Page 36 of No More Lies

“It’s OK, Pumpkin. I’ll tell Mommy what happened.”

His voice was gentle for their daughter, his mouth smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Diane looked at him, waiting for him to explain, but he turned his back on her, instead walking to the kitchen. He grabbed a box of cookies out of the cupboard.

“Megan, I need to talk to Mommy. Can you go downstairs to the den, please? You have your milkshake, and you can have a couple of cookies. I’ll come and get you when we’re done.”

“Can I watch TV?” Her eyes lit up as she took the cookie box.

“You bet.”

Megan took off downstairs. Diane stood up facing him. He was scaring her, which was ridiculous. This was Steve. Her husband. Plucking up courage, she found her voice.

“Steve? What happened?”

He reached for the envelope on the island, and she almost cried out when she realized it matched the small white envelope Volkov had given her.

He held it out saying nothing. With shaking hands, she took it, already knowing what was inside. She pulled out the pictures, sinking to the chair with a gasp. Then she saw the note.

I wanted to be sure I made myself clear. Keep your mouth shut.

“A friend of yours gave this to Megan at school. I guess they weren’t expecting me to pick her up and thought she would give it to you.”

Diane covered her mouth with her hand, not sure if she was stifling a sob or stopping herself from being sick.

“Oh, my god. Is Megan OK?”

“She’s fine. Although we need to have another conversation about talking to strangers.”

He still hadn’t moved, and his face remained tense. She swallowed, pushing down the lump in her throat.

“I can explain,” she whispered.

“No more lies Diane. Tell me the truth, all of it.”

Chapter 10

Donnie glanced over at Mackie and Kelly who were still working away. What a long fucking day. Yet they were still no closer to locating the sarin. He stretched and saw the baseball coming his way out of the corner of his eye. He caught it and raised his eyebrows.