She couldn’t find a pulse. Susanna was dead.
Slowly, Abby stood up, her shivering hands hanging by her side. She turned to Ellie who was now crouched into a ball, sitting back on her haunches, muttering to herself. Abby could make out, ‘Oh God, oh God, oh God.’ Ellie looked up at her, a terrified question in her eyes, and Abby gave an imperceptible shake of the head. Her sister froze and then seemed to visibly crumple. She looked so small to Abby, so vulnerable, so utterly paralysed with fear. Just like she had as a child. A memory roared into her head. Ellie coming into her bedroom, frail and wan from throwing up, and asking if Abby would play dollies with her.
Abby suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of panic. She grabbed Ellie’s hand, even as her sister barely seemed to register it, and pulled her into the house. She sat her on the sofa with barked instructions not to move, unsure if Ellie was hearing her. Then Abby raced upstairs and, pulling a holdall from her wardrobe, she started stuffing it with clothes. She was about to turn away when she saw the safe. She punched in the code and the door swung open. Her passport lay on one side and she grabbed it. At the back of the safe was Matteo’s gun. Abby froze. Her panic was overriding everything other than a primal knowledge that she had to be prepared for any eventuality. Her hand reflexively closed over the weapon and she threw it in the bag.
Then she went into Ellie’s room and searched urgently for her suitcase. Finding it under the bed, she pulled it out and opening the wardrobe and the drawers, she filled it with some essentials, then carried both bags down the stairs, the suitcase banging against the banisters. She took them out the front and chucked them into the boot of her car. She went back inside and grabbed Ellie’s hand again.
‘Come with me,’ she said, and Ellie followed her to the front of the villa and allowed herself to be put in the car. Abby buckled both of them in, then started the engine and drove away.
FOURTEEN
She didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t even know what she was going to do. There was only one thing clear in her mind: get her sister away.
Abby drove fast, propelled by an urgency she had no control over, a sensation that had no boundaries of thought or logic.
She knew there was a ferry crossing to the mainland in fifteen minutes and they had to be on it. She bought tickets at the terminal and drove the car onto the lower deck. Ellie was still numb, unseeing, unaware. As the ship’s ramps rose up and it began its journey across the sea towards the Tuscan coastline, Abby took Ellie up to the on-board cafe and bought her the strongest coffee she could get.
She got one for herself too and they sat at a table outside, Abby choosing the one furthest from the other passengers. She took hold of her espresso cup, added two sachets of sugar and downed it in one. She blinked and swallowed, waiting for the drink to shock her into a state of clarity.
‘Now you,’ she instructed Ellie, who was sitting staring at nothing, her coffee untouched.
Ellie’s glazed eyes moved across to Abby and she seemed to understand what Abby was saying. She looked down, was surprised to see a coffee there and lifted the cup to her lips. She drank some, wincing at the bitterness.
‘All of it,’ said Abby, adding sugar to Ellie’s coffee too, then watching as her sister tipped her head back until the cup was empty. Ellie put it back on the saucer as Abby sat tensely, waiting for a reaction, and then Ellie crumpled.
‘Mum,’ she wailed, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. ‘What have I done?’
‘Pull yourself together,’ whispered Abby quickly, glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching.
‘We’ve left her,’ Ellie wailed again.
‘Shush.’
‘But she’s all on her own. We didn’t even call an ambulance.’
‘It was too late.’
‘But what if it wasn’t?’
‘I checked.’
‘But what if there was somethi—’
‘I CHECKED,’ snapped Abby and Ellie recoiled. Abby took a deep breath. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.’ She glanced around again but it was noisy up on the outer deck; the engine and the waves had drowned out her voice and no one was looking.
‘I . . . I . . .’ Ellie faltered, couldn’t seem to bring herself to speak. ‘Jesus, I killed her.’
‘Don’t ever say that again.’
‘But I did, I—’
Abby took hold of Ellie’s hands across the table, held them tight. ‘It was an accident,’ she said. Ellie’s eyes were brimming over again; guilt and fear made her break Abby’s gaze.
‘Look at me,’ said Abby firmly, but Ellie wouldn’t. ‘Look at me,’ instructed Abby, giving a sharp shake to her sister’s hands until she raised her eyes. ‘It was an accident,’ repeated Abby. ‘An accident, an accident. Not deliberate. Not like what she did to you.’ They sat there for a few moments, neither saying anything. Then Ellie slowly pulled her hands away as she looked around her, taking in the endless blue horizon, seeming to notice for the first time that she was on a ferry. ‘Where are we going?’
‘I don’t know. A trip. We need some time. I need to figure it all out. What the best thing is to do.’
‘What about Matteo?’ asked Ellie.
Abby grimaced. She was well aware he’d be home later and he’d find Susanna on the terrace. As awful as it was, Abby had no idea what she could do about it. It was another problem on top of everything else and she just couldn’t deal with it right now.
‘I don’t know,’ she repeated.
The journey was short and within another fifteen minutes, passengers were being asked to return to their cars. Abby led Ellie downstairs and the girls waited silently while the ferry docked, before taking their turn to drive off.
Abby headed into Piombino town and parked up in a busy district, leaving Ellie in the car. She told her to wait and then crossed the road to a bank. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she stepped into its air-conditioned interior. She went up to the first available cashier and smiled at the woman in her uniform shirt of white and green stripes.
‘I need to withdraw some money,’ she said in her stilted Italian.
‘How much would you like?’ asked the cashier.
Abby placed her bank card on the counter. ‘The maximum possible, please.’
The cashier asked her to place her card in the reader and enter her PIN, which Abby duly did. The cashier viewed her screen and then wrote a number down on a piece of paper and pushed it under the window. ‘This is your balance.’
Abby didn’t need to look at it. She knew exactly how much she had in the account. She suddenly wanted out of there, didn’t like leaving Ellie so long, didn’t like drawing attention to herself. ‘So how much can I take out?’
‘Well, usually for sums over two thousand euros, we ask for advance notice, just so we have the cash available,’ started the cashier.
‘I need more,’ said Abby. She forced a light smile. ‘Whatever you can do.’
‘OK,’ said the cashier slowly. Abby smiled again, as casually as she could. I mustn’t seem weird, she swiftly reminded herself. They agreed on a figure, Abby produced her passport and then she waited while the cashier counted the notes, mentally urging her to hurry up. Keep calm, keep calm. Eventually it was done and with an envelope of euros padding out her bag, she hurried back to the car.