Truly, Madly, Deadly

Chapter Fifteen

Author’s note: Thanks for reading! Please vote, comment and like! Truly, Madly, Deadly is the first of my YA thrillers published with Sourcebooks – coming soon in January is See Jane Run. All of my books are available in print and digital from any major retailer.

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Copyright © 2013 by Hannah Jayne

 

FIFTEEN

Bile rose in Sawyer’s throat.

She dashed across the hall and kicked at the bathroom door, yanking on the knob and using the heel of her hand. “Tara, Tara, get out here! We have to get out of here right now!”

Sawyer was sobbing openly now, looking back toward her room as if the words would come to life and follow her.

“Tara!” She kicked at the door again and finally pressed her ear against it, praying to hear the sound of the water softening, the tap turning off, Tara coming to her rescue. But the shower remained a thunderous rain. Sawyer stepped back to kick open the door and stopped, astonished, when her feet sunk into the carpet.

It was soaked.

“Oh my God. Tara!”

Sawyer shouldered the door, hard. She heard the splinter of the wood frame and hit it once more, sending the thing vaulting open and her tumbling into the bathroom. She slid on the tile floor, a sheen of water making the entire room slick.

The first thing Sawyer saw was Tara’s bare feet, resting one on top of the other. They were kicked against the glass shower door, a rivulet of shower water pouring out underneath them.

“Oh no.” Sawyer gripped the sink and made her way to the shower, where Tara was slumped. Her naked body was crumpled on the tile floor, her blond hair floating on a quarter inch of water. Her cheeks were pink and flushed, her shoulder and pregnant belly a deep red where the water was pelting her.

Sawyer’s tears were steady now and she felt herself gasp—and smile—when she saw the light rise and fall of Tara’s chest.

“Oh, thank God!”

She really did feel relief, her tears turning to joy, when she turned off the tap and snatched a towel from the rack. She laid it gently over Tara’s body, covering her. She tapped her cheeks lightly, then harder. “Tara? Tara!”

Tara’s head lolled listlessly, her mouth hanging slack. “Oh please, Tara, wake up!”

Sawyer sloshed through the water and snatched the phone from the nightstand next to her father’s bed. She dialed 911 and took huge, gasping breaths of air, then stopped when she realized the line was completely dead.