Page 96 of Deadly Cry
‘Well, strictly speaking, he’s not your son, is he?’ Robert asked from the kitchen doorway. ‘Well, not biologically anyway.’
‘Piss off, Rob,’ she snapped.
‘I’m just trying to help.’
‘How does that help?’ Robyn asked. ‘You think I love him any less because I didn’t give birth to him?’
‘Well, technically…’
‘How about technically you fuck off,’ she spat, rising from the chair and turning.
Bryant, who was standing closer to the brother, looked to her for guidance. Should he step in or not? Kim shook her head. She would have liked to have responded to his insensitive and cruel comments herself, but by her own admission, Robyn had rarely stuck up for herself, allowing Louise to be the reactive one in the marriage. Robyn needed to do this for her own piece of mind.
‘You never liked her, and you hated our life together. You’ve never taken our marriage seriously or treated Archie like your nephew. Look at your face; you’re not even sorry she’s dead.’
The tension that burned between the two was palpable, causing Kim to wonder why he was here at all. They obviously weren’t close.
Kim wondered if Robyn could hear her thoughts as she continued.
‘Why did you come? Just to talk about your perfect wife and your two perfect daughters? Did you come to gloat because I’m miserable and hurting?’
The rage burned in Robyn’s eyes, but Kim was surprised to see amusement in the expression of her brother.
‘You always wanted to be better than me. All our lives you’ve competed for attention. You always wanted to win at something. Well, here you go. I have nothing, but just so you know, your wife is a bitch and your daughters are brats.’
‘You evil cow,’ he said as his face reddened. ‘You couldn’t get a man, so you settled for a woman, and now you’re pissed off with me because my life is great and yours is—’
‘Mr Harvey, I think it’s time for you to leave,’ Bryant said, taking a step forward.
The man hesitated for a few seconds before storming back into the house.
‘I’m sorry you had to witness that,’ Robyn said, collapsing back into her seat. ‘As I explained last night, we’ve never got along. We used to pretend for our parents, but there’s no need for that any more. Both gone,’ she explained.
The woman expelled a deep breath and braced herself.
‘Go on, Inspector, I’m ready for whatever you’ve got to tell me.’
‘Robyn, I’m here to tell you not to give up hope. We firmly believe Archie is still alive.’
Seventy-Eight
Kate applied a second coating of lipstick before popping the cosmetic into her handbag. She wanted to look her best later.
She was due to collect Tyra in half an hour to commence what would be their last day of the book tour. Two more signings and the deed would be done. The two-week tour had gone without incident, except for a few mean shout-outs from people passing by the bookstores. All moved on quietly by security.
Only last night, Tyra had messaged her for an update on book sales. Kate had promised she’d have an accurate figure later today, but that had been a lie. She had an accurate figure almost by the hour.
Sales of the book were not what she or the publisher had expected or hoped for. The initial buy-in had been promising but reported till sales were less than twenty per cent of the initial orders after two weeks. Kate hadn’t expected the book to make theSunday Timesbestseller list, but it was barely making any list at all. The e-book wasn’t faring much better, but priced at almost ten pounds, it seemed the publishers failed to understand that most readers wouldn’t pay that for something they couldn’t physically hold.
She’d hoped the book tour and associated interest would bring potential foreign deals and translations. Just a week ago, publishers in Germany, Hungary and Spain had been showing interest in making a deal, but the conversations had ended, and the emails had dried up and Kate was no longer receiving responses to her messages. What appeared to have been a passing interest had died completely, and this was what happened if you didn’t seize every single opportunity.
The public and press were losing interest. The requests for interviews were dying off and even social media appeared to have softened towards Tyra. Fascination in the ex-glamour model and her story was waning.
But there was a spring in her step as she locked the door of the cottage behind her because she was sure that would have changed by the end of the day.
Seventy-Nine
‘Not sure the brother was as supportive as he could have been,’ Bryant said once they were sitting in Sam’s Bostin Bites in Old Hill. The café was double fronted with seating and a takeout counter for homemade products. Bryant had bagged a couple of Scotch eggs and two red onion sausage rolls to take home later.
