I glanced at Judd, wondering if these were his relatives, or if they belonged to someone else in this house.
Theyre killers. An Asian girl about my age stepped around the corner. She moved like a catand smiled like shed just eaten a canary.
The people in the pictures, she clarified. Theyre serial killers. She twirled her shiny black ponytail around her index finger, clearly enjoying my discomfort. Its the programs cheery way of reminding Dean why hes here.
Dean? Who was Dean?
Personally, I think its a little macabre, but then again, Im not a profiler. The girl flicked her ponytail. You are, though. Arent you?
She took a step forward, and my eyes were drawn to her footwear: black leather boots with heels high enough to make my feet shudder in spasms of sympathy. She was wearing skintight black pants and a high-necked sleeveless sweater, electric blue to match the streaks in her black hair.
As I took in her clothing, the girl closed the space between us until she was standing so close to me that I thought she might reach out and start twirling my hair instead of her own.
Lia, Judd said, absolutely unfazed, this is Cassie. If youre finished trying to scare her, Im betting shed really like to set that bag down.
Lia shrugged. Mi casa es su casa . Your room is
through there.
Your room , I thought. Not our room .
Cassies really broken up about not rooming with you, Lia, Michael said, interpreting my facial expression with a wink. Lia pivoted to face him, and her lips twisted upward in a slow, sizzling grin.
Miss me? she asked.
Like a thorn in my paw, Michael replied.
Coming up the stairs behind us, Agent Briggs cleared his throat. Lia, he said. Nice to see you.
Lia gave him a look. Now, Agent Briggs, she replied, thats simply not true.
Agent Locke rolled her eyes. Lias specialty is deception, she told me. She has an uncanny knack for being able to tell when people are lying. And, Agent Locke added, meeting Lias eyes, shes a very good liar.
Lia didnt seem to take offense at the agents words. Im also bilingual, she said. And very, very flexible.
The second very was aimed directly at Michael.
So, I said, my duffel bag digging into my shoulder as I tried to process the fact that Lia was a Natural liar, the pictures on the wall arent serial killers?
That question was answered with silence. Silence from Michael. Silence from Judd. Silence from Agent Locke, who looked a bit abashed.
Agent Briggs cleared his throat. No, he said finally. Thats true.
My eyes were drawn to the portrait of the elderly couple.
Smiling serial killers, five-inch heels, and a girl with a gift for lying? This was going to be interesting.
CHAPTER 8
Twin beds sat at opposite ends of the room. A bay window overlooked the backyard. Tentatively, I opened what I assumed to be the closet door. The closet was exactly half full: half of each rack, half of the floor space, half of the shelves. My roommate favored patterns to solids, bright colors to pastels, and had a healthy amount of black and white in her wardrobe, but no gray.
All of her shoes were flats.
Dial it back a notch, Cassie, I told myself. Id have months to analyze my roommates personality without creepily stalking her half of the closet. Quickly and efficiently, I emptied my own bag. Id lived in Colorado for five years, but before that, the longest Id ever lived in one place was four months. My mother was always off to the next show, the next town, the next mark, and I was an expert unpacker.
There was still space on my side of the closet when I was done.
Knock-knock. Lias voice was high and clear. She didnt wait for permission before coming into the room, and I realized with a start that shed changed clothes.
The boots had been replaced with ballet flats, and shed traded the tight black pants for a lacy, flowing skirt. Her hair was pulled back at the nape of her neck, and even her eyes looked softer.
It was like shed given herself a makeoveror switched personalities altogether.
First Michael, now Lia . I wondered if hed picked up the trick of changing clothing styles from her, or if shed gotten it from him. Given that Lia was the one who specialized in deception, my money was on the former.
Are you finished unpacking yet? she asked.
Im still working on some stuff, I said, busying myself with the dresser.
No. Youre not.
Id never considered myself a liar until that moment, when Lias ability took the option away.
Look, those serial killer pictures give new meaning to the word creepy . Lia leaned back against the doorjamb. I was here for six weeks before someone told me that Grandma and Gramps were actually Faye and Ray Copeland, who were convicted of killing five people and made a cozy little quilt out of their clothes. Trust me, its better that you know now.
Thanks, I said dryly.
Anyway, Lia said, dragging out the word, Judd gives crappy tours. Hes a surprisingly decent cook, and hes got eyes in the back of his head, but hes not exactly what one would call chatty , and unless were about to burn the place down, hes pretty hands-off. I thought you might want a real tour. Or that you might have some questions.