‘Shut up!’ Greg snarls.
Tia and Fiona join in, screaming and yelling for help that we know won’t come. But Greg has already locked eyes with me. He takes two swift steps in my direction, his arm raised, the knife blade catching the lamplight as it swoops down towards my chest. I close my eyes, waiting for it to pierce my skin. Tensed for the pain. Tia and Fiona are now screaming at him to stop, but there’s no sound coming out of my mouth any more. It’s like I’m floating above my own body.
As the blade comes for me, there’s a scraping sound and a cry. My eyes fly open to see that Tia has jerked her chair sideways into me, falling against my arm and pushing my chair several inches to the left. I register a searing pain and wonder what it could be, before realising with a jolt of shock that Greg has stabbed me.
But Tia’s actions knocked out Greg’s aim. The knife went into my shoulder instead of my chest. If it wasn’t for her, I’d probably be dead right now.
I’m panting and trying not to freak out about the fact that I’ve been injured. ‘Tee, are you okay?’ I gasp. She’s slipped off me and fallen sideways onto the floor, still tied to the chair. Greg jumps back, startled, the knife still in his hand, only now its blade is dripping with blood.
My blood.
He growls and kicks viciously at Tia’s legs. ‘Stupid bitch. What did you think you were doing?’
She winces and gasps. ‘Trying to stop you, you fucking psycho! I’m not just gonna sit here quietly while you try to kill my best friend.’
‘Greg, stop it, please,’ Fiona begs. ‘Kelly, are you okay? He’s hurt you!’
‘I’m okay,’ I say, even though I’m far from okay. I don’t even want to think about the wound in my shoulder. How deep it is. How serious it is. Because we’re all still tied up and at this man’s mercy. Despite Tia’s well-timed manoeuvre, our nightmare is far from over. And Greg is now even more furious than before. I’m pretty sure he’s about to try again. And this time he won’t miss.
A shape catches my eye as it moves out of the darkness, and I hardly dare breathe. It’s Sophie! She’s alive. Our eyes meet and in this fleeting moment I try to convey all my fears and all my truths to her. I silently plead with my eyes before planting my gaze firmly back on Greg, willing him not to notice his sister. But he’s seen my eyes dart away from the space behind him, where Sophie is creeping forwards. And we all see the whiskey bottle she took from the bar, now raised high above her head.
Is she going to be too late?
As Greg turns, she smashes it down on the side of his head and makes a grab for the knife at the same time. He lunges for her and I can’t stop myself from screaming. But I’m mistaken; it wasn’t him lunging for her, he’s flailing forwards against his sister. The bottle did its work. Greg collapses to the floor unconscious, the knife clattering down at his side, and the room falls silent.
Sophie stands there above her brother, panting and crying. And then her knees give way and she sinks to the floor.
‘I’m sorry,’ she says. ‘I’m so sorry.’
I can’t tell if she’s talking to us or to Greg. ‘Sophie, are you all right? You were unconscious. Do you need medical help?’
‘Never mind her,’ Tia snaps from the floor. ‘What about you, Kels? Are you okay? That bastard got you.’
‘It’s just my shoulder, I think.’ My vision blurs and I feel like I’m about to vomit. I close my eyes and try to breathe.
‘Kelly!’ Fiona cries.
‘Sophie, untie us,’ Tia orders. ‘Kelly needs an ambulance.’
I open my eyes again. ‘Is he… alive?’ I stare down at Greg’s immobile body.
He groans in response and I flinch.
‘You better tie him up,’ Tia says. ‘Because if he wakes up now, you just know he’s gonna be mad. Even madder than before.’
Sophie wobbles to her feet and sways there for a moment. She looks unsure of what to do.
‘Sophie…’ I try to sound as calm and gentle as possible. ‘Can you come over here and cut us loose. Tia and Fiona can help you tie him up and get us some medical attention. You’re probably concussed.’
Sophie does as I ask, first reaching down to pick up the knife. She comes towards me and I tense up, fearful for a moment that she might want to hurt me. But she wipes the blade on her jeans before slicing into the zip ties, carefully edging the tip of the blade inside the plastic on my wrists. I swear under my breath as the zip tie breaks and my body jolts, inducing a white-hot pain in my shoulder.
‘Sorry.’ Sophie winces at my expression.
‘It’s fine,’ I gasp. ‘Tia, are you okay? You went down quite hard.’
‘Yeah, just a bit bruised I think.’ She scowls up at Sophie. ‘Glad you finally saw sense.’
Sophie cuts the ties on my ankles next. ‘I think I always knew my dad was guilty.’
‘So then why the hell did you go along with your brother?’ Tia cries. ‘If you knew he was guilty…’
‘Because… I don’t know. Greg’s the only family I’ve got left. He loves me. He looks after me. Practically raised me after it happened. My mum shut down after Dad killed himself. I got the feeling she didn’t love Greg and me quite as much afterwards. It was like she saw us in a different light. We had his genes. We were tainted.’
‘I’m sure that’s not true.’ I know there’s nothing that could make me love my boys any less.
‘I wanted to believe that my dad didn’t do it. Greg was so convincing. So sure. I just couldn’t go against him. But then, meeting you, Kelly…’ She looks up at me. ‘You took me into your home without even knowing me! You were so kind. No one’s ever been that kind to me before.’
I’m finally free and I stretch my legs out, wanting to rub at the sore spots on my ankles where the ties dug in, but I’m too scared of moving in case I make my shoulder worse. So I stay seated for now while Sophie sets to work freeing Tia.
Tia scowls. ‘If you thought Kelly was kind, why did you turn her over to the police with those false accusations?’
‘I told you why – Greg said I had to. He said it didn’t matter how nice Kelly seemed. He said all that mattered was getting justice for my dad.’ Sophie stops and takes a breath, wiping at her face. I realise she’s crying. ‘He was so angry. He told me that we couldn’t let any of you get away with it. I’m sorry, but he’s not an easy person to say no to.’ She’s sobbing and shaking now as she turns to Fiona. ‘I loved my dad, but I’m gutted that he did this. I’m so, so sorry for what he did to you, Fiona. For how he made you feel.’
‘Thank you,’ Fiona replies, but she looks dazed and exhausted.
‘I just was so confused about everything. I sensed Dad was guilty, but I didn’t want to admit it. Because if I did, then what did that make me?’
Greg moans again. Once Tia is free she snatches up the packet of zip ties from the floor and sets to work securing Greg’s wrists together, and then his ankles. I don’t know how she can bear to touch him. The man is a monster.
Tia steps away and reaches for her phone, which is in her bag on the floor. She swipes at it a few times and puts it to her ear while Sophie takes the knife and releases Fiona.
When Sophie’s done, she sits on the floor hugging her knees to her chest. I want to comfort her, but I can’t move. I’m feeling woozy again, and my shoulder throbs like it’s on fire. I focus on Sophie to try to take my mind off the pain. ‘You should have come to speak to us years ago. We would never have blamed you. I feel bad that you’ve held onto all this pain for so many years.’
‘I’m sorry, Kelly.’ She sniffs. ‘I wish we could go back to being friends. I wish I hadn’t let Greg talk me into any of this. It was all so crazy. You know I’ll go to the police and tell them everything. They’ll drop the charges. You can all go back to your lives. I promise.’
‘Thank you. And you know… we can still be friends, Sophie.’
She gives me a sceptical look. But I mean what I say. I liked Sophie from the moment I met her. She felt like
a lost soul when she showed up in my garden, and I wasn’t too far off the mark. Maybe I can help her find a new purpose in life. I slump down in my chair and close my eyes.
Fiona is crouched in front of me, asking if I’m okay, telling me to stay awake, that help will be here soon. But everything seems to be fading. The last thing I hear is Tia on the phone, her voice frantic, panicked:
‘Ash? Yeah it’s me. There’s been a situation. You need to come to the boathouse. It’s urgent. Get an ambulance here. Soon as possible… Yeah I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s not me. It’s Kelly.’
Forty
Seven months later
TIA
I kiss Ed and run from the front door to the car, my head bowed against icy needles of rain. She only lives a few minutes’ walk away, but I don’t want to get drenched and have to sit in damp clothes all evening. I’ll drive there and leave the car overnight so I can have a few drinks. It is a celebration after all.
I slide into the car, my hair already dripping with rain, and start up the engine. I’m looking forward to tonight. We’ve all been so busy over Christmas that we barely had time to get together. We’re due a well-deserved catch up. And now the fallout from the Greg-and-Sophie nightmare is behind us, maybe we can concentrate on having a laugh for a change.
Both Lawsons are fully recovered physically and are serving time in prison. Greg will be lucky to get out in the next decade, and Sophie is serving two years. Fiona’s visited her a couple of times and Kelly tries to visit at least once a month. They’re more generous towards her than I would be. If I never see either of the Lawsons again it’ll be too soon.
Kelly’s stab wound wasn’t life-threatening. But it scared us all. Made us realise how close we’d come to not making it out of that boathouse. Made us realise that we’d all been given a second chance at life.
I drive carefully down the rain-drenched street. The last thing I need is a car accident. Luckily, the roads are empty. Who else would be crazy enough to go out on a Monday evening in February in this weather?
After that terrible night, I had no choice but to tell Ed about everything that had happened in the run up to it, including receiving those photographs. He was furious with Greg and Sophie. Devastated that they’d spiked my drink and put me in such a compromising and distressing position. But after everything had sunk in and he knew that I was safe, he was also a little upset that I hadn’t confided in him in the first place. That I hadn’t shared my fears with him, my own husband.
Ed was hurt that I’d thought he might not believe me. He asked me to think how I would feel if the situation was reversed. I agreed that I’d been wrong not to trust him, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. We gradually found our way back to one another. Stronger than before. But also more considerate. More careful of one another’s feelings.
I realise I’ve already arrived at Kelly’s, and it’s another mad dash through the rain to her house. Luckily, I don’t have to wait too long before the door opens, and Fiona stands before me with a glass of wine in her hand.
‘Tee, come in.’
‘Congratulations!’ I step inside and we kiss one another on the cheek.
‘Thank you.’ She breathes in and smiles at the same time, letting out a happy sigh. I take in her stick-thin figure and gaunt face. Fi’s lost weight these past few months – she needs to pile on a few more pounds, if you ask me. But she says she has no idea why because she’s never eaten so much junk food in her life. I can attest to that; I nearly fell off my chair when I saw her – Miss Calorie-Counting Salad Junkie – eat a cheeseburger last month. Right now she takes a huge slug of wine. ‘Kelly’s in the kitchen getting the casserole out of the oven. Do you want red or white?’
‘Red please.’ I manage to find a space to hang my coat up in the hall and follow Fiona into the kitchen. ‘Hey, Kels, that smells great.’
Kelly’s crouched in front of the oven. She turns around as I walk in, her cheeks pink from the heat. ‘Tia, hi! Sit down, I’ll dish this up in a sec.’
‘Where are the boys?’
‘Upstairs. I told them I’m having a girls’ night. No boys allowed.’
‘No you didn’t.’
‘No, you’re right, I didn’t.’ She laughs.
‘I’ll go up and say hi in a bit.’
‘Great, they’d love to see you.’
Lately, Kelly has been staying home a lot more and volunteering a lot less. She told us that she thought her volunteer work might have been a way to escape her real life, to not have to deal with Michael’s death and with her grief. Now that she’s eased off on the hours at work, she’s been able to spend a lot more quality time with Ryan and Sonny. They all seem to be doing better. Especially Ryan, who’s so much happier both at home and at school, where he’s reconnected with his friends. There’s also another reason why Kelly hasn’t been working quite such long hours these days.
‘How’s that delicious man of yours?’ I ask with a teasing grin.
Using a pair of oven gloves that look like they were made in the seventies, Kelly carries the chipped blue casserole dish over and sets it down in the middle of the table. ‘He’s fine thanks, Tia.’ She pulls a face at me and sticks her tongue out, her cheeks turning an even deeper shade of pink.
Kelly’s been seeing Saul Barker, the defence solicitor who was working on her case. He asked her out on a date the week after all the charges were dropped and, after quite a bit of dithering, she finally said yes. Saul is divorced with two teenagers, so he and Kelly have a lot in common. She insists it’s not that serious, but I think it is. I think she’s just saying that to protect herself.
Kelly dishes up the food while Fiona pours me a glass of red and tops up Kelly’s glass.
‘So, Happy D-Day, Fiona,’ Kelly says, holding her glass up.
‘Happy D-Day, Fi,’ I echo.
‘Thanks, girls.’ Fiona smiles. We knock our glasses together and each take a drink.
‘How does it feel to be a single woman again?’ I ask.
‘Bloody brilliant.’ Fiona grins. ‘I feel like I can actually breathe now that I have the decree absolute in my possession.’
‘No more Nasty Nathan,’ I reply.
‘Too right,’ she says. ‘You’re looking at a divorced woman.’
‘And a gorgeous one at that,’ Kelly says.
The day after our traumatic experience in the boathouse, Fiona told Nathan she was leaving him. He didn’t take it well. He begged her, yelled at her, pleaded and sulked. Tried every trick in the book to make her stay. But when he threatened her with violence, I got Ash to put the frighteners on him, threatening Nathan with a long prison sentence if he so much as looked at Fiona in the wrong way. That seemed to do the trick. But the bastard got his revenge by only agreeing to the divorce if she admitted to adultery, and then screwing her out of every penny.
And Fiona could have done with every penny. She confessed to us that she’d been taking money out of the business to pay for her own designer clothes and jewellery – not because she wanted that stuff for herself, but because she was trying to live up to the impossible standards that Nathan set for her. She’d been writing the purchases off as business expenses. So, when Greg and Sophie sent the tax inspectors round, Fiona was terrified that the truth would come out. But, thankfully, the auditors never discovered her deception.
Fiona admitted everything to us. Being more financially stable than me, Kelly is helping her to pay back the money to the business and in the meantime Fiona has moved into Kelly’s place. It suits them both really well for the moment. Kelly and I are glad to be supporting Fiona financially and emotionally. She’s never been one to ask for help before, so it’s nice to be able to do something for her for a change. Especially after hearing how rough she had it with Nathan for so many years.
Aside from her short interlude with Ed, Fiona has never had a good romantic relationship in her life, not since Brian Lawson’s assault on her when she was fifteen. Now she’s started counselling sessions an
d it’s really helping, although she’s adamant she wants to remain single for the rest of her life. She says that once she’s got her business back on track and has her own place to live, she’s going to try to adopt a child. That she’s realised a family is the thing she’s yearning for. Her own family were never particularly warm-hearted towards her, so she deserves that at least.
I put my fork down for a moment and reach for a slice of bread. ‘I know it’s a great day for you, Fi, getting your divorce through and everything, but aren’t you just the teensiest bit pissed off that Nathan’s got the house and the money? Didn’t you at least want to put up a bit of a fight to get some of it? You’re more than entitled, after what he put you through.’
Fiona puts her glass down. ‘I know he got all the money, but I actually don’t care. If he thinks he’s got one over on me, it’ll keep him off my back. Make him feel like he’s scored a win. After being in that suffocating house for so many years, I just want my freedom. To do what I want, when I want. To wear what I want. Eat what I want. Not feel scared in my own home. To have all that… well… it feels like I’ve won the lottery.’
I shake my head. ‘I’m so sorry you had to put up with that shit for so long. I wish I’d known sooner.’
‘I didn’t want anyone to know,’ she replies. ‘I think I was in denial. I felt this… well, it was a kind of shame. I didn’t want anyone to know because I couldn’t handle people’s pity or judgement. I didn’t want to admit that my marriage was a failure. I know it sounds ridiculous.’
‘Not at all,’ Kelly says. ‘It’s too easy for other people to point fingers and judge. To say you should’ve done this or that. But the truth is that unless you’ve lived that person’s life, you have no idea what you would do or how you would react in their shoes. It’s arrogant to think otherwise.’
One of Us Is Lying: A totally gripping psychological thriller with a brilliant twist Page 24
