Sisters - Michelle Frances Page 0,73
Beretta; Matteo had mentioned it once when he’d put it away in the safe. Abby looked around the cafe but there was still no sign of Ellie. She held the phone in her hand and opened up a search page. It didn’t take long to google it. In two minutes thirty-nine seconds she had all the answers. She’d watched the video, noting the position of the safety catch, seeing exactly how to fire it. Only when she’d committed everything to memory did she turn off her phone.
A movement made her look up and she saw Ellie come out of the toilets. Abby quickly stuffed her phone in her bag, smiling as her sister approached.
Abby considered whether to tell Ellie about her call to Matteo but knew almost instantly she wasn’t going to confide in her. Ellie didn’t know Matteo like she did and would likely freak out. Instead they returned to the car and pored over the map together, debating how far they’d get before Abby needed to rest for the night. Abby tried to sound spontaneous as she suggested a place called Hernani.
As they drove off, Abby had butterflies in her stomach. In a couple of hours or so she’d be in a place where she’d arranged to see her husband again. She was nervous the entire drive. As they crossed the border into Spain, Abby half expected to be set upon by a swarm of flashing blue lights, but they drove through without any interruption. She suspected her number plate would register somewhere but defiantly thought she’d be away, lost again in the countryside, before anyone had the chance to act on it.
A warning sign pinged up on the dashboard – a bright orange light in the encroaching dusk. They were low on fuel. Abby didn’t want to risk trying to get to Hernani on what was left in the tank.
‘We need more petrol,’ she said to Ellie. ‘Keep your eyes peeled for a station.’
A couple of miles later, a slightly dilapidated service station loomed up ahead. Abby pulled in, noting the weeds encroaching around the edges of the darkening forecourt, the rusty old car abandoned at the back. They were in the middle of nowhere, driving miles between sparsely populated villages; she supposed it didn’t get much custom.
She got out and filled the car. Standing with the pump in her hand, she gazed around. There was one other vehicle on the forecourt, a decrepit pickup, being filled by an equally decrepit-looking man. He replaced his pump and went inside.
‘I might just go in the shop,’ said Ellie. ‘See if they’ve got any mints.’
Abby nodded and then, once the tank was full, followed her sister in.
It was bright inside and Abby made her way over to where Ellie was browsing the confectionery. As she crossed an aisle she didn’t see a man coming in the opposite direction and he accidentally caught her shoulder with his own. Both instantly went to apologize, just as her bag fell to the floor. It spilled open and with a tidy thud, the envelope of money fell out, notes fanning themselves as they escaped to the ground.
For a moment, everyone stared. The shop was silent, just the distant murmur of a radio playing, but the money appeared loud, shouty. Look at me! it seemed to say, grinning ostentatiously.
Abby looked up at the man who’d bumped into her. He was young, slight, with longish dark hair and low-slung jeans. He caught her gaze, backed away with an apologetic smile. ‘Perdón.’
Abby bent down and quickly retrieved the cash, stuffing it back in her bag. She exchanged a look with Ellie, then went to the till. The older man from the pickup was at the desk paying. The girls waited their turn, and when he was finished he turned and left the shop, the younger man following after him. Abby paid for their fuel and the mints.
As they headed back to the car, Abby noted that it was now completely dark and she wanted to be on her way, to get to the sanctuary of the hotel. She saw the tail lights of the pickup leave the forecourt and disappear from view.
‘That was a bit awkward,’ said Ellie as she got into the front seat.
Abby nodded. The garage had probably only seen a handful of customers all day – it was bad luck that they had arrived just as there were other people in the shop.
Ellie opened the map. ‘Right, back on the road, then there’s