Unbroken by A.J. Matthews

Author:A.J. Matthews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

3

“We have to talk.”

It was late afternoon. Although the shades were drawn, narrow bars of slanting golden sunlight cast thin shadows across the floor. A faint yellow haze filled the air like thick dust. Vases of flowers and get well cards from friends, and a stuffed bear from Trista were lined up on the windowsill. An eerie silence filled the room, and Kiera, who had been dozing off and on all day, pinched the back of her hand to make sure she was awake and had actually heard the voice.

“I know we do,” a voice said.

She’d been expecting to hear Nate and was startled to realize it was Jon’s voice again. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the corner of the room where a dark shape was slouched in the chair. After a second or two, she realized she was the one who had said they had to talk. She moaned as she dragged herself closer to consciousness.

“Have you been here all day?”

“No,” Jon said. “Just the last half hour or so. I had to go to the morgue and identify Liz.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “Then I met with Mark Steensland at the funeral home to start making arrangements.”

The chair creaked as Jon shifted his weight forward and clasped his hands in front of him between his knees. He looked bigger now. Kiera thought it was because of the darkening room . . . or maybe it was her nervousness because of what she knew she had to tell him.

“We have to talk,” she said again. “There’s something I need to tell you.

“And what would that be?” Jon sounded absolutely drained. It must have been a terrible day for him as well as her. Kiera hoped he’d had a chance to doze while she was sleeping.

“You know,” Kiera said. “It’s about Billy.” She licked her lips to moisten them before continuing. “I don’t know why, but I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened back then, and I need to talk about it if only to get it off my mind.”

The room was so silent that Kiera thought for a moment that she might have imagined Jon there. She blinked her eyes, trying to make him out in the gathering gloom. The hazy yellow light gave his skin a sickly cast. Even his clothes looked like they were covered by a fine, yellow dust.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Jon finally said, sounding tired. He shifted and started to stand up but then sank back into the chair and sighed. “We did what we did. It’s done. We can’t go back and redo it.”

“I know we can’t, but—” Kiera said as shivers coursed up and down her spine. “I . . .” She took a shuddering breath and held it, fighting back the panic that was rising inside her. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

Jon frowned at her, a half smile playing across his lips as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. When Kiera didn’t say anything more, he tipped his head back and, looking at the ceiling, stroked his chin.

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.