Don't Breathe: A Gripping Serial Killer Thriller (Darkwater Cove Psychological Thriller Book 6) by Dan Padavona

Author:Dan Padavona [Padavona, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Thursday, September 17th

6:50 p.m.

Red pools on the horizon as Ali Haynes glances through the picture box window. The kitchen smells of Thanksgiving, though she’s roasting a chicken instead of turkey. Opening the oven, she carries the candied yams to the counter and sets it to cool. Next she removes the stuffing. The scents bring her back to holidays with her family. Her throat tightens. All this food, and no one to share it with. One silver lining—she won’t need to cook dinner this weekend.

She sets the chicken on the counter and carves two juicy slices. Through the window, dusk drapes over the trees as the leaves rustle with whispered secrets. As she stands on tiptoe and removes a plate from the cupboard, her phone rings. It’s Tina Marquez’s mother. With a sigh, she sets the food aside and falls into the chair

.“Somebody stole Tina’s clothes after gym today.”

“Did the teacher catch who did it?”

Ali sees no point in asking. She already knows Beth Moreno and her friends stole the clothes, and Ms. Wetzel coaches the cheerleader team and won’t discipline her girls.

“Tina had to borrow clothes from the lost and found. A boy’s clothes, Ms. Haynes. I’ve never seen her so embarrassed. She hasn’t come out of her room since she stepped off the bus.”

Ali shuffles to the counter and sets the chicken carvings on her plate, the phone clamped between her ear and shoulder.

“I’ll speak with Tina tomorrow. She still plans to meet with me, right?”

“I’ll make sure she’s there. But what are you going to do about the bullying?”

Ali wants to tell Mrs. Marquez the incident didn’t happen in her room, and she can’t watch Tina’s back outside of biology class. The truth is, she should be able to stop Beth Moreno from attacking Tina again. If only she could convince the principal and guidance counselor to listen. They don’t respect Ali because she’s inexperienced.

“You can’t micromanage these kids,” Principal Diaz likes to say. “If you don’t trust them to work through their issues now, they won’t handle life when they reach college.”

“I’ll meet with Principal Diaz tomorrow during my free period.”

“Please help us. If the attacks continue, I won’t send Tina to school anymore.”

Ali ends the conversation with a promise to do right by Mrs. Marquez’s daughter. The weight of the world presses on her shoulders, and she can’t carry it on her own.

By the time she scoops the yams and stuffing, she can’t find her appetite. Groaning, she stabs a fork into the yams and chews. She might as well eat cardboard. Her taste vanished with her hopeful mood. Halfway through the meal, a banging sound against the house pulls her eyes to the window. Just a branch smacking the siding, she tells herself. She forgot to trim the limb for brush pickup. The banging sound starts again, and this time she drops the fork and pads to the window.

The world bathes in deep, hushed blue. In fifteen minutes, it will be too dark to see the yard.

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