Page 39 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

“What’s going on?” Edward’s voice interrupted. He yawned sleepily, messing his hair with his hand as he surveyed us from his bedroom door.

Georgia and I froze before sharing a look. “Nothing.”

Maybe he was still half asleep, because Edward blinked, shook his head, and turned back to his room, muttering, “you two are weird.”

“You’re going to have to tell him,” Georgia said.

“Probably,” I admitted, “but for now we need to control the situation.”

“Where’s Belle?” Georgia looked around as if it was only occurring to her now that my wife was absent.

“Taking a shower.” I clenched my jaw, feeling a surge of rage that this was happening.

“Why is she taking a shower?” Georgia asked slowly.

“Because she woke up with blood on her hands,” I confessed to her in a low voice.

Georgia thought for a moment. “I better clean this up.”

It seemed best friends also didn’t ask too many questions.

I went into my study, my hands full with Penny and the items I had collected from her room. Placing the computer and notebook on my desk, I sank into the chair with Penny and opened the notebook. The first page was dated last fall. I scanned it, realizing it was a journal. There was nothing inside it but the empty thoughts of a young woman. I flipped forward, looking for when she came to live with us. I paused when I spotted the word interview and read the entry.

The Prices seem like a perfect couple. I think I made a good impression. I hope they hire me. I wouldn’t mind looking at the husband every day. Not that I stand a chance with him. His wife is so beautiful.

She had been interested in me since the beginning. I thought about Belle’s halfhearted objection to hiring a pretty nanny, and my chest tightened. We never should have invited her into her home. We never should have come here in the first place. I continued on. Most of it was mindless rambling, but around Christmas her entries took a turn.

I’m seriously worried about Belle. I don’t think her postpartum depression is normal. Then again, what would I know? Smith is being so understanding. I hope she gets better soon.

I turned the page and read the next entry.

Belle went to the doctor. It’s about time. No one trusts her with the baby anymore. She can’t even remember the baby bag. I thought she was beautiful, but she’s actually mean. I’m always worried she’s going to yell at me. I’m so glad I’m here to protect Penny from her outbursts.

I polished and considered what she wrote. Belle was having a rough time when Nora came to stay with us, but I’ve never seen her say or do anything mean to the nanny.

I flipped forward, looking for what she had written about Christmas. She made a few entries about time with her family, but I wasn’t interested in what she did while she was away from Thornham. I wanted to know what she had written about her return: the day we found Belle on the pond.

Belle is mental, and no one can see it. She’s going to hurt someone. I’m honestly scared of her. I’m so glad that Smith won’t let her be alone with the baby anymore. Today we found her walking on a barely frozen pond behind the house. Everyone thinks she was sleepwalking, but it’s obvious that she’s lost it. I hope the next time someone doesn’t get killed.

I wanted to close the journal then, but I needed to see what she’d written about last night. However, when I thumbed through the pages, there was no entry. Only a missing page, where one had been ripped out. I pushed the notebook away and stared at it. The journal painted a different picture of what had been happening at Thornham. Was this how Nora saw things? Or was she blinded by her developing feelings for me?

I reached for her laptop and opened it. It came on and I was surprised to find a picture of Penny as her screensaver. Thankfully, it wasn’t password-protected. I clicked on the icon for her email account and it opened to reveal her last few emails. There was one to the agency we’d used to find her. I opened it and read its contents, my stomach churning. Nora was smarter than I thought. She emailed them last night, explaining that I’d tried to take advantage of her and that Belle had asked me to leave. I continued on to the next emails. Most of them were junk, but there were a number of emails to a M. Welter. A perusal of them suggested she was writing to her mother. There were a few responses, urging her to be cautious when it came to me and warning her that married women could be jealous. It was hardly Grade A parenting. I closed the laptop lid and considered everything I’d found. It didn’t look good.

I didn’t believe Belle had done this. I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t in her. But without proof of her innocence, all we had was evidence of her guilt. Belle wasn’t capable of murder. But something had happened to Nora. Someone had done something to her. Someone who knew that there were problems at Thornham.

“What did you find?” Belle interrupted me with a soft voice. Her hair was wet from the shower, and she slipped into a pair of loose jeans and a T-shirt. I beckoned her over, and she came to me, taking a seat on my lap and placing a hand on Penny’s back. The baby squawked and squirmed toward her. Belle took her, cuddling her close before turning sad, blue eyes on me.

“She definitely didn’t think much of us,” I said in a strangled voice. I made up my mind not to let her read any of the entries. It would only feed Belle’s concern that she was a bad mother. “I know you didn’t do anything to hurt her. But someone had to have.”

“Mrs. Winters saw me last night,” Belle admitted, adding, “When I confronted Nora.”

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“I didn’t think it mattered. But it’s not like Mrs. Winters would hurt her. Remember how upset she was by the allergic reaction? If she wanted to kill Nora, she could slip more nuts into her food,” Belle pointed out.

“She has a point,” Georgia interjected. “Still, I wouldn’t rule anyone out. Except maybe Edward.”

“He definitely didn’t have anything to do with it,” Belle said quickly.