Read Online Anything for Her by Jack Jordan - Free Book Online Page A

twice her size throws Brooke into the backs of exiting passengers, thrusting everyone out of the doorway, causing them to groan and huff in protest, just as the train conductor blows his whistle from the front of the train. Brooke falls to the platform with a hard thud. The doors begin to shut, but stop. Her suitcase is lodged between the doors. She tries to pull it free, yanking at the extended handle. She pulls with all her might and it finally dislodges, landing on her lap.
    She looks up to see her pursuer staring at her through the semi-closed doors, his finger frantically pressing the ‘open’ button, but the doors are locked until the next stop. She cannot help but notice the ticket master behind him, his face flushed with rage.
    The man continues to stand in front of the glass panel in the door and stares at her with harrowing intensity.
    As the train pulls away, their eyes are still locked; Brooke realises that the man knows she is guilty of the crime.
    He knows she has blood on her hands.
    He knows she killed them.
    They continue to stare at each other until he is carried out of sight. The train makes its way westwards, leaving Brooke alone and shaking on the platform. She finally breathes.
    She was nearly discovered.
    She was nearly caught.

Chapter Eighteen
    Louise stares at the box of dead birds resting on the coffee table.
    She is overwhelmed with questions – none of which she can answer – and fears that she cannot dilute.
    Someone knows what I did. What
we
did
.
    She bites her nails and the skin around the cuticles until her fingers are bleeding. When her phone begins to ring, she flinches and tears a strip of flesh from her thumb. Blood begins to trickle down her hand. She gasps and shoves her thumb into her mouth, massaging it with her tongue, and darts into the kitchen in search of a plaster. Placing her phone on the work surface, she sees Brooke’s face on the screen. She answers the call and puts it on speakerphone as she opens a plaster.
    ‘Hi Brooke.’
    ‘Hi.’
    ‘Are you all right?’
    ‘I saw the man.’
    ‘What man?’
    ‘The man from that night. On the train.’
    ‘On the train to where?’
    ‘I’m coming to the country house.’
    Louise feels as if her solace is about to be invaded.She needs this time to herself. She wants to tell Brooke to stay away, to leave her alone, but she can’t. She cannot banish her daughter from her life until it is less catastrophic, or she might never see her again.
    ‘Are you sure it was him?’
    ‘Well if it wasn’t, some random man just chased me down the train for no good reason.’
    Brooke sounds nervous.
    ‘Where are you?’
    ‘Reading station. I got off.’
    ‘Did he get off too?’
    ‘No. He tried, but the doors closed before he could get through them.’
    ‘Are you absolutely sure it was him?’
    ‘Yes, Mum. I’m not blind.’
    ‘I’m not trying to patronise you, Brooke. I’m just worried.’
    A few seconds of silence elapse.
    ‘When will you be here?’ Louise asks, returning to the sofa with her plastered thumb, her eyes instantly returning to the box of birds.
    ‘Well, thanks to my pit stop, two hours, maybe. There’s a train every hour.’
    ‘I’ll come and pick you up from the station.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    ‘I’ll see you later.’
    Brooke hangs up the phone on the other end. Louise’s phone rings again. She looks at the screen.Her gut instantly clenches at the sight of her sister’s name.
    After everything she has done, she can’t even leave me alone to grieve
.
    She can imagine Denise sitting at the other end of the line, waiting impatiently for Louise to answer, completely unfazed and unapologetic, as though the phone call is already taking up too much of her time.
    Fury begins to build within her. She answers the call with a tense jaw.
    Neither of the sisters say anything, just breathe in sync down the line.
    ‘Do you have something you would like to say, Denise? Or are you calling just to torment