Page 80 of Gone in the Night
Morgan looked around for a weapon to defend herself with – that was the biggest, sharpest knife she had ever seen. There was a knife rack on the wall above the huge range cooker, but it was too far for Morgan to reach before Beth had buried the one she was holding into her chest or neck. The only thing she hadto hand was the first aid box with what was probably the world’s bluntest pair of safety scissors inside of it.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘You don’t need to, it’s none of your business.’
‘But Sharon was your daughter.’
Beth shrugged. ‘Semantics she was a pain in the backside. Fawning over Stefan like he was her lover and not her stepdad, it made me sick to the stomach watching them. Do you know why she was so angry with Leah when she caught them together?’
Morgan shrugged.
‘I’ll tell you why, she was jealous of them.’
‘But that’s sick, she had a boyfriend. She wasn’t in love with Stefan.’
‘Excuse me, did you know her? No, you did not so don’t go telling me that I’m delusional and it was all in my head. I’ve heard it too many times from that shrink who kept telling me it wasn’t real.’
Morgan realised that nice, seemingly quiet Beth was most likely a ticking time bomb that had been building up to these murders for years.
‘What about Lydia Williams? Did you think she was sleeping with Stefan or wanted to?’
‘No, don’t be absurd. They didn’t know each other.’
‘Then why?’
‘She fit the profile, I mean I wanted it to look like there was a crazy, sick serial killer on the loose. She had to go.’
‘What did you do with Lydia’s dog?’
Beth tilted her head. ‘It ran away; obviously I would never harm an innocent animal.’
Morgan felt as if she’d stepped into an alternate universe, this was so fucked up.
‘Jack White, why kill him?’
‘Jack was a convenient scapegoat, and he didn’t love Sharon. She certainly didn’t love him, not when she was pining over Stefan. He was a minor distraction in her wicked games.’
‘Why me?’
‘You were a huge mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking except you were about to find all of Sharon’s camera equipment in that toolbox you were about to search, and I know I was reckless and stupid but I did what I did. Look I chipped my nails when I tackled you and dragged you to that bloody pit. Three hours that manicure took because the stupid cow was gossiping to the nail tech next to her about her cheating boyfriend, and that’s all I have left to show for it.’
She held up her hand and sure enough she was missing two nails on her right hand, and the others were scraped and chipped.
‘Beth, listen to me, it’s over. You can’t kill me and get away with it. My colleagues will be onto you, they know I’m here and are on the way.’
‘I know that, silly, I’m not a total flake. I’m going to be a good girl and let you take me to the station. I’ve been feeling a bit funny. I don’t think my meds are working properly.’
Morgan noticed her take a step closer, towards her, the knife still clenched in her fingers. The contrast of those Barbie pink nails clasped around a steel blade that she was willing to use to kill her wasn’t lost on Morgan, who gripped hold of the first aid box handle and slowly turned all the way to face Beth.
‘You’re not going to let me take you in, are you?’
Beth was giggling. ‘Honestly, what do you think? You have a fifty per cent chance of getting it right.’
Morgan didn’t know if this was going to work. She lunged for Beth, swinging the plastic box as hard as she could at her head at the same time as Beth thrust the knife towards Morgan. The knife caught the box and fell to the floor with a clatter; Morgankicked it away from them as Beth launched herself at her, screeching like a wild woman. She took Morgan to the floor and the pair of them were fighting. Morgan managed to throw her off and swung her leg back so her Doc Marten boot connected with Beth’s midriff, knocking the wind out of her. Beth was sucking in air, and Morgan didn’t stop. She raised her foot again to stamp on Beth’s head when she heard Ben’s voice as he rushed towards her.
‘Morgan don’t, it’s over.’
She felt him grab hold of her, wrapping his arms around her and dragging her to safety away from Beth who was reaching for the knife.
