saying, Are you sure? tentatively, as if he didn’t want to insult our intelligence, but he couldn’t help thinking there had to be a logical explanation. Hayley just stared at me.When I fina...
Corey grabbed a Coke.Hey! Hayley said.If they aren’t here to man the shop…Daniel reached into Corey’s back pocket. He plucked out his wallet, took out a still-damp twenty and put it on the counter. Co...
Conversation turned to the swimming team and an upcoming meet, and Rafe’s gaze returned to the forest, like he was looking for an escape route.I eased over, close enough to murmur, Go on.Hmm? obviousl...
Come on. I’ll drive you.He started toward the lot.I jogged up beside him. You don’t have to do that. Go eat your lunch.I’ve got some energy bars in the glove box.I jostled him. What, you don’t trust m...
Chloe? It's me. After a pause, he added, Derek, like I could mistake that deep rumble for anyone else, like I could mistake that little part of me that perked up like an eager puppy saying, It's him....
But what had really happened tonight? With the cougar, it was obviously adrenaline with a chaser of shock, and maybe a little post-traumatic stress thrown in for good measure.
Between Ricky’s charm and persuasion and Gabriel’s lock picking and sleight of hand, if I took enough lessons, I could become a first-rate private eye. Or a master criminal.
At the office, I found an X in marker on the floor beside the trash can. I moved it and found another note. Another dotted line, this one leading outside to another X. That one ended just inside the f...
At school, our classroom had a small rodent zoo consisting of two rabbits, three hamsters, a litter of baby gerbils and a guinea pig. At first, I’d thought the teacher was raising snack food, which im...