Page 63 of Sun, Sea & Strawberry Shortcake
There’s a second mask concealed there.
A doll with bleeding eyes...
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Feeling weak with shock, I stand there, rooted to thespot, barely able to believe the evidence of my own eyes.
Nausea is grinding at my insides.
Joannais the plague doctor?
I still can’t believe it.
I’ve never liked the woman but I would never in a millionyears have imagined it could be her who was terrorising Bee and Jodie.Delivering poisonous letters and even worse – plotting to have Bee suspected ofstealing andkidnapping Jodie?
But the evidence is here, hidden away in this cupboard. Whenshe directed me to the bathroom, it probably never crossed her mind to thinkI’d need to go in search of a towel...
And then I hear footsteps... the creak ofa floorboard beyond the door.
I stand there, frozen with fear. I need to walk out with acalm smile and pretend everything is normal. But how can I do that when myheart is thudding so fast against my ribs, I’m feeling too breathless to get mywords out?
‘Ruby? Are you okay?’
I swallow hard. ‘Yes, thanks. I’m fine. Out in a sec.’ Iflush the toilet and wash my hands again, hoping she’ll think the towel hasn’tbeen an issue. And while the cistern is filling noisily, I call Hudson again.But he’s still not answering, so I leave him a frantic whispered message. It’sall I can do. I’m going to have to face Joanna now...
As I unlock the door, an idea occurs to me and I quicklytake action.
Joanna is waiting outside, her expression curiously impassive.‘I thought I heard you open the cupboard,’ she says with a terrifying calmness.‘It tends to creak a little.’ She’s standing against the wall, leaning back onone hand, her pose quite relaxed. But the chill in her eyes as she studies mesends a shudder through me.
‘No.’ I try to look surprised. ‘No, I didn’t open it. Not atall.’
I’m a useless liar! She can see right through me!
‘Are you quite sure, Ruby?’
I quickly shake my head. ‘I mean, yes.’
She pushes herself away from the wall and that’s when I seethe glint of the knife blade behind her back. My head swims with horror and Isway a little and reach for the doorframe.
Joanna laughs softly and moves closer. ‘You should tell methe truth, Ruby. Because people who lie must be punished. And people who standin the way of what’s rightfully yours need to be got rid of. It’s only fair,don’t you think?’
‘I... don’t know.’ She’s so close now, Ican feel her breath on my face and I’m aware of the knife in her hand, poisedat my waist. When I try to edge away, she grabs my arm and I feel the coldsteel of the blade pressing against me.
Hudson?
Where the hell are you?
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Just as I’m losing all hope, I hear the sound offootsteps on the gravel path outside and Hudson calls out my name. But with theknife at my side, I have to resist the temptation to call back.
Panic flares in Joanna’s eyes at Hudson’s arrival, and Iseize my chance.
‘I don’tknowwhat’s in the cupboard, Joanna, becauseI didn’t go in there.’ I manage to sound firm, although I’m shaking like ajelly inside. ‘Look. See for yourself.’ I open the door wide for her to enter.‘Everything will be just as you left it.’
Knocked off guard, she steps in automatically. And I seizemy chance, slamming the door behind her.
‘Hey, let me out!’ she yells, trying to open it from herside, and I have to pull hard on the handle, using every ounce of strength tokeep it closed.
