Sister in Trouble by S.A. McEwen

Author:S.A. McEwen [McEwen, S.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

25

Before

March 2006 (one week before Celia disappeared)

Bethany hesitates at the threshold of Albert and Celia’s house, then steps out into the night.

She’s thinking quickly, trying to get everything in order before Celia gets home.

She’d already texted Celia to tell her that everyone had drunk too much and dinner was a shambles, that she’d put Adele to bed in the spare room. And she’d been about to go home herself, she’d said good night to Albert, made excuses about rescheduling when Adele felt better. But then she’d lingered in the kitchen, trying to work out a way to salvage her plan. And, feeling guilty, she’d gone to check on Adele just one more time.

It can’t have been more than five or ten minutes later. Did Albert think she had left? Apparently so, because she heard grunts and moans coming from the bed. Hesitating at the door, she was torn between outrage and self-preservation.

She’d stood there for a moment, watching through a crack in the door.

It was too late, she reasoned. Albert was already having sex with Adele. What could she do? She could go in and cause a fuss, but what could she say? She couldn’t accuse Albert of having sex with a drugged woman without outing herself. So what did a few more minutes matter? She could take advantage of Albert’s post-coital stupor to get the information she came for. So it wasn’t all in vain.

Later, she finds it hard to forgive herself for this.

She could certainly have walked in there and accused Albert of raping a barely conscious woman, who couldn’t consent.

The thought haunts her. Not just because she didn’t help her sister. But because it showed something to her about herself that she really, really didn’t want to see.

Self-interested.

Selfish.

She’d known this about herself, of course. She just never imagined how far she could push that envelope. That she could be selfish to the point of letting people that she cared about be harmed. She’d always told herself that she didn’t hurt people. That she knew where to draw the line.

That evening, she learnt that that was not true.

She’d stepped away from the door, listening, all her senses zinging. She heard Albert breathing deeply, then snoring. She reasoned she had a few minutes. At least three or four. Surely, on some level, he’d know something wasn’t right and wake up, not just sleep beside his sister-in-law the entire night?

Stepping as lightly as she could, she opened Albert’s study door. The filing cabinet was locked, but the key was in the lock, and the files were arranged in perfect alphabetical order.

Her heart thumping so loudly she thinks she won’t even hear if Albert gets up, she starts flipping through the labels.

Bank accounts.

Birth certificates.

Cat (Bethany stopped momentarily. Celia and Albert didn’t have a cat).

House stuff.

ID.

Bingo. Bethany eased the documents out of the plastic sleeve. Oh, joy and hallelujah! There were certified copies of all of them. Who was so organised? Bethany wondered. It couldn’t possibly be Celia. But she silently thanked

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.