Time After Time
Page 26
The sound of sirens filled the air and dragged me back to reality.
‘Abbie,’ Marcus said, his voice warm and low in my ear.
‘What do we tell the police?’ I stammered, not looking at Lilly, not looking at the shattered glass, the blood pooling at our feet, or the empty spot where Rem had stood. Only looking at Marcus and seeing only him.
‘The truth,’ he said, offering a small smile. ‘Well, some of it.’
‘Rem?’
He paused. When he replied, his voice was tight. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think he’ll be back.’
His words weren’t a question, but I answered him anyhow. ‘No. He won’t be back.’
‘Abbie.’ Marcus paused. The sirens were getting closer. ‘Tonight, when I saw Rem in here, with you…’
‘Yes?’
‘I remembered what happened before,’ he explained. ‘At Broadhurst. I remember Anne telling me about you two. I remember seeing you together and accusing him…’
I blinked at him, the image of Heath Lockwood’s tombstone flashing before my eyes. ‘Yes?’ I urged.
‘He got angry,’ he whispered, and I knew what he was telling me. His brother had killed him. Killed him, then killed Penelope, over something he had never understood.
I nodded. He didn’t need to say anything more.
‘C’mon,’ he whispered, linking his fingers through mine.
I glanced at the carnage in the library, which had been captured by the security camera in the corner. My eyes fell on the closed book.
‘Wait,’ I cried, and scurried back to the desk, scooping it up.
I needed to keep it. It was the one death that I didn’t remember, but the one that had somehow saved me this time.
‘What’s this?’ he asked, raising an eyebrow as he noted the title. Love Stories.
‘There’s a story in here you might like to read. About Penelope and Heath.’
He blinked at me. ‘Yes. I think I would.’
He draped an arm around my shoulders, and I snuggled beneath it, feeling somewhat lighter, despite everything I’d been through that day.
Outside, a cavalcade of police and ambulance drivers were assembling, and I steeled myself. We had a lot of explaining to do. But I felt safer than I had done in a long time.
Rem wouldn’t hurt me anymore. He wouldn’t hurt me again.
As I walked into the night with Marcus, a gentle rain began to fall. It’d been months since it had rained, and now it fell in a soft patter, as if it would wash the earth. Baptise and make pure everything that was wrong.
I felt as if I was leaving behind everything I’d done and everyone I used to be. Lifting my face towards the heavens, I opened my mouth, feeling the cool air on my skin, catching the rain on my tongue.
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ISBN: 9780857991485
Title: Time After Time
Copyright © 2014 by Wendy Godding
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Wendy Godding, Time After Time