Page 99 of The Lucky Winners
My mind is spinning, scrambling for a way out, for anything to use against him. My phone is on the coffee-table, just within reach. I force myself to stay calm, to keep my voice steady, but my hands are shaking.
I reach out, grabbing the phone, and hold it up like a shield. ‘If you don’t get out of here, I’m calling the police. They’ll be here in a shot.’
He laughs, a low, guttural sound that’s filled with contempt. ‘Go ahead, Janey,’ he sneers. ‘If you don’t want to see your useless husband again, that is.’
A fresh wave of panic floods through me.Dev. I glance quickly at the clock on the wall. He hasn’t answered one of my calls or text messages.
‘That’s right,’ Webb says, his voice dripping with satisfaction. ‘Your precious Dev isn’t very well, you see. He needs medical attention after being struck over the head a few times with this.’
He holds up the hammer, which I can now see is blood-stained, and I choke back a gasp.
66
David
He watches her, drinks in her fear. She’s frozen in place, her body stiff with tension, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if she can somehow make herself smaller, less visible.
But she can’t hide from him. Not now. Not ever again.
He smiles, thinking of Dev – battered, bloody and sprawled unconscious in a spare room upstairs. So useless and weak. So easily taken by surprise and off his guard. So stupid as to leave his keys lying around for the taking.
Dev is a liability who needed removing, at least for now, until he has time to take care of him properly.
And he knows precisely how he will get her down to the lake. He’ll lead her to believe she’ll see her feckless husband down there when in reality he’s right above her head.
He steps closer, measuring the space between them, savouring the moment. He’s not in a rush. Not any more. He’s not afraid of anything or anyone. It’s a powerful position to be in.
‘You’re shaking,’ he murmurs. ‘And you should be afraid, Janey. Soon you’ll know how David felt in his last moments.’
‘What do you want?’ she whispers, her throat tight.
‘Oh, we’ll get to that. I’ve waited a long time for this. Show some patience.’ He tips his head, studying her face. ‘First, I think you should know a few things. Understand how much I’ve seen, how well I’ve crept around on the edge of your life. We have time, after all. Isn’t that nice?’
She doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need her to.
He gestures towards the large windows, the ones she and Dev had been so concerned about lately. ‘The vandalism. That was me, obviously.’ He chuckles, shaking his head. ‘I was right outside when you were panicking about it. That was funny. And a stroke of genius on my part, framing the comments as coming from disgruntled locals, don’t you think?’
She swallows, barely breathing.
‘But the car?’ He shrugs. ‘Not me. I watched Tilda do that. She was very angry with you, wasn’t she? Became obsessed with you from the first day they met you. I’ve heard all her crazy rants when they’re arguing through the open windows down at the barn.’ He pauses with a smirk before continuing. ‘She was committed to a clinic before she moved here. Did you know that? She’s got previous on trying to eradicate attractive women who might be her dashing husband’stype.’
I shake my head, trying to make sense of what he’s saying. ‘Why would she want to be friends if she thought I was a threat?’
‘Heard that saying about keeping your enemies close? She’s quite mad, Janey. Always been unstable, I’ll wager, but driven to the wastelands of obsession and desperation by her unfaithful charmer of a husband.’ He coughs bashfully. ‘Even if I did help the escalation of her obsession by one or two well-placed little notes through the door.’
‘Notes?’
‘Warning from a Friend.’ He hooks speech marks in the air. ‘That was always my first line. Advising her to watch out because you were after her husband. Grassing Simon up when he called here alone that day … telling her she’d find evidence of all your past misdemeanours back at your house in Nottingham.’ He smiles pleasantly. ‘Then it was just a case of sitting back and enjoying the entertainment when she believed you were shagging her darling husband.’
His grin stretches. ‘Oh, and I saw her let herself into the house, too. Through the window she opened for herself when she left here one day. She walked around taking photographs, followed you to the car park and scratched your car with her keys.’
Janey’s face is pale, but his revelation doesn’t land with the weight he had hoped.
He steps closer still. ‘I see everything, Janey. You’ve been so preoccupied with your splendid win, your good fortune, you didn’t even notice the enemy right under your nose.’
Her chest rises and falls in quick, shallow movements. ‘Why are you telling me this?’
‘Because I want you to understand.’ His voice is light, conversational. ‘I want you to see how blind you’ve been. Howwrongyou’ve been.’ He exhales slowly, then meets her eyes with sudden, searing intensity. ‘And because I want the truth in turn.’
