I Heard Their Hearts Before Mine Stopped Chapter 06

I Heard Their Hearts Before Mine Stopped Chapter 06

The officer’s pen scratched across the paper. “Then why didn’t you rescue her?”

Owen squeezed his eyes shut. Tears ran down his mud-streaked cheeks.

“Sadie said she lost her bracelet, the one I gave her for her eighteenth birthday. I was in a hurry to find it. I thought Lena was a strong swimmer and could make it back on her own. So I turned the kayak around and left.”

A loud smack.

Dad charged over and punched Owen hard in the face.

Owen fell sideways into the mud but didn’t fight back. He just lay there like an empty shell.

“You animal! You saw her and left her there for that worthless bracelet!” Dad pointed at Owen, chest heaving. “You left my daughter to die! How desperate must she have been?”

“Do not act as though you cared more than I did!” Owen sat up suddenly and wiped the blood from his mouth.

“When the rescue boat left, who said Lena was a strong swimmer and could hold on? Who gave the only seat to Sadie? I was not the only one who abandoned her!”

Dad froze, his face paler than death.

“Also, we recovered a deleted text from carrier records.” The officer interrupted their argument and handed Mom a printed screenshot.

—

The recipient was Sadie, and the message had been sent at ten fifteen the previous night.

The message was only one line:

“Sadie, I left Mom’s stomach medication in a waterproof bag under the big rock. The rain is too heavy for me to swim back. Have Gavin come and get it. Do not let Mom’s condition get worse.”

Mom stared at the paper and went rigid. She turned and fixed her gaze on Sadie, who was hiding at the back of the tent.

“Sadie, you received this message last night, didn’t you?” Gavin strode over and snatched the phone Sadie had been hiding behind her back.

His fingers flew across the screen. Then he looked up, his expression hard with anger.

“The message was deleted, but the delivery record remains. The time matches. Sadie, you knew where Lena was. You knew she had left the medicine somewhere safe for Mom. Why did you tell everyone she stole it and ran away?”

The tent fell deathly quiet. Only the sound of water dripping from branches outside could be heard.

Sadie backed into a corner, pressing against the canvas, body shaking.

“I don’t know! I was so scared last night. The rain was so loud I thought it was spam and deleted it without reading! You can’t blame me. I didn’t push her into the water!”

“You’re lying!”

—

Mom let out a scream and rushed forward, slapping Sadie hard across the face.

Sadie fell back onto the cot. Five bright red finger marks appeared instantly on her pale cheek.

She clutched her face in disbelief. “Mom! You hit me? I’ve always been your favorite!”

“Yes, I hit you, you liar who destroyed this family!” Mom grabbed a cup and smashed it on the ground. Glass flew everywhere. “Lena died leaving medicine for me! You said she was jealous! You lied to us all! How did I raise someone this vicious?”

Dad sat on the bench, clutching his hair and burying his head between his knees as he sobbed and struck his thigh.

“Enough!” Gavin roared, eyes red and voice hoarse.

“The ones who really failed her were us. Last night on the bullhorn… Lena must have heard every word I said. The last thing she heard before she died was me calling her shameless and telling her to get lost.”

Gavin struck himself across the face again and again until both cheeks swelled.