Chapter 1 - SAY YOU FELL
Nora Hale turned at the top of the basement stairs with a glass casserole dish in both hands.
Julian Hale put both palms against her upper back.
And shoved.
Hard.
“JULIAN—!”
The dish flew sideways and shattered against the wall.
Nora struck several steps before landing at the bottom.
Pain exploded through her ribs and shoulder.
She tried to breathe.
Couldn’t.
For three seconds, the entire house went silent.
Then Graham ran down the stairs.
Her husband.
Her first thought was relief.
Until he grabbed her arm and whispered:
“Please… say you fell.”
Nora stared at him.
“What?”
“Say you slipped.”
His fingers tightened.
Above them, Julian stood at the top of the stairs.
Gray shirt.
White face.
Not apologizing.
Not moving.
Nora looked from one brother to the other.
“Why?”
Graham’s eyes filled with panic.
“He didn’t mean it.”
Nora pulled away.
Her ribs screamed.
“You saw him.”
“Nora, please.”
Julian finally spoke.
“You turned too fast.”
She looked up at him.
“I was standing still.”
Graham whispered:
“Keep this in the family.”
Those words followed her all the way to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Two hours later, Nora sat on an examination bed in a hospital gown, still trembling.
Graham leaned close.
“He didn’t mean it.”
She pulled her hand away.
Then Dr. Rebecca Stone entered with CT images.
The doctor did not look at Graham first.
She looked at Nora.
“Nora, there’s something here that isn’t from today.”
She pointed toward an abnormal area.
Nora leaned forward.
“What do you mean?”
“This injury is old.”
Graham went perfectly still.
Dr. Stone continued:
“There are chronic changes consistent with a prior significant head injury.”
Nora’s mouth went dry.
“How old?”
“I can’t date it to an exact day from this scan.”
Nora stared at the image.
Then one word surfaced from somewhere deep inside her.
Four years.
“Four years…?”
Graham stepped backward.
A hard knock hit the hospital door.
Then another.
A man’s voice:
“Graham Hale?”
Graham turned pale.
Nora looked at him.
“What did you do to me?”
May you like
The door handle started to turn.
And for the first time in four years, Nora remembered the smell of spilled red wine on basement concrete.
