Chapter 4
12 April, 2020 {Easter}
Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Positive COVID-19 Cases: 9,655
Deaths: 334
"Any fun plans for the day?" Andrew asked as he sat in his desk chair, his mobile phone perched on his desk.
Cassie shrugged. "Dunno. Probably not. Though the irony of this being the first Easter Finn will remember and me not actually being able to do anything for it is not lost on me."
"No egg hunt, then?" he joked with a smirk.
"There will be a hunt, but not for eggs," she sighed. "All of my spoons have magically disappeared, so that's what we're going to do today."
He laughed. "So Finn is a spoon goblin."
"Apparently," she smiled and tucked some of her blonde hair behind her pierced ear. "Or the fairies have gotten them."
"H-how many piercings do you have?" he asked, nodding to the screen.
"Oh - I don't know. Maybe three on each ear?" her fingers went to the small silver rings that lined the edge of her ear. "I had four on one but Finn yanked it out."
"Fuck," he hissed. "So he's a spoon goblin and an earring-puller."
"I mean he was only like, seven months old, so I don't think I can hold it against him," Cassie said offhandedly.
"Ah, fair," he replied. He glanced at the clock on his desk. "Shit, is that the time?" he asked himself.
"Have somewhere you need to be?" she asked, more in jest.
"Ehm, yeah," he slid his glasses up his nose. "I'm meeting my brother at my parents' house. We're doing a sort of distance thing in the back garden."
"Is that...is that safe?" she stammered. He could sense the apprehension in her voice.
"Y-yeah, we think it'll be fine," he explained, ducking his head slightly. "We're all meeting outside and wearing masks and staying far away from each other."
Cassie was quiet for a second and he could swear he saw a bit of judgement cross over her face. He opened his mouth to fill the silence, but she spoke first.
"How's your dad doing? Did Tadgh work out?" she asked.
He inhaled sharply and smiled. "Yeah - yeah, he came by the house for the first time last week. He really helped my dad. He can't do everything he usually does, but at least its something."
"Good! I'm glad," she smiled easily.
"Thank you so much for connecting us," he said, pushing his glasses back up again. "You have no idea how much its helped. Not just my dad - me. Its so nice to feel like I can do something, you know?"
Cassie nodded. "Definitely. I'm glad things are going well for them."
There was a knock at Andrew's office door and Alex popped his head in. "Oh, sorry," he said quickly, realizing he was on a call.
"I thought you were alone out there in your mansion," she teased.
Andrew blushed slightly and chuckled. "No, this is my friend Alex," he answered, waving the other man over. "He's staying with me."
Alex reluctantly crossed the room and stood behind Andrew's desk chair, resting one hand on the back. "Hi," he said awkwardly, lifting the other one in greeting.
"Hi," she answered, giving him a polite smile. She looked back at Andrew. "I'm glad you've got a...companion?" she said, stifling a giggle.
The two men exchanged a hasty horrified look before trying to speak at the same time.
"N-no, I'm not-," Alex began.
"He's just a friend," Andrew said. "He's my touring bassist and helps me with writing and all that."
"Jesus, you really know how to make a guy feel special, Andy," Alex quipped with a chuckle.
Cassie smiled again. "I'm Cassie. Nice to kind of meet you."
Alex looked at Andrew with a knowing grin. "So this is Cassie who you've been talking to all the time lately."
"Stop it," Andrew shot back.
"Alex, don't worry about your bromance. We're just friends," Cassie told him.
Andrew gave his friend a pointed look. "See?"
"I've got a kid and enough baggage to fill the hold of a 747. Andrew doesn't want anything to do with me like that," she chuckled.
Andrew opened his mouth to offer platitudes, but couldn't argue that she was wrong. He had zero desire to start a relationship with a single mother. Cassie was firmly in "friend" territory and he intended on keeping her there. Fortunately Cassie didn't seem to disagree.
"Are you going with him to see his family, Alex?" she asked.
Alex nodded. "Yeah. My family is too far away for me to go, with the current restrictions and all."
"That's too bad. I'm sorry," she answered.
"Eh," he shrugged. "Its not too horrible. We chat every day. Once things ease up a bit more, I'm planning a trip down to see them."
"That's good at least," she replied. "I suppose you could just drive over if you really had to. Its not like the guards are going to arrest you for it if you say you're checking on a family member, right?"
Alex looked to Andrew. "Is that the plan for today? If we're stopped, tell them we're seeing your parents?"
Andrew shrugged. "No idea. I don't even think the guards are doing anything over in Greystones, to be honest. We'd probably have to actively be burying a body for them to even get out of their cars."
"Right, well it sounds like you two have a fun afternoon planned, so I'm going to let you go," Cassie began. "It was nice to meet you Alex. I'm sure we'll chat again soon."
"You, too, Cassie," Alex said, giving her a slight wave.
"Happy hunting," Andrew joked. "I hope you find all of them. Chat later." He ended the call and found Alex staring at him curiously. "What?"
"So that's Cassie," Alex said. "She's pretty. Looks like the photos on her books."
"Really?" Andrew asked, clearing up his desk slightly. "I hadn't really noticed." Alex raised an eyebrow and Andy knew his friend didn't believe him. "I mean I'm not blind, Alex. But I don't look at her that way. There's no point to it."
"If you say so," Alex smirked. "We'll get out of lockdown eventually. Might be nice to have something waiting on the other side."
"Oh fuck off," Andrew scoffed, standing. He shoved past his friend and walked through the house to the kitchen.
Alex followed him, his laughter bouncing off the ceilings. "What do you two even talk about?"
"Writing, mostly," Andrew answered, sitting down to pull on a pair of boots. "I've really liked her work for a while now and its been nice to pick her brain on her process and all that."
"That sounds boring as fuck," Alex said dismissively. "I mean, I like her stuff but doesn't it get boring talking about work all the time?"
Andrew shrugged and stood up. "Not for me. S'pose you'd need to ask her, though." He tugged a hooded sweatshirt over his head. "Ready to go?" he asked, nodding toward the back door. "We're gonna be late."
Alex hurriedly shoved his own shoes on and tugged a jacket on against the cool Spring afternoon. The two men left the house, piling into Andrew's dark blue SUV. The sun was shining, but the wind was whipping wickedly through the trees. Fluffy white clouds coursed across the sky, blocking the sun out occasionally. They wound along narrow roads lined with fenced-off pastures and occasional houses. Traffic was non-existent, but Andy had Alex keeping his eyes peeled for any Guard vehicles lurking along the roadside.
Twenty minutes later, Andrew pulled into his parents' driveway at the end of a quiet road. The houses here were larger than the ones in town, but his parents' home was a modest bungalow surrounded by green grass and mature trees. The flowers his mother had planted last spring were starting to bloom along the stone wall that lined the road in front of the house and a breeze rustled the leaves on the trees.
He parked in the drive behind his brother's beat-up Volkswagen Golf. There was a new dent in the back fender and tape held one of the tail lights together.
"I can't believe he's still driving that piece of shite," Alex scoffed, undoing his seat belt.
Andrew shook his head. "I can't believe that piece of shite still runs."
Alex chuckled and got out. Jon's car was a well-used and slightly abused 2004 model with more dents and mileage on it than some people. It had driven across Ireland several times and been a source of more frustration than happiness for his brother over the years. But he refused to get rid of it. Andrew couldn't blame him; the car held many memories and scrapping it felt akin to abandoning an old friend in need. Every time it struggled to wheeze to life, Andrew saw fear in his brother's face.
Andrew kicked the rear tire of the Golf as he passed by, noting the back seat filled with random odds and ends. He spotted several jackets and one of his own hats mixed in with books and a few fast food wrappers. Gravel crackled under his feet as he approached the side gate that led to the back garden. He pulled a cloth mask from his back pocket and slipped in on over his nose and mouth, watching as his glasses fogged up slightly with each breath he took. Alex followed closely behind him.
As Andrew rounded the corner of the house, he caught sight of his parents sitting on the other side of the garden wearing their own masks. Jon was seated a good seven or eight feet away in his own chair. Two empty chairs were sat out, forming an odd triangle of sorts.
"Andy!" his mother exclaimed, standing. Her voice was muffled by the mask over her face.
Andrew raised his hand in greeting. "Happy Easter," he remarked.
"Happy Easter, Raine," Alex called next to him. "Good to see you John," he added, nodding to Andrew's father.
The elderly man raised a hand in response. "You as well, Alex. Keeping alright?" he asked.
"I'm grand, thanks," Alex answered, settling into one of the chairs. "And you two?"
"Ah, we've been better," Raine replied, pushing some of her greying hair from her face. "But its lovely to see you both. Shame we can't be closer."
"Mum, we probably shouldn't even be doing this," Jon said, shifting in his own chair nervously.
"Oh relax," Andrew scoffed. "We're outside. We're following all the protocols. For all a Guard knows, we're just over taking care of our elderly parents."
"Watch it," Raine said sternly. "I'm not 'elderly'."
Andrew smiled under his mask at his mother's tone. "Alright, aging, then," he corrected himself. He turned back to his brother. "And I want my hat back," he scowled slightly.
"Your hat?" Jon asked, his brows knitting together in confusion over his own glasses.
"Yeah, the green one in your back seat underneath three Super Mac's wrappers," Andrew sneered playfully.
Jon rolled his eyes. "You've been living just fine without it so far. Its not my fault you left it back there."
"Feels just like being home," Alex mused next to Andrew, causing John to laugh.
"Dad, how's the physio going?" Jon asked, turning his attention back to his father.
"Ah, its grand. I can't believe you found him, Andy. Your man has worked wonders," John nodded happily. "I may just stick with this if it keeps going so well."
"Good," Andrew sighed. "I'll let Cassie know. She'll be glad."
"Who's Cassie?" Jon asked.
"Cassie?" Alex asked. "Cassie suggested him?"
"Wh-what's going on? Andy, who's Cassie?" Raine asked, confusion clouding her face.
"Cassie Adler," Alex said quickly. "Andrew's been talking to her almost every day."
"Oh? That's lovely," Raine said, sitting forward in her chair slightly. "Is she nice? How did you meet?"
"No, I -," Andrew started, getting overwhelmed by the conversation as he looked back and forth between each person.
"Wait, Cassie Adler, as in Cassandra Adler, the writer?" Jon asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Here There Be Dragons, Savage Beauty, her?"
Andrew held up his hands to stop the deluge. "Yes, Cassie Adler. She lives in Dublin. Tadgh is the dad of a kid in her son's class, I think. That's how she knew him and that's how I got his info."
"But how did you two meet?" Jon asked.
"Instagram," Andrew replied casually.
Alex burst into laughter along with Jon. Andrew realized his mistake, but it was too late.
"Hang on," Jon laughed. "Did you slide into her DMs or something?" he asked, gasping for air between bouts of laughter.
"Kind of? I don't know," Andrew said, tension building at the base of his skull. "Look, can we just not talk about -"
"Oh that Cassie Adler," Raine said, peering down at her phone through her glasses. "She wrote Mind Palace. She's very good."
"Yeah, I know," Andrew said quickly. "Can we just not - look, we're friends, that's it. Don't -," he insisted.
"Oh she's very pretty, Andy," his father cut in, looking over his wife's shoulder. "Bit of that edgy look to her, though. I thought you liked girls that were...what's the word...softer? More feminine?"
"Oh look, he's blushing," Jon needled. "He must like her."
"She does have a lot of piercings in her ears," his mother added.
"Jesus Christ," Andrew muttered to himself, running his hands through his hair. He glared at Alex next to him. "Really?" he asked, annoyance heavy in his voice.
"What?" Alex chuckled. "They asked."
"You didn't have to answer, though, did you, asshole," Andrew grumbled. He pinched the bridge of his nose. His headache was getting worse.
"It was so sad what happened to her husband," Raine continued. "Such a horrible way to go."
"The trial was really bad," Jon said. "And the audio of the calls for help were just atrocious."
Andrew's ears perked up. "Wait, what?"
"Oh yeah, they released the evidence from the trial like, last year I think. I'm pretty sure someone leaked the audio recordings. They were all over the internet," Jon explained, adjusting his mask.
Andrew had heard about Cassie's husband's death as an aside, passing through the news for the day. He recalled feeling bad for her and his family, but that was all the thought he'd given the topic. He had no connection to it, it was pointless information taking up valuable space in his brain. There was no need to examine it beyond the headline. Obviously, the trial that followed was international news, but again, it wasn't really something that he paid much attention to.
Now that he knew Cassie, and had a bit of a connection to her, the topic raised new curiosities that he didn't know he had. Morbid, terrible curiosities. He'd wanted to look into the trial when he first met her, but now it sort of felt wrong. He knew her, considered her a friend, and it felt wrong to pry into her life like that. But if it was public record, that meant anyone could read it. And he was anyone, right?
"Andy?" his mother's voice broke into his thoughts.
"Huh?" he asked, shaking his head slightly.
"You said she has a son?" she asked. He nodded. "How old is he?"
"Uh...two, I guess? I don't know. We don't really talk about him much," he said with a shrug.
"Hmmm. Well I'd like to get her something to say thank you for helping us out," Raine said. "What does she like?"
"Mum, stop," Andrew protested. "She doesn't want anything. She was just happy to help. Really, you don't need to do that."
"Well, when this thing is over, invite her round for tea or something," John insisted. "I would like to thank her in person."
Andrew sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine! Can we stop talking about Cassie Adler now?" he asked, exasperated.
His family relented and the subject was changed to the current COVID numbers and the new possibility of a "second wave" of the virus hitting. He tuned them out mostly, his mind focused on his brother's revelation. The evidence was just sitting there online, waiting. Suddenly this visit couldn't pass fast enough.
***
Later that evening, after he and Alex had said their goodnights, Andrew opened his internet browser on his phone as he lay in bed. He paused for a moment, wondering if he should continue. It almost felt like a betrayal of Cassie's trust. But he couldn't turn off the voice in his head telling him to look.
She'll never know, he told himself. How could she ever know?
He sighed and typed Cassie's name into the search bar, clicking on the Wikipedia article that popped up as the first result. Had to start somewhere. A photo of Cassie from a press conference or interview was at the top of the page. She was holding a microphone, mid-sentence.
Cassandra Adler at a conference in 2018, the caption read. Her hair was pulled up in a sleek pony tail at the crown of her head, she wasn't wearing her glasses, and she had on a green blouse and charcoal grey trousers, her legs crossed at the ankles as she sat at the center of a stage on an armchair. She looked a far cry from the young woman with a messy bun and faded t-shirts he had come to know.
Her birthdate and other details were underneath the photo.
Born September 23, 1994 (age 25)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation(s) Author
Alma mater University of Manchester
Period 2010 - present
Genres psychological thriller • young adult fiction •
autobiographical • bildungsroman • southern gothic
Notable works Here There Be Dragons
Savage Beauty
Death + All Her Friends
Mind Palace
Notable awards Michael L. Printz Award
(2010 Here There Be Dragons)
Spouse William "Will" Albright (m. October 16, 2016 -
December 21, 2016 (his death))
Children 1
The article continued underneath.
Cassandra Delphine Adler (born September 23, 1994) is an American author. Her books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, including Mind Palace (2013), which is one of the global best-selling books of 2013. Adler's witty prose and inclusion of taboo topics in her works draws extreme praise from critics on a worldwide level.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Adler attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, graduating in 2012. Cassandra later attended the University of Manchester, in Manchester, England and graduated with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing in 2015.
Her debut novel, Here There Be Dragons (2010) was released several weeks after her sixteenth birthday and proved to be a massive commercial success, catapulting Cassandra in the literary world, earning her the Michael L. Printz Award and becoming a New York Times Bestseller. It garnered large amounts of praise for its mature content and intense look at life with a parent suffering from mental illness. Cassandra's second novel, Savage Beauty (2011) arrived the next year, with her third work, Death + All Her Friends (2012) following shortly after Adler's eighteenth birthday.
Mind Palace (2013) was released during Adler's first year at the University of Manchester and debuted in the United States and the United Kingdom at number one, remaining on bestseller lists for five months straight. Cassandra's subsequent works have delivered the same level of quality and popularity.
Early Life and Education
Cassandra Delphine Adler was born on September 23, 1994 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Gregory Adler, a high school music teacher and Holly Adler (nee Winston), a librarian. The youngest of three, she has an older brother, Elijah and an older sister Bethany.
Adler attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, graduating in 2012 having majored in creative writing. The success of her first two books led her to seek education abroad, eventually settling on the University of Manchester in Manchester, England.
Cassandra's mother, Holly, suffered from schizophrenia that worsened over time and required her to spend time in long term mental health care facilities. Adler's first book, Here There Be Dragons is inspired by her childhood and experiences of living with a schizophrenic parent. Her mother committed suicide in November of 2008 when Cassandra was fourteen.
Andy froze. He hadn't known about Cassie's mother's suicide. Suddenly he felt as though he'd crossed a line and he clicked his phone off. He stared into the space across the room, his eyes landing on the simple set up he kept on a desk. A MIDI keyboard and a few cables sat coiled on the table and several pedals were pushed out of the way under the desk. He used the space to write in the middle of the night when he couldn't be bothered to go down to his recording space.
He looked at it for several minutes, trying to quiet the voice in his head that told him to keep reading. He'd never understood people's need to know details about artists' personal lives, so it felt weird reading about hers online. He understood the feeling of invasion that came with having people ask questions about his private life.
Its on Wikipedia. With sources. Its hardly a secret, his brain said slowly. Its not an invasion of privacy if anyone in the world can see it.
Now that the seed had been planted, he felt as though he needed to continue to water it. There'd be no way for him to ignore the pull of it now that he'd started. He sighed again and opened the web browser again, picking up where he left off.
Early Career
In an interview with NPR in 2014, Cassandra revealed that writing Here There Be Dragons was an act of therapy when working through her mother's sudden death. She said, "I was left with a lot of questions about myself and my future and where I fit in my family after her death. Dragons helped me process it. My relationship with my mother was a complicated one and differed widely from the ones she had with my siblings."
She credits her therapist with encouraging her to write about it. "It started as notes. Just notes and journal entries and random stuff. And then when I showed it to her, she told me I should consider compiling it all in one place. The idea of turning it into a piece of fiction came pretty soon after that once I realized there were a lot of other people in the same place who might benefit from having that type of representation in fiction."
After the success of her first three novels, Cassie completed a speaking tour at universities across the United States. Cassandra moved to Manchester in 2012 to complete a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Manchester. There, she released her fourth book, Mind Palace, which Cassandra states was inspired by a nightmare she'd once had. It has been her best-selling work to date, having been translated into fifteen different languages.
Following Mind Palace, Adler released Social Anxiety (2013), a collection of short stories told from several characters' perspectives that explore different aspects of moving from teenage-hood to adulthood. She did not release any new works for the following three years and instead focused on writing articles and op-eds on various topics relating to teen mental health.
Established Author
Following her wedding to Manchester United forward William Albright in October 2016, Cassandra released Solid 6 (2016), a strong critique of western society's unrealistic beauty standards. Due to her husband's murder shortly after the release, she did very little press for the work and it remains one of her least-successful pieces, despite its incredibly current subject.
After she gave birth to her son, Finn William Albright in August 2017, Cassandra moved from Manchester to Mayfair, London to be closer to her publisher. Shortly before her twenty-fourth birthday, Adler's eighth work, After (2018), was released to high critical praise. The streaming giant Netflix bought the rights to the film adaptation shortly after its release, though the film has yet to find a director.
Her most recent work, We Are All Born Dying (2020) released in February, has received much praise, though the bulk of her press for the work has been rescheduled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Cassandra took up a regular columnist position with The New York Times as well as The Observer in 2018 and continues to produce content for both. Several of her articles have also been featured in The New Yorker.
Personal Life
Adler met her husband, Will Albright, at a charity event in London in 2014 on her twentieth birthday. The two married on October 16, 2016 in a small civil ceremony. Throughout their relationship, fans of Will's accused her of using him for money and fame, a claim Mr. Albright and Ms. Adler have both refuted.
Following Will's murder in 2016, Cassandra moved from Manchester to Mayfair, London. In early 2019, she purchased a building in downtown Dublin, Ireland and renovated it. She confirmed she had left London and officially moved to Dublin in late 2019.
She has stated several times that she suffered from depression, anxiety, and postpartum depression.
Her Instagram account is focused on spreading mental health awareness, life as a single mother, and her writing process.
Cassandra said in an interview with Vogue that she suffers from insomnia and is often hyper-productive in the evenings due to her inability to sleep easily.
Her son Finn occasionally features in her social media posts and updates.
In February 2018, Adler filed a civil suit against The Mirror newspaper for releasing a headline insinuating she had a hand in her husband's murder after she inherited his $25mil estate. The suit was settled out of court and a formal apology and retraction was issued by the paper in July 2018.
Her brother Elijah is a chef in New York City.
Crown vs. Samuelson
On December 21, 2016, Cassandra's husband Will Albright was found murdered in their Manchester home. The cause of death was later revealed to be multiple large stab wounds that punctured several of Mr. Albright's internal organs. He bled out within minutes of the attack.
Cassandra arrived home to find Mr. Albright still conscious, but bleeding out rapidly. She phoned for emergency services. Mr. Albright died before emergency services arrived and was pronounced dead at the scene.
On December 30, 2016, Greater Manchester Police arrested Walter Samuelson following questioning in the crime. He was formally charged with William Albright's murder on January 3, 2017.
The trial began on February 19, 2018 and lasted two weeks, with jury deliberations taking less than a day. Walter Samuelson was found guilty of first degree murder on March 2, 2018.
During the trial, audio recordings of emergency services calls made by Mr. Albright and Ms. Adler were played for the court. Following the trial, these audio recordings were leaked and circulated online. The source of those leaks has never been discovered.
Further evidence from the trial has been released over time, with the bulk of the court record and transcript finding its way to the public in early 2019.
Walter Samuelson is currently incarcerated at HM Prison Belmarsh serving a life sentence.
When asked about the trial's outcome, Cassandra said: "I'm glad its all over. I just wanted this to be over so we could all move on. Living like this...its torture."
Andy's finger hovered over the underlined link to the audio recordings. Did he really want to hear them? He found himself reaching for his headphones before he realized what was happening. The grotesque curiosity of the situation was pulling him in and he couldn't ignore it any longer. He clicked on the recording of Will's call and braced himself.
"999 Emergency services, what's the nature of your emergency?"
"Y-yes, hello," the voice was strained. "I - I've been st-stabbed."
"What is your name and location?"
"Will Albright, I'm - uh - I'm at 67 Holbrooke Lane in Man - Manchester," Will groaned. "Th-this guy, he just came u-up to - to me and stabbed m-me."
Andy heard Will groan several times.
"I - I th-think I'm b-bleed-ding out," he stammered. There were several dull thuds in the background.
"Sir, stay with me, alright? We've got someone on the way to you now. Have you got anything to stop the bleeding with? A blanket or a towel?" The frantic tone of the 999 operator had Andy's nerves on edge.
"Uh...yeah. I've, I've got - oh fuck," It sounded like Will stumbled. "I - I think I - I'm gonna pass out." His speech began slurring. "C-Cassie." He coughed several times and cursed again. "I - I c-can't..."
"Stay with me, Will. Help is on the way," the operator said, trying to keep her voice calm.
"J-Cas-sie..." Then he was silent.
"Mr. Albright? Will? Are you still with me?" the operator asked frantically.
A minute passed with the operator repeating herself over and over. Then another voice came on the line.
"Will? Oh my God, Will!" It was Cassie's voice. The recording stopped.
Andy lay in bed for several seconds, motionless, letting the last words of a dying man wash over him. The last thing he said was his wife's name. It would have been beautifully poetic if it wasn't so painful. Cassie's voice at the end sounded so terrified and knowing what she walked into was even worse. He felt a tear slide down his cheek and swiped it away, debating if he wanted to hear her call.
May as well, he thought. You've already got enough nightmare fuel, what's the harm in a bit more. He swallowed deeply before starting the next clip.
"999 Emergency Service, what is the nature of your call?" A male voice came across his headphones.
"My husband, he's hurt," Cassie's voice, filled with panic. "He's - fuck, there's so much blood!"
"Ma'am, ma'am, what's your name?" the operator asked.
"It's - Will, please don't - Will wake up, please!"
"Ma'am, your name and location, please?"
"Cassie Adler. We're at 67 Holbrooke Lane in Manchester," her voice got more frantic. "Oh God, Will, no. Please no!"
"Alright, Cassie? Is Will breathing?"
"Yes? I - I don't know! Oh my God, there's so much blood!"
"Cassie, can you check for a pulse, please? Do you know how to check for a pulse?"
"Will? No, please, please don't," she was openly sobbing now. "Please, no."
There were several seconds of her sobbing before the audio cut off.
It was over just as quickly as it began. Andy yanked his headphones off of his head and threw them down onto the bed next to him, running his fingers through his hair. She was so scared. She was only twenty-two years old. When he was twenty-two he was going out for pints with the lads and staying out on weekends with his then-girlfriend. He barely spared a thought for the idea that someone he loved could be taken from him.
Cassie had lost two people she loved at such a young age. It was no wonder she seemed wiser beyond her years. Instead of going on holidays and attending parties and clubbing at the weekends, she was raising a child by herself and grieving a husband she barely got to enjoy a life with.
He turned out his light and settled into bed, searching out his conversation with her on his phone. He felt the urge to say something helpful and supportive, but then he realized it was pointless. The murder was over four years ago. The trial had ended two years ago. She had probably moved on. Plus, saying something would alert her to the fact that he'd read up on her and heard the audio clips. He didn't need to be a genius to know how well that would go over.
So he landed on an easy question: Was the hunt successful? Did you find all of your spoons?
There was no point in closing his eyes or attempting sleep that night; his mind was full to bursting of Cassie's sobbing cries for help and pained screams of Will's name, begging him to come back to life.