I throw my phone on to the passenger seat and drive away. The wipers are useless. I can barely see through the rain falling in sheets on the windscreen.
The traffic is slow and I sound my horn, screaming for people to get out of my way. I have to find my children. They are all that matters to me. I thought being a doctor was who I am, but I was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.
The drive to your house takes twenty minutes. Twenty precious minutes in which I don’t know where my children are and I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing any more. Maybe I should have waited for the police. My phone is buzzing non-stop. I ignore it and carry on.
Every few minutes, lightning streaks across the sky in brilliant white flashes. The thunder is a growling dog, a constant noise with no break in between, and all I can think about is how scared Archie must be right now, Beth too.
I tear down your road, bumping my car on to thekerb outside your house and jolting to a stop. The sky is as dark as night and there are no lights on inside.
My hands shake and all I want to do is race into your house and hug my children, but I call DS Church first. I leave a voicemail, my words streaming out at a hundred miles an hour, but I hope she’ll understand. Rachel has threatened to kill Beth and Archie if she sees the police, but I have to believe that by the time the police arrive I’ll be with them, I’ll protect them.
I pull out your keys from the glove compartment and grip them in my hand. I don’t know what awaits me inside. The truth, for one thing, but all I want right now is Beth and Archie and I’ll do anything to keep them safe.
The salty wind rushes at me as I step out of the car. The heat has finally been driven away by the storm and the air is now cool.
Your door key is gripped in my hand and I run through the rain. I don’t knock, I don’t even wait, I just jam it into the lock, open the door and rush into the living room in a fury of panic and desperation. My arms are up, fists clenched. I’m panting and ready to fight.
I see Beth and Archie first, crammed together on one side of the sofa, their legs wrapped around each other. My children. My beautiful children.
‘Mummy,’ Beth cries out from the sofa.
Archie lifts his face from where he’s hiding it by her side and bursts into tears. ‘Mummy.’
The love wells up, pure and raw, and I rush forward and drop to my knees before wrapping my arms around them both.
‘I thought you wouldn’t come,’ Beth sobs.
‘There is nothing in the world that could stop megetting to you,’ I whisper. My eyes roam the floor and the photographs covering every inch of the carpet.
It’s only when I pull myself away and stand that I notice Rachel cowering in the armchair by the window.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ I shout at her.
‘I … I’m sorry,’ she stammers. ‘Help me. My ankle. I fell on it and I think it’s broken.’ Her voice is weak. Tears and snot are streaming down her face. A beat passes between us. Something isn’t making sense, but I don’t care. For all I know you are on your way here right now.
‘Come on, kids, we’re leaving.’ I gather Archie into my arms, resting him on my hip, and wrap my other arm around Beth.
‘I was forced to do it,’ Rachel snivels. ‘Please help me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’
There’s movement behind me. A figure appears in the doorway. Rachel yelps and the children push their bodies closer to me, their arms gripping me tight as though they think at any moment they’ll be ripped out of my arms.
I turn and stare at eyes filled with hate and malice, and a chill spreads over my body as though I’ve been submerged in ice. ‘Sophie?’
‘Hello, Jenna. Nice of you to join us at last.’
Chapter 58
Sophie
A force pushes through my body and I laugh. It’s not funny. I’m being deadly serious, but after all this time I can’t believe I’m finally here with Jenna, Beth and Archie.
‘I don’t know what you’re doing here, but I’m taking my children out of this house right now,’ Jenna says. Her face is fierce – a mama bear protecting her cubs. At last, she’s doing something right. Shame it’s too late.
‘You can drop the act now,’ I say. I step into the room and close the door behind me, careful to keep myself within swinging distance of the doorway. I don’t want this to be over too soon.
Jenna’s eyes fall to the baseball bat in my hand and she takes a step back, putting Archie on the floor and pushing them behind her. Archie whimpers like a scared kitten. The noise annoys me. He’s such a baby, just like how Matthew used to be.
‘What act?’ she asks like she doesn’t know.
