Cross Her Heart: A Novel by Sarah Pinborough

Author:Sarah Pinborough [Pinborough, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: 2018-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

38

Marilyn

Now

Why did I say yes? Why? I’m only doing this for Ava, to get her back to safety. I’m full of anxiety for her, and exhaustion for me. I really don’t need this shit. I breathe more condensation onto the window glass. It’s one of those gray muggy days when rain has fallen but not enough, and damp hangs listless in the air soaking everything it touches. Even inside the car, my skin itches with invisible bugs.

Trees blur outside. At least the police hadn’t gone to my house, but called my mobile after going to the office. From the look on Detective Bray’s face when we’d met at the hotel, Penny must have told her something of what was going on with Richard. I’ve never thought of Penny as a gossip, but then there’s something about the police turning up that makes most people blurt out everything they know or don’t know. Not only had she told them about my personal situation, it’s clear she’d also mentioned the missing money. “She thinks Charlotte took it,” Bray says, as we head to our undisclosed location to meet. “Do you?” she asks.

I shrug, staring out at the countryside. “What would I know? I thought her name was Lisa. I thought she couldn’t harm a fly.”

She doesn’t speak again until we finally turn down a narrow country lane and the car bumps over the uneven surface, my teeth clenching as each pothole makes my damaged ribs scream. “She’s here already,” she says. “I must remind you that should you tell anyone at all about this meeting you could be hindering a police investigation and charged as such.”

I snort out a half laugh. Like I’d tell anyone. Who would I tell? I don’t have anyone to tell. My self-pity is bitter as bile. I loathe self-pity. I don’t see the fucking point in it. “I’m here for Ava,” I say. “That’s all.” Bray nods, satisfied. We’re all here for Ava.

“Try to keep Charlotte on topic,” she says. “She’s . . . well. You’ll see. Keep her talking about Jon.” She twists around in her seat as the car slows to a halt, and I see a fierce intelligence in her eyes. Not a donkey at all. “There must be something she knows that can help us. Somewhere he might have taken Ava. Somewhere they’d been before. A place important to him somehow. We’re going through the house again to see if there’s anything there to help, but it may come down to what we can get out of her. What you can get out of her.”

“Why won’t she talk to you?” I ask, carefully unfolding my damaged body from the unmarked car. We’re outside a country cottage that should be pretty but instead looks bleak. The small front garden behind the low wall has been tarmacked and even from a distance I can see that the paint is chipped on the cracked-sash windowsills, big strips of rotting wood now bare of color. Even on a sunny day it would be depressing—under the thick gray sky it’s virtually suicidal.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.