Quiet in Her Bones by Singh, Nalini (mobi reader .txt) 📕

“Nina would put you to bed, then come over and sit with me, and we’d watch movies or talk until I got tired enough to sleep. If Ishaan wasn’t home, I’d go over to her place, because she’d never have left you alone when you were little. She was the best friend I’ve ever had.”

In an effort to redeem myself for my earlier thoughts, I said, “You were never tempted to use your medical degree?” If I was remembering right, she’d married Calvin right out of med school and never actually practiced medicine.

“It’s considered ­old-­fashioned now, but all I ever wanted to do was build a family. Family is very important to Calvin, ­too—­you know he lost them all when he was barely fourteen?”

“I didn’t realize he was so young.” It made his current achievements all the more extraordinary.

“It’s why he’s so protective of us. Beau and Mia chafe at his rules sometimes, but I get it. I wish I could’ve protected Sarah the same way, but she already had such enormous pain inside her by the time I was able to take over her ­care—­she had so much faith in me, and I let her down.”

“Can I ask what happened with you two? You don’t have to tell me.”

She didn’t speak for long minutes, and eventually, we reached the entry to the Cul-­de-­Sac, the gates closed for the night. As we turned to head back, she said, “I’d rather not, Aarav.” Another squeeze of my arm. “It’s a thing between sisters and I don’t want to break that trust.”

Loyalty like that couldn’t be bought. “I get it.”

We walked in warm silence to her home, with Charlie shuffling forward in a way that said he was ready for another nap. Then Diana gave me a kiss on the cheek and turned to walk up the drive, past the rosebushes gone dormant for the winter. Bushes Sarah had ripped apart in a fury the night she left.

I couldn’t imagine what Diana might’ve possibly done that would’ve justified such a savage depth of anger, but with their childhood, I had no way to predict the trigger. Maybe Diana had hit Sarah?

I’d just reached our private drive when I heard the gates begin to open. Glancing back, I saw a white van roll in, its headlights off. It maneuvered itself so it backed onto Leonid and Anastasia’s property.

I walked as fast as possible to get upstairs to my room, where I’d have a far better view, but half expected the van to be long gone by the time I arrived. But it was still there, its back door open.

Putting my binoculars to my eyes, I watched.

Two big men walked out of the house, a smaller woman between them. I couldn’t see many details, but the woman didn’t have long enough hair to be Anastasia. Had to be the nanny, Khristina. She jerked to a stop, looked ­back … but the two men bundled her into the van, one getting in with her while the other went around the front to the driver’s-­side door.

I scanned left toward the house, saw Leonid holding a struggling Anastasia in his arms.

The van pulled away.

When I jerked back to the porch, Leonid and Anastasia were both gone.

I lowered the binoculars as the van exited the Cul-­de-­Sac, then picked up my phone. I had to call the ­police … but what had I truly seen? A white van. Shadows?

My head began to pound again, metal in my mouth.

No, I couldn’t sleep without doing anything. I used an online calling app to make an anonymous call to the police. My vision was blurring by the time I hung up, my skull feeling as if it was being crushed between two slabs of metal.

I barely made it to bed. My hand shook so badly as I opened the pill container that I scattered half of them on the table and the floor.

My last conscious thought was that migraine after ­migraine … it was bad. There was a serious problem with my brain.

57

I woke at 11 a.m., having lain down in bed to ride out the migraine, then blacked out.

When I called Dr. Binchy, he said he could fit me in within the next few hours. “I was planning to contact you in any case,” he said ominously. “Come in at ­three—­I’ll make sure we’re set up for a scan.”

My head was clear again, and I decided to keep it that way, ignoring all the meds I’d been given and eating a giant omelet with a side of toast.

No more fucking Coke.

After I’d eaten, showered, and cleared emails from my agent and editor, it was time to leave. Since Mia had sent through her aunt’s email address, I also shot Sarah a message. I hesitated for a second before getting into my car, but I didn’t think I was in danger of passing out ­mid-­drive. I always knew when a migraine was coming on.

Getting in, I started up the engine.

Trixi and Lexi walked up to my window just as I pulled out of our drive. “Aarav, darling!”

I wound down the window. “Doctor’s appointment. Can’t be late.”

“Oh, of course. Hope your leg’s doing better,” the elder of the two said, her top a screaming orange today, and her eyes vivid with excitement. “Did you hear the commotion last night?”

“Out like a light.”

Trixi lowered her voice. “Police were over at those new people’s house. Isaac saw the car, but he said it went away pretty fast, so it can’t have been that bad.” She sounded disappointed at this last bit.

“You mean Anastasia and Leonid?” I had the weirdest feeling I was forgetting something, but I couldn’t imagine what.

“Uh-­huh.” Trixi nodded. “And what about Cora! Margaret says she was trying to get on a plane to Canada but the instant they scanned her passport, it set off an alarm in the airport computers! Police must’ve put her on a no-­fly list or something.”

No wonder the women were hotfooting it around. So