Page 81 of Prohibited
She froze for a moment, certain that she’d heard the clicking of a car engine. A current of anxiety shot through her. The sound made her stomach squeeze. The fear that Walter would show up here was constant now. That he would find her.
But wasn’t she supposed to want to be found?
Troubled, she shook it off and turned back toward the house. When she stepped into the kitchen, she was surprised to discover Ryan and Alex standing and facing each other across the kitchen, talking in low, heated voices. She looked at each of them and felt fire leap from her as her eyes moved from a deep sapphire blue pair lookingback at her to a brilliant, glowing blue that skipped away when they met hers.
The room was full of a thick, heavy silence as she crossed between them, making her more and more eager to leave with each second that passed.
Their heated conversation continued behind her, though she didn’t dare linger and eavesdrop. For her sake as much as theirs.
She did everything she could to be as unobtrusive as possible. Since arriving at the Orchard, there had been no mention of locking her up. There had been no more threats. The uncertainty was debilitating and she lived with the constant fear of Ryan coming to his senses and locking her in the storm cellar as he promised to do the night Lindsay was shot.
She was halfway down the hall when the front door opened. A tall, pale woman with a beautiful, angular face and a long shock of bright red hair staggered into the house and closed the door behind her, pressing her back against it. A haunted, wild look possessed her as she stood and stared for a moment like she was in shock.
“A-Are you alright?” Evie said, starting toward her.
The young woman looked at her, eyes wide, and she stood up straight, backing away.
“Who are you?” the young woman said in a voice that shook.
Heavy footsteps sounded from the kitchen.
“Saoirse,” Ryan said, surprise in his voice. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“Saoirse?” Lindsay called from down the hallway.
She backed away from all of them, shaking. Her breaths came faster and faster and her face began to fracture.
Ryan went to catch her by the arms. “Saoirse, what–”
“Don’t,” Saoirse said, yanking her arms away.
Ryan held up his hands and backed away, looking baffled and even a little bit hurt.
“Saoirse,” he said in a steady voice that was clearly meant to calm her. “What’s happened?”
Then there was the sound of the front door opening, a wave of deep voices and the scraping and pounding of boots at the front door. It all stuttered to a halt.
“Saoirse,” Malcolm said, sounding both relieved and irritated. “Where–”
Like a feral, frightened animal, Saoirse bolted past all of them until she reached Lindsay’s room and slammed the door shut behind her.
The sound of her crying and Lindsay talking to her softly came muffled through the door. Ryan and Malcolm gave each other mystified looks. Alex’s face was set into a grim look as he stared at the door, likely wanting to follow her but having the sense not to.
The men began to whisper between them.
“What do you suppose–?”
“Never seen her like this–”
Every maternal and nursing instinct Evie had told her to go down the hallway to Lindsay and his sister. The thought made her a little squeamish because she didn’tknow the young woman at all, but she also didn’t want to stand out in the hallway, anxious and useless.
“I’ll just go see,” Evie said to them quietly. They all looked at her and nodded, arms folded. Hands on hips. Eyes on the floor. Eyes on the walls.
On quiet feet, Evie went to the door and knocked softly. “It’s me, Evie,” she said. “May I come in?”
She was met with the low, jagged sound of Saoirse’s voice. Words she couldn’t make out. Lindsay talking very softly. Then he said, loud enough for her to hear, “Come in.”
She opened the door slowly. Moved slowly. Saoirse was curled up next to her brother, head pressed into his chest. His good arm was around her. Just the posture of her body illustrated her pain. Evie closed the door slowly behind her and then leaned against it.