Between the Lives - By Jessica Shirvington Page 0,23

gone when Ethan found the pills.

I couldn’t risk something like that happening again.

Without another thought I started popping the pills out of the packet and placing them on my bedside table. One by one, I used the base of my water glass to crush them, reminding myself not to crush too many, but just enough.

Digoxin was the perfect drug. I’d seen people come in to the drugstore after taking an incorrect dose. As a heart medication, mistakes resulted in an array of side effects, including yellowed vision, heart palpitations, nausea – it was quite a long list. It was the ideal way to test an internal physical response to a toxin. Best of all, there was an antidote – Digibind – so if things went completely pear-shaped, something could be done about it.

‘A responsible risk,’ I murmured while I searched around my room. ‘Aha!’

I pulled the necklace out from a pile of junk on my dresser and started to twist the top off the silver butterfly pendant. Capri and I had both bought pendant necklaces at the city markets last year. Hers had a silver skull, but I’d preferred the butterfly, and we’d both liked that they had secret chambers. At the time, we’d joked that they’d come in handy when we were smuggling drugs.

Carefully I swept the powdered Digoxin onto a piece of paper and funnelled it into the bullet-shaped body of the butterfly before securing the head back in place.

If only Capri could see me now.

I cleaned away the evidence, taking the rest of the Digoxin and packing it, along with my slice-and-dice tools, into my backpack. I’d keep it with me and dump it at some stage during the day. I didn’t want stuff like this lying around, especially the pills, where Maddie could stumble across it. I slipped on the pendant, grabbed my backpack and headed down to the kitchen just as the front door closed.

‘Maddie?’ I asked Mom and Dad, who were sitting at the kitchen table riffling through paperwork.

Mom glanced up briefly, her glasses resting halfway down her nose, making her look older than she was. ‘Just left with Mrs Jefferies.’

I nodded, poured some water into the kettle and set about making toast. I also dosed out a couple of painkillers the doctor had prescribed for my wrist. It wasn’t actually causing me much trouble, but I figured the pain relief might help with my still-throbbing cuts.

When I sat at the table, no one was talking. Mom stared at Dad like she was waiting for something, but Dad ignored her and readjusted his pale blue tie. He insisted on wearing one every day. As if the tie alone could make him, make us, better somehow.

The silence became uncomfortable.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked between mouthfuls of toast. Dad continued staring at the same piece of paper he’d been focused on since I’d walked into the room. Mom squirmed in her chair.

‘It’s probably just a misunderstanding, sweetie.’ She gave me a reassuring nod that didn’t match the concerned look in her eyes.

‘What is?’ I put down my slice of toast, my cast clanking on the edge of my plate.

Dad looked up at me from behind the sheet of paper. Something in his eyes – the way they looked at me, but didn’t focus on me – set off my internal alarms. ‘Denise called this morning. She did a random stock-check before she closed up last night. On the prescription meds.’ His glare intensified. ‘Is there something you want to tell us?’

Oh.

Shit.

I thought I’d covered all bases. Normally stocktakes happened mid-week, which would have given me a few days between working at the store and other casual staff taking shifts. It should’ve been impossible for the missing drugs to be traced back to me.

Why the hell did Denise decide to …?

Then I remembered how I’d been too nervous to look around when Ethan handed me back the box of pills. Denise must have seen enough to be suspicious.

I wasn’t ready for this.

‘Sabine?’ Dad snapped.

I grabbed hold of my pendant, sliding the butterfly up and down the dainty silver chain, thinking fast.

‘I don’t know what you want me to say.’

‘You could start with the truth,’ Dad replied.

I looked at Mom, holding her gaze as if I had nothing to hide. ‘About what?’

Think, think, think!

My mouth was so dry, my words were starting to smack.

‘About the box of heart medication that walked out of the store yesterday. They were only delivered in the morning and were gone by the afternoon.