The Bracelet by Roberta Gately

Author:Roberta Gately
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

Chapter 17

Once in the car, Abby could only sigh.

“Jesus,” Nick said, “sorry you had to hear that. Truth is, aside from the murder, it wasn’t so far off what I expected to hear.”

Abby shook her head sadly. “It was pure misery though, wasn’t it? Just listening was misery. I can’t even imagine how these girls lived through this. Jesus, when I was thirteen, I’d just begun to notice boys. At seventeen, I was applying to college.”

“Big difference for girls living in these hellholes, huh? Fighting for their lives.”

Even Hurricane Katrina, Abby remembered, hadn’t affected her the way it had so many others. Although her hospital had closed, and New Orleans had been devastated, her little town just outside New Orleans had remained unscathed by the storm, and she’d only had to kiss her parents good-bye before heading north to Boston. Life was damned unfair.

Abby exhaled, and her thoughts wandered to the woman in Geneva. Fragments of the vivid images floated before her eyes—the scream, the struggle, the body flying through the air, the sparkling bracelet. Could that woman have been tormented and then finally jumped as Mariyah did? Abby closed her eyes and saw the stark image clearly. She couldn’t let go of that nagging feeling that she’d witnessed more than an accident. Abby felt a hand on her arm, and she looked up to see Nick, his brows furrowed, his eyes on her.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Abby said, turning her gaze to the window.

“Club?” Turning his attention from the road, he focused his gaze on Abby. “Tough day, huh?”

“For Anyu and the others, probably, but for me it was just exhausting listening to their stories. I know it sounds selfish, but I feel drained, as though I need to sleep. It’s hard to stay so focused when people are sharing such suffering.” Abby pushed her hair back from her forehead and wiped away the beads of sweat that had gathered there.

“Come on.” Nick guided the car into a parking spot. “Let’s drink. We’ll both feel better.”

Abby smiled. “I’ll stick with Diet Coke, thanks.”

Once upstairs, and installed at their now familiar table in the farthest corner, Nick headed to the bar, where he ordered their food and his scotch. He carried the drinks back and sat heavily, a sigh escaping his lips. “What’s up? You look, well, morose, that’s how you look. You want to talk?” he asked between sips.

Abby pursed her lips and hesitated, but only for an instant. She knew she had to talk to someone, and who else was there? “I do, Nick. I do want to talk, and, as selfish as it sounds, not just about Anyu and Bina and Mariyah. I want to tell you about Geneva.” She saw the look of cynicism in his eyes, and she held up her hand. “Just listen. It’s not entirely a nightmare. If you hear it all and think I’m crazy, so be it, but for now just listen.”

Nick settled back in his chair, and Abby launched into the details of the event in Geneva.

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