‘I can’t wait to meet him.’
Mandy looked towards Lorraine for confirmation that she was saying the right things and Lorraine nodded encouragingly.
‘Why did you take him, Pat? Why did you run away with him? We’ve all been so worried.’
‘I’m sorry, but we had no choice. You weren’t going to let us see him.’
She was right, Mandy thought. Once she’d learned how Pat and Chloe had lied to her about Richard’s death, she wanted to get herself and her baby as far away from them as possible.
‘Of course I would,’ she lied. ‘You’re his grandma. Why would I keep him from you?’
‘I don’t think I believe you, darling, but we had to see if it worked …’ Pat’s voice trailed away.
‘What worked?’
Both the bathroom and the hallway fell silent. ‘Pat, what do you mean? To see if what worked?’
‘We didn’t want to replace Richard like you think we did …’
‘Then why did you take my baby? I don’t understand.’
‘Chloe read somewhere that the children of Matched couples can be powerful enough to bring a parent out of a coma … He was our last hope.’
Mandy looked at Lorraine to see if what Pat was saying was true. Lorraine shrugged.
‘But Richard’s not in a coma, he’s in a permanent vegetative state. They’re two very different things.’
‘I know, but don’t you see, we had to try. We took Richard’s son to the nursing home and we sat with them both for hours, but nothing happened. He didn’t move. My boy just didn’t move …’
Mandy thought she heard gentle sobs coming from behind the door.
‘So why didn’t you bring him back to me then?’
‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t know. We need to rest now, I’m sorry.’
Mandy felt herself growing more and more anxious. ‘Can I have him back now please Pat?’
There was no response
She repeated herself. ‘Pat!’ she said again, raising her voice.
‘I just need to sleep,’ Pat replied quietly, her voice barely audible. ‘My grandson and I, we need to sleep. When Chloe finds out the truth, please tell her I’m sorry.’
‘What’s she talking about?’ Mandy asked Lorraine, who turned to look at another detective. ‘Lorraine!’ yelled Mandy. ‘What’s going on?’
Mandy felt someone pull her backwards by the shoulders and the police officer with the battering ram slammed it against the door handle, breaking the lock. As three officers charged into the bathroom, Mandy rushed in after them to locate her son.
Slumped on the floor against the side of the bath were the motionless bodies of grandmother and grandson, both with closed eyes and skin as white as snow.
Chapter 97
CHRISTOPHER
Amy knelt before Christopher as he sat restrained in a chair inside the home of what should’ve been his final kill. In her tightly clenched palm Amy held the key that could unlock the handcuffs keeping his ankles bound tightly together.
For a moment, the connection they shared was so powerful, it was like Christopher could read Amy’s mind: when Christopher admitted she was responsible for making him a better person, she believed the sincerity of his words and he didn’t doubt that she still loved him despite the evil inside.
‘The only small mercy I can get from this awful, awful nightmare is that it’s not me who triggered this side of you,’ she said, slipping the key in the lock, ‘because when I pieced together the dates of each murder, they started about three weeks before we met.’
