Blood On Her Hands

Chapter 37

I had slept for only an hour when a harsh thudding dragged me out of sleep. I rolled over into a sitting position. I could tell that the sound was coming from the steps. Someone was stomping down them or maybe up them. It was probably Julio pouting from being scolded by his parents or maybe Nancy was in one of her moods.

I hadn’t showered before lying down so I figured the disruption to my sleep was a blessing in disguise. After gathering my things for the bathroom, I quickly checked my phone. The notification light on the top of the screen was blinking red.

There was a message sent from my uncle. It was about thirty minutes old.

Forgot to text you earlier but we took a spur of the moment trip to your Tia’s sister’s house. We’re going to stay overnight. See you tomorrow morning.

I read the text over again.

If my family had gone on a trip to a relative’s, then who was stomping around the house?

I dropped my things back onto my bed, only taking my phone to the door with me. I gripped it tight and pressed my ear to the wood to listen for any more footsteps. The floor creaked from somewhere downstairs.

Had I locked the door behind me when I came in? Did my family remember to lock the sliding glass doors that led to the yard?

Who could have snuck inside other than the people out to kill me? My family had left me alone and vulnerable. I didn’t know whether I was upset at them for it or glad they weren’t at risk of getting caught in the crossfire.

But if the person in my house was there to kill me, then why had they gone back downstairs? From the picture the anonymous caller sent me that was supposedly taken by the people who were after me, it seemed like they knew exactly where my room was. They could have killed me ages ago. They could have put a bullet in my head as I slept.

There was a rustling coming from downstairs. Then the footsteps were running up the stairs. I fell away from my door as it shot open.

I held up my arms in defense but it was Nancy who had burst in.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, panting. Her face was glistening with sweat, causing her forehead to catch the light.  She was wearing neon colored running shoes and a gray hoodie soaked with sweat at the chest. Her hair that had been straightened was starting to curl at the roots. It was like the ponytail was undoing itself as she stood there.

I had assumed she had gone with the rest of my family. I supposed that the “we” my uncle could have been referencing as only his wife and Julio. I wished he would have specified further. What also confused me was the state Nancy was in. She looked frazzled, disheveled - something she never was. She never liked to work out so I didn’t understand the outfit and even if she had made a change to her fitness regime, it was well into the night.

“Why do you look like that?” I asked as Nancy continued to huff.

She hesitated. “I was on a run.”

“You are a pregnant woman and it is late at night! Why on earth would you be on a run?”

I watched Nancy carefully. There were no ordinary circumstances where Nancy would go running, nonetheless running at night. I could sit for hours and think about what could possibly drive Nancy into doing something so reckless and still not come up with an answer. She averted her gaze and for a second I saw a resemblance in her expression to what I had seen in Julio’s lately. Fear. Then, over that fear, came a flush of red and a scowl.

“It’s not about the run. It’s about what I saw while I was running.” The temperature in the room dropped a couple of degrees. Nancy’s voice was sharp and meant to cut. “Where were you today? Who were you with?”
Shoot. Had she seen me in the car with Vincent?