Chapters (198)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Mother Dear
- Three Weeks Earlier
- Friday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- Saturday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Sunday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- Monday
- Mother Dear
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- Tuesday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Wednesday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- Thursday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- Mother Dear
- Friday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- Saturday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- Sunday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- Monday
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- The fall sun . . .
- “Helen? It’s Ria . . .
- Mother Dear
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- About the Translator
A loud bang resounded against the wall. Both of them looked up in alarm. The gate, realized Helen. At the same time, they heard the high-pitched whine of a scooter.
“Sara,” said Werner.
10
10
Ralf wasn’t sure what he expected to find here. He knew Brian wouldn’t be lying somewhere nearby, licking his wounds like an injured animal. But still. That house was the last place he had seen his friend. Right there in that big kitchen, chasing the man up the stairs with his gun in his hand.
He placed his hands on the wall and used a tree stump as a step. The yard was long, with shrubs, trees, and flower beds, a substantial lawn, and a swimming pool in the middle with a wooden cabin and a hedge around it. It was so big, it felt more like a park than a yard. And the house itself looked more like a hotel, or the office of some law firm.
Ralf was startled by a sudden movement and crouched down. A girl was walking across the lawn. Around twelve or thirteen. Jeans, a red hoodie, and light-blonde, curly, almost frizzy hair. She had a plastic bag in her hand. The only reason she hadn’t noticed him was probably because she was busy looking at the ground, as though she’d lost something. Ralf wondered whether this was the same girl he had seen coming home last night. It was possible; she was around the same size. As he watched, he heard a scooter—the noise rapidly drawing nearer. The scooter slowed down, and he heard the gate open and then close with a bang. He couldn’t see who it was; the hedge between the deck and the swimming pool blocked his view.
The girl gave up her search and stood upright. She called something to whoever had just arrived, and the newcomer greeted her back—another girl, by the sound of it. Now he could see her too as she walked along the side of the house and went inside. He couldn’t make out her face from this distance, but she was slim, wore a tailored coat, and had the same color hair as the first girl. Her sister?
11
11
“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.” Sara hung up her coat in the utility room and walked into the kitchen.