Free A Silent Terror by Lynette Eason Page A

some.”
    Marianna sighed. Perhaps if she kept her cool, one day Misty would reveal why she disliked Marianna so much. “Sure, Misty, how many do you need?”
    “Four or live should be line.”
    Handing them over, she tried to see beyond the anger – and saw nothing but the raw emotion directed solely at her. She shivered. Why did the woman display such malice toward her?
    Misty snatched them and left without a word of thanks.
    Shaking her head, Marianna welcomed the rest of her class as they filed in. Her assistant hurried through the door and tossed her lunch bag on her desk. “Sorry I’m late – my car wouldn’t start this morning, so I had to catch the bus.”
    “No problem, I’m just glad you made it.” She placed a hand on the woman’s arm, glanced around to see that the students’ attention was on the news and asked, “Dawn, do you know why Misty is so hateful to me?”
    Dawn’s eyes went wide, then her lips thinned. “No, but I’ve noticed her attitude toward you.”
    “She seemed friendly enough initially, after she first started working here a couple of months ago, but something definitely happened to put her off of me, that’s for sure.”
    “I don’t know, but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for you.”
    “Maybe I should just ask her.”
    Dawn shrugged. “I guess you could. Or maybe it’s just a phase and she’s having a couple of bad weeks. Who knows?”
    “Maybe.”
    And then there was no more time to worry about the situation. Soon, Marianna found herself caught up in the business of teaching and the endless stack of paperwork that went with it.
    Before she knew it, the day had passed and the final bell had rung.
    Basketball practice wasn’t until after supper, so Marianna stayed late working on papers. Around five o’clock, she pulled a frozen dinner from her dorm-sized refrigerator and walked toward the teacher’s lounge to zap it in the microwave.
    As she stepped from her well-lit classroom into the dark hall, she noticed how empty the building was.
    Empty and spooky.
    She didn’t need her imagination to fill in what could happen to a lone female in a deserted building. She paused, trying to decide whether to keep going or turn around, grab her purse and get out.
    Which was silly, because she’d done this routine of staying late ever since basketball season started. Only now, with Suzanne’s death and the break-in…
    Adrenaline kicked in as she relived the terror of seeing Suzanne lying lifeless on the floor, of being alone in her house, grief stricken and weary, then terrorized once again when the intruder climbed through her bedroom window.
    Returning to the scene of the crime.
    Fear seized her, cramped her stomach as a terrifying idea flashed through her mind.
    What if Suzanne was not only in the wrong place at the wrong time, but also was the wrong person?
    What if the killer originally thought Suzanne was Marianna, learned of his mistake, and Friday night was his idea of trying to finish the job?
     
    Ethan sat at his desk, flipping through the case files, his mind about as alert as mush. He couldn’t keep his thoughts focused as he worried about Marianna. For some reason he couldn’t convince himself that this last break-in was unrelated to Suzanne’s murder.
    He glanced at the clock. Almost five thirty. Catelyn had left forty-five minutes ago to meet up with Marianna’s sister Alissa.
    Marianna had basketball practice with her team at six, but no doubt she would head over to the gym early to make sure everything was ready. Tapping his pen against his chin, he thought. Should he go over just to check on her? What if something happened to her while he sat here worrying about her?
    She’s a big girl, O’Hara – she doesn’t need you checking up on her.
    But his mind kept playing the “what if’ game. What if there was something behind her and she didn’t hear it? What if someone tried to warn her of the danger coming and…
    Stop it!
    Although…what would it