Page 55 of The Girls in the Snow

Nikki hurried up the stairs, already searching for her phone, content that Bailey was distracted. A superhero movie played on the television in the upstairs common area. A half-eaten Pop-Tart and a glass of juice had been left on the small table. Bailey must have been responsible for his breakfast.

The master bedroom was three times the size of Nikki’s. Amy Banks lay in the king-sized bed, blankets tangled around her and her eyes covered with a silk mask.

Nikki hit the emergency button on her phone and felt for a pulse on Amy’s cool wrist. Her heartbeat was weak and possibly irregular.

She took the mask off Amy’s eyes. “Amy, wake up.”

There was no response and Nikki could feel that Amy’s breathing had slowed.

“What did you take?” she said, aware that Amy couldn’t hear her.

She found an empty bottle tangled in the sheets: 40mg of oxycodone, prescribed to John Banks three months ago. Take one tablet in the morning for lower back pain.

“Christ.” Nikki shook Amy again, hoping to see movement behind her closed eyes. She thought the Bankses were having problems when she’d visited their house, worried their relationship wasn’t solid enough to deal with the strain of Madison’s death, but not for one moment did she imagine Amy was suicidal. How many pills had she taken? “Amy, come on. You have a little boy and husband who need you. Wake up,” she whispered.

Nikki opened the kit and grabbed one of the Narcan nasal sprays. She carefully inserted the nozzle and pressed the plunger.

Amy immediately coughed and gagged.

“Mrs. Banks, just relax,” Nikki said. “You’re going to be okay.”

Amy finally opened her eyes. She glared at Nikki. “The hell you doing in my house?”

“You overdosed on oxycodone. My partner is with your son. I’m going to let him know you’re okay.” Nikki hurried into the hallway. “Liam?”

Bailey appeared at the foot of the stairs. “Is my mom okay?”

“She’s awake. Give her a few minutes, and I’m sure you can come up.”

“We already called Mr. Banks,” Liam said. “He’s on his way. Paramedics, too.”

“Good.”

“I don’t need paramedics.” Her shrill voice carried into the hallway and down the stairs. “I’m not an addict. My child was murdered.”

“What happened to Mommy?” Bailey asked.

“She took too much medicine.” Nikki met him halfway up the stairs. He didn’t need to see his mother until she looked more like herself and had her head somewhat straight.

“Why?”

“She’s just really tired and made a mistake.”

Bailey seemed pacified, but his eyes were still worried. “When can I go see her?”

“I need to talk to her for just a few minutes. Then she’s all yours.”

The little boy grabbed her hand. “Don’t take very long.”

Nikki’s throat knotted. “I won’t.”

When she returned to the bedroom, Amy was sitting up on the bed, a silk robe wrapped tightly around her thin body. “I guess I’m supposed to say thank you.” She sighed. “I just needed to sleep.”

“They make pills for that.”

“My prescription ran out, and I have to go back to the doctor to get it filled. That’s the last thing I want to do right now.” Amy slowly made her way to the bed and sat down. “I just needed a couple of hours. John said one would help me relax, so I took a few extra.” Her eyes widened in horror. “Is Bailey okay? Does he know what happened?”

“He’s downstairs with Agent Wilson talking about the Vikings. I told him you took too much medicine by mistake. John’s on his way.”