Page 109 of Sisters

‘Yeah, she seemed OK. Fierce.’

‘Fierce?’

‘Yeah, like someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. Gotta have some sympathy for her husband.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind.’

‘What?’ Fredrik frowned, then it clicked. ‘Oh! That’syou? Right!’ His eyes widened. ‘She’s married to a cop? Whoa. She is one dangerous lady.’ He raised his fist and gave Matteo’s arm a friendly punch. ‘Respect.’ He indicated the door. ‘Hey, it all right if I head off? Got a pilgrimage to finish.’

‘Just one minute. Are you sure you don’t know where they’re heading?’

Fredrik laid a palm on his chest. ‘I swear.’ He paused. ‘I just kind of hope they get away. Even with you being Abby’s husband.’

Matteo watched as Fredrik walked down the front steps, the door shutting behind him.

He sighed. Where was his wife? The longer this went on, the worse it would be – for all of them. And Baroni had shut him out of the investigation, so he had no idea what she was planning next. His phone rang. Matteo looked at the screen. It was Susanna.

‘Hello?’

‘Matteo, I have heard from Ellie.’

He straightened up. ‘Did she say where she was?’

‘No.’

‘But where did she call you from? A payphone?’

‘It makes no difference whether I have the number or not. She’ll be gone by now.’

‘But we’ll be able to locate her from the last...How long?’

‘I can do better than that,’ said Susanna. ‘I can tell you where she’s going.’

‘Where?’ he demanded.

‘One condition,’ continued Susanna. ‘You speak to Lieutenant Colonel Baroni and get me there too.’

EIGHTY-FOUR

Ellie was saddened by her mother’s continued denial of what she’d done. Perhaps she was deluded – couldn’t even admit it to herself. As the car flew past the fields, Ellie wondered about her desire to hear remorse in her mother’s voice. It felt so important to hear those words.I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t done it.

But then what? Even if her mother had repented, it wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t give her back her childhood. She’d still be the same person she was today. Actually, she wasn’t the same person. She was dealing with even more loss: that of their relationship as mother and daughter. They’d been so close, had shared so much. Ellie had thought her mother was her rock. How wrong she’d been. Susanna was a weak woman.

Suddenly Ellie knew she’d never get an apology from her mother. She could spend the rest of her life waiting and hoping, that hope turning to resentment when a sorry never materialized.

She stared out of the window, tried to put it from her mind.

‘You OK?’ asked Abby.

‘Fine.’

‘Only you don’t look it. You look like someone who’s just been dumped.’

‘I think, under the circumstances, it is currently hard for me and Fredrik to maintain a relationship.’

‘You don’t half pick ’em, Ellie.’

Ellie bristled. ‘Hang on, he just helped us escape.’