AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Silence. Fraser had filled the pot and now emptied it into the maker.
“Seriously?” Sibba said.
“Okay, let’s just say that maybe there was a snafu with that plan.” He added the coffee grounds, then set it to perk.
“So now it’s on the loose?”
“Ned texted and said that they were in Germany. Ramstein Air Base,” Shae said.
“So, they recovered the caesium?” Sibba said.
But Pippa was staring at Shae. “Were your pictures still on your camera?”
“Sure. I mean, I’d uploaded them, but they were on the SD card.” She put down her phone and slid onto a stool. “I could use the money. They want to pay my way over to Amsterdam to hang out with the team.”
Her mother flipped the omelet, then reached for a plate.
“Use your phone,” said Sibba. “It’s for social media, right?”
Shae nodded. “I could text Ned, ask him to meet me there.”
“Pictures of Lauchtenland’s Titus Stadium,” Pippa said to Shae.
“Yes. Outside, inside, the land around it, the town. Hundreds.”
“I’d feel better if Ned were there,” Fraser said. “Just in case Iris gets into trouble.”
“Hey! I can take care of myself!”
He raised an eyebrow. “And here we go again.”
“Seriously, Fraser—”
And that’s when, at the stove, her mother collapsed.
Just like that, she dropped to the floor, the pan still sizzling with eggs, fresh coffee brewing, the plate crashing to the floor, shattering.
“Mom!” Fraser yelled.
“Mom?” Iris said, sliding off the stool, following Fraser.
She lay on the floor, the shards of pottery around her, her eyes closed. Fraser pressed his fingers to her carotid artery. “Get Dad,” he said.
Iris looked up, but Shae was already heading to the back door to shout out to their father, working in the vineyard.
Fraser picked his mother up, brought her over to the sofa. Set her down. “She’s breathing.”
But otherwise, her mother was limp, and suddenly, in the span of ten seconds…
Old. Frail.
Broken.
Iris couldn’t breathe.
Her dad charged into the house, his boots covered in snow and mud. “Jenny?” He crouched next to her, pulled off his glove, touched his hand to her face. “Honey?”
Iris grabbed Fraser’s hand as their mother blinked, slowly came to.
