She’s Not Pressing Charges

Kai looked up when he heard the bedroom door open. He scrutinised the woman lurching towards Austyn. Yep, it was Miss Deborah Connelly all right. Unless she had an identical twin. Kai had questions. At the top of the list was ‘How did she survive the gunshot?’ But he kept his mouth shut and plastered himself against the wall. Austyn made her a glass of hot chocolate. ‘Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.’ Deborah held the mug in her shaky hands. Austyn sat down next to her on the sofa without a word. He waited. When the chocolate had gone cold, Deborah spoke up in a tremulous voice. ‘I don’t know why I called you. I can’t remember doing that.’ Austyn nodded. ‘It’s okay.’ She bit her lower lip and stared at the dark brown liquid congealing in the mug. ‘I’m fine now. Sorry for making you worry. You should go home.’ ‘You’re not going to tell me what happened?’ Deborah trembled. ‘Who was the man?’ She closed her eyes, looking pained. She gripped the handle of the mug. ‘Austyn, I…’ He kept