Duncan lifted the knife and shoved Amelia forward. She fell to her knees beside Tom, touching her neck. The skin stung, and her fingertips came away coated with blood.
“It’s not bad,” Tom whispered, with a supportive, grim smile. “Like you cut yourself shaving.”
She shuffled closer and rested a hand on his knee. He had to be taking this hard—betrayed by two of the people he trusted most. She should feel terrified, but instead she felt desperately sad—and guilty. If she hadn’t been stupid enough to get caught by Connor, Tom would have retained the upper hand. She might have got them both killed. And yes, she knew it wasn’t her fault. But.
“He’s not your damn father,” Duncan said, presumably to Connor, though he was staring intently at Tom and Amelia. He aimed the rifle at Tom.
“But these documents,” Connor said, riffling through them. “Xanthe was right. The money for the trust came from the estate. Why did you lie to me about some great aunt?”
“He’s not your bloody father!”
“Then what’s all this? The old earl was a total miser. Why did he give me half a million quid?”
Tom swallowed. Amelia caught the tiny movement and looked across at him. “I think I know,” he said gravely.
Chapter 24
Tom
All eyes trained on Tom, along with Duncan’s rifle. Tom would have to play this very carefully.
“You weren’t driving the car,” he said to Connor.
“What?”
“The crash, with Eddie. You weren’t driving.”
Duncan took a step towards Tom. “Don’t let him fill your head with nonsense, son. He’s trying to turn us against each other. We need to see this through.”
But there was a glimmer ofsomethingin Connor’s eye.
“You had doubts, yeah?” Tom said quietly. “You changed your story.”
“Connor,” Duncan said in warning.
“Dad, I want to hear this.”
“He’s just stalling.”
“Connor,” Tom said, “the liquor you were drinking before the accident. Do you remember what it looked like? The label?”
“It was some old bottle we dug out of the cellar. It had a star on it, that’s all I remember. I swear we didn’t even drink that much, though I can’t really remember. It tasted like… like…”
“Aniseed?” Amelia suggested.
“Yes! How did you…? I couldn’t remember anything about the crash until the next day, when I got this really clear memory of getting out to close the gate and getting back in, and Eddie taking off while I was trying to click my seat belt in. Eddie was driving my car because I was too trashed. But by then, I’d already told the cops I was driving and?—”
“We went through this, all of it,” Duncan said impatiently. “Those weren’t memories, it was wishful thinking.”
Tom swallowed, though his throat was so dry that it did nothing. “The brandy—it’s hallucinogenic. Amelia and I got into it the other night. It messes with your mind, but only temporarily.”
Connor frowned. “Was that why Eddie thought he saw a ghost? He still talks about that, whenever I go and see him.”
“No!” Amelia said, straightening. “It wasn’t a ghost, was it, Duncan?”
“Dad?”
“You stood in the road,” she said to Duncan, “and Eddie swerved around you and went off the cliff. That’s how you knew you could stop me from leaving yesterday. If you stood in that same place, stepped out right that second… Only, I didn’t go right over.”
