AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I went upstairs to check on Lena. I peeked in through the glass. She was still sound asleep and looked like an angel as she lay there with Rosie sleeping under her arm and Rufus down at the other end, on top of her feet. I hated to disturb her, so I turned to leave when I heard her call my name.
“Jackson?”
I used my key and opened the door. “Yeah. Hey, I ah … wanted to know if you wanted something to eat, but I thought you were still sleeping. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Yeah, I saw you peeking in. Thanks, but I’m not very hungry right now.” She reached behind her and pulled out the plastic bag that once held ice, now just a bag of water.
“Hey, let me get you some more ice. It’s good that you’ve been applying it so often. It looks like it’s helping a lot. Your eye isn’t nearly as bad as it was a couple of days ago.” I picked up the baggie and stopped. “Do you think I could borrow that hammer you have stashed under your pillow?”
She smiled. “Sure.”
She handed me the hammer, and I went to fill the baggie with ice cubes, crushing them down to small chips so they would be easier to manipulate and less bumpy against her eye.
“Here, place this on your eye for a while.”
“Thanks,” she said when I handed her the new cold bag of ice. “I’ve been applying it about three times a day. The sooner I can go out in public, the sooner I can pay you.”
She rubbed her hand over her forehead before sinking back down so the ice bag could rest over her eye. She looked sleepy, lying there, staring up at me with one eye. I dreaded telling her what I knew, and I figured she would be furious with me, but I couldn’t let her continue to believe she killed her husband.
“Lena,” I said, and she looked up at me with that one groggy, sad eye. I changed my mind. This girl had enough pain going on right now. What I had to tell her would only make her angry and hurt that I betrayed her. I couldn’t tell her yet. I needed more time to get her to trust me.
“What is it?” She winced as she repositioned her still battered body on the sofa as if trying to alleviate some of the pain in her side.
“Are you comfortable here?” A stupid question, considering how much pain she was in, but it was all I could come up with, and I didn’t want to continue with what I had initially intended to tell her.
She gave me a half-smile. “Yes. Thank you. This is more than I could have hoped for.”
“Okay. Good. You stay as long as you want, then.”
“Well, I will pay you as soon as I get back on my feet and I’m able to earn some money.”
“I know. I have faith in you.” And I did. I would give her another day or two to get to know me and trust me more before probing her with questions as well as revealing my betrayal. “Do you need anything before I go back downstairs?”
“No, I’m fine for now.”
“I’ll come back up and bring you something to eat a little later on.”
* * *
Every timeI went up to see Lena or bring her something, I stayed to talk. I enjoyed her company, and I hoped she was enjoying mine. I hated lying to her about her husband. Keeping up the ruse of not knowing whether she killed him or not grated on my conscience, especially the way she continued to agonize over the act. Lena was not a killer, but she believed with all her soul that she was. Today, I decided I would change that.
She sat in her usual spot on the daybed, and I sat down at the other end, but I didn’t feel comfortable there. I needed to be facing her, so I got up and sat on the coffee table in front of her.
“Lena, I know you’ll be pissed, and I’m sorry.”
Her eyes grew wide with fear. “What did you do?”
“I … ah … I’m sorry, but I took the liberty of doing some checking while you were sleeping yesterday, and I had to go through your purse to do it.” Her mouth gaped open, and I held up my hands, palms out when she started to object. “Sorry, I needed your last name. I called a friend of mine that I went to school with, Luke. He’s an attorney residing in Portland. He checked on Troy Harington—that is your husband, right?”
“Oh no! You didn’t! You promised! I need to get out of here.” She sat up, looking as if she wanted to bolt, but I didn’t think she had the strength, and she remained seated. “How could you? I trusted you.”
“Please, you can trust me. You’re safe here. I trust Luke. He would never betray me.”
“You turned me in.”
“No! I didn’t.” Shit. Agitated, I ran my hand through my hair. The last thing I wanted was for her to lose trust in me.
“But the police, they’ll find me now.”
