Deceitful (Rules of Deception 1)

I shut the window with the e-mail, logged out, and closed the laptop. I’d read her update in detail later. For now, I needed to gather information.

Maybe Madison had kept a diary. That could give me hints about her reasons for breaking up with Ryan and tell me if she’d noticed anything strange. Pushing the chair away from the desk, I opened the only drawer. Rummaging through it uncovered nothing but two old pocket calendars, some blank writing pads, and a few faded movie tickets. Madison had been very tidy—unless Ronald and Linda had cleaned before I came home. Besides the vase of roses, the laptop and a stack of school books were the only items on the desk.

Where would I keep a diary if I had one? I got down on my hands and knees and peeked under the bed, but apart from a forgotten sock and something that looked like a toy mouse for Fluffy, there was nothing. I doubted Fluffy would come back to retrieve his toy. From the looks of him, he might never set foot in this room again.

Sitting on my haunches, I looked around the rest of the room, trying to suppress my growing feelings of guilt. Madison was dead and here I was, completely invading her privacy.

A few shoe boxes were piled up inside the open closet. I crawled over to them and opened the one on top. I was greeted with more photos of Madison with friends, particularly Ana. One of them showed Madison with the other cheerleaders, and I recognized one of them as Kristen Cynch, the killer’s second victim. Had she and Madison been friends?

I set the box on the ground and opened the next one, which was filled with old picture books. I brushed my fingers over the cover of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The pages were crinkled with use. Linda and Ronald must have read it often to Madison when she was a child. I hesitated for a moment before I finally put it away.

I went through every single box, nook, and crevice but nothing gave me a hint about why Madison had broken up with Ryan, or about her relationship to any of the other victims. I felt slightly defeated, but what did I expect?

That evening I had my very first family meal. Dinner with Linda, Ronald, and Devon was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Everyone waited for the others to finish eating, shared the details of their days, laughed at each other’s jokes. I couldn’t believe I got to be a part of it.

Ronald was a vet and I didn’t even have to pretend to be interested in his stories from work, which were truly hilarious. He took a gulp of his root beer. “Today a cat peed all over me.” Linda paused with her fork against her lips, eyebrows raised. A piece of chicken got stuck in my throat and I had to wash it down with water. “What happened?”

“A monster of a Persian cat, that’s what happened. Hercules.” He snorted into his glass. “He isn’t one of my usual patients. His owner rented a vacation bungalow in Manlow.” He took another swallow of his root beer and relaxed into his chair. “Anyway, the cat’s fur was matted because he doesn’t like to be brushed, and unfortunately he had a serious case of diarrhea. And with all that fur?” Ronald chuckled. I put down my fork, trying not to giggle. I’d probably end up choking on the chicken.

“Shitty work, I guess,” Devon said, with mock seriousness. He pushed another spoonful of casserole into his mouth. I wondered how he managed to chew with that big grin on his face.

“You got it. So Sarah was holding the cat like she always does and everything was going fine until I started the clipper to get rid of the fur. Hercules didn’t like the sound, not one bit, and went berserk. Got his shit all over myself just trying to restrain him.” Another bite of chicken casserole disappeared into Devon’s mouth. Linda pushed her plate away; her eyes were narrowed but the corners of her lips trembled in an effort to hide a smile.

“And then he started peeing everywhere! You’d think the cat consisted of nothing but urine judging by how much he got all over me.”

I coughed between giggles.

“You couldn’t wait with that story until we were done eating?” Linda asked with a shake of her head, but she was clearly amused.

Ronald took her hand on the table top. “Sorry. Next time.”

Linda sighed as if she’d heard those words before. She stood and began gathering up the plates from the dinner table. I rose to help her, but she shook her head. “Today’s my turn.”

Devon slumped in his chair, his arms crossed over his stomach. Even with half of the chicken casserole inside him, his abs still formed tight ripples beneath his shirt. I looked away. I doubted Madison ever checked out her twin like that.