Cindy couldn’t hold back a loud cry. She grabbed the porcelain sink, riding the wave, squeezing her eyes shut. Nausea rose in her throat, and she was ready to bolt for the toilet. Her body felt as if it were being torn in two. She wanted to scream again, but as quickly as it had come, the wave crested and washed away. She breathed slowly and deeply, relaxing. Her body was clammy with sweat.

Opening her eyes, she saw Janine watching her closely from the bathroom doorway.

‘Is everything okay?’ Janine asked. ‘I heard you cry out.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Are you feeling all right?’

Cindy brightened her smile. ‘Sure. It’s just stomach cramps.’

Patients lied to doctors all the time, and doctors knew it. Janine didn’t believe her. ‘The pain looked sharp. Has this been happening a lot?’

‘Every now and then.’

‘Have you seen your doctor?’ Janine asked. ‘Because you should.’

‘I will. I’m due for a physical in a couple months. Right now, I’m too busy.’

Janine frowned. ‘Too busy’ was every patient’s excuse.

‘I’m sure it’s nothing,’ Cindy added, which was a stupid thing to say to a doctor when you weren’t a doctor yourself. Her gut told her it was something, but she wasn’t ready to face whatever it might be.

‘Take a break,’ Janine told her. ‘Go sit in the food court for a while.’

‘Yeah, maybe I will.’ Cindy changed the subject and added: ‘I’m sure Archie’s just covering his ass about the jury pool.’

‘That’s sweet, but no.’ Janine looked behind her to make sure they were alone. ‘Your husband can put a gun in my hand now. That idiot, Jay, hiding his gun from me. It doesn’t matter that the police can’t find it. Jay had a gun, so the jury will assume I killed him with it.’

Cindy stared at her friend. ‘Don’t talk like that.’

‘It’s reality. The fact is, they don’t need much more than that to convict me. Archie already sat me down and told me the facts of life. Jay and I were alone in the house. We hated each other. My story of what happened is unlikely at best. That’s enough to get most jurors to a guilty verdict right there.’

‘If something else happened, Jonny will find out what,’ Cindy insisted.

Janine smiled. ‘If.’

Cindy flushed. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘I do.’ Janine opened her purse and closed it. She nodded at the toilet. ‘Well, I need to use the facilities, and you need to sit down and take a break.’

‘Okay.’

It was awkward between them.