In Her Eyes by Sarah Alderson (ebook reader for pc and android TXT) 📕

‘Were those his exact words?’ Nate asks.

‘I . . . I think so. I don’t remember. It was all so fast. He told her to lead the way.’

‘So the shorter one took Robert and June to the study? To open the safe?’

I nod.

‘And you were left in the kitchen alone with the other gunman?’

‘Yes.’

‘How long were they gone for?’

‘I don’t know. It felt like forever but maybe a couple of minutes? Then I saw the short one with June, pushing her towards the stairs.’

‘Why were they going upstairs, do you know?’

I can’t suck enough air into my lungs and my vision starts misting.

‘Where was Robert at this time?’

I shake my head. ‘I don’t know. I didn’t see him. His study?’

I look at Nate hoping he can tell me where Robert was. Until now I’ve not given it any thought. Nate holds my gaze for a moment.

‘He was beaten, knocked out.’

Poor Robert. That at least explains the bruises on his face.

‘What did you do next, Ava?’ Nate presses.

‘I grabbed a knife – a carving knife – from the block and . . . the man had his back to me and I . . .’

Nate looks up at that. ‘Did you stab him?’

‘I think so.’

‘Where?’

‘Here,’ I place my hand on my shoulder to show where I sliced him.

Nate nods and makes a note.

‘We fought. And I grabbed hold of the cutting board on the side. It’s wooden. And I hit him with it.’

Nate looks up through his lashes at me and there’s a trace of a smirk on his lips. ‘That must have hurt.’

‘I thought maybe I’d killed him.’

There’s a part of me that feels relief that I didn’t kill him but there’s another part of me – a bigger part of me – that feels disappointed.

‘Ava?’

I look up, startled. Nate’s watching me carefully and it strikes me again how surreal it is that he’s here but at the same time how glad I am, even after everything. ‘What happened next?’ he asks.

‘I took the gun, his gun, and I went upstairs.’

‘Into June’s bedroom?’

I nod.

‘And then what happened?’ I hear Nate ask.

The room turns to static and the hammering in my head gets louder and louder. Everything turns black at the edges, my vision shimmers.

‘Ava?’

‘I . . .’

‘Did you fire the gun?’ Nate asks.

‘It was so fast. He shot June. And then . . . and then I don’t know what happened . . . maybe the man from the kitchen came up behind me and hit me.’ The static roars to life in my ears, obliterating everything. ‘I don’t remember anything after that.’ As if on cue the pain in my head ratchets up three notches and I hunch over, squeezing my eyes shut. The tears leak out.

‘It’s OK.’ Nate is on his feet, standing beside me, and I’m suddenly sobbing against him, and he’s holding me, his arm around my shoulders. ‘It’s OK,’ he whispers, one hand stroking the back of my neck. The tears won’t stop and Nate’s other arm wraps around me, strong and reassuring and protective. He’s soothing me, saying my name, and I cling to him like he’s a life raft. I’m so glad it’s him here, even though I know I shouldn’t be.

‘Excuse me, Sir?’

Nate steps backwards, away from the bed, and I glance towards the door as I wipe my eyes. There’s a police officer standing there. He glances my way and gives me an apologetic smile. I swipe my hand over my face, feeling hot with embarrassment.

‘Sorry to interrupt but I just had a call from ballistics.’

Nate nods. ‘I’ve got to go,’ he tells me. ‘But thanks for this.’ He waves his notebook at me.

I nod at him.

‘I’ll come back later. In the meantime, get some rest.’

I watch him head to the door. ‘Nate,’ I call just as he’s about to disappear.

He turns.

‘What if they come back?’ I ask.

Chapter 10

June looks so tiny lying in her hospital bed that I’m immediately thrown back to the days when we lived on the cancer ward with her. The rage inside me swells as I sit by her side in my wheelchair and hold her hand, feeling as impotent as I did back then, and just as angry – maybe angrier because I have a focus for my anger this time, I’m not just raging at a bunch of out-of-control cells.

‘June,’ I whisper over the slow, steady beeping of the machines keeping her alive. ‘It’s Mom.’ I fall silent. I don’t know what else to say. What is there to say? Can she even hear me?

They said that the first twenty-four hours are critical and it’s been almost twenty and so far there’s no change.

Please God, I say as I stroke June’s hair. It must be the thousandth time I’ve thought the words in the last hour. She beat the odds before. She’ll beat them again. I have to believe that. But looking at her lying there, lifeless and pale as a corpse, her chest rising and falling shallowly as a machine forces air into her lungs, I can’t help but feel like the game is already up, that every breath is a countdown.

I turn and catch a glimpse of the police officer standing guard outside our door. When Nate came back an hour ago to finish our interview, I asked him again about the men returning to finish the job. He reassured me that we had nothing to worry about, but that he’d also arranged a police guard – two seemingly contradictory statements that I didn’t call him on because I was afraid to. He must think there’s a risk and that terrifies me.

The door suddenly flies open.

‘Mom!’

Hannah bursts into the room. She’s wearing jeans and an oversized sweater and carrying a small backpack over her shoulder. I wince as she hugs me and she pulls back, face aghast, at the sight of my IV and bandaged head.

‘I’m OK,’ I tell her, reaching up to stroke her face. ‘I’m OK.’

She turns to June and her face pales. ‘When will she wake up?’ Hannah asks, staring down at her sister.

‘Soon,’ I hear