‘The police are probably outside already,’ said Libby in desperation. ‘You might as well give up, Alex, it’s over.’
‘Whatever happens to me, I promise you one thing, Libby, should you survive this, you will never be free. There are a lot of us out there and we are always going to be watching you, ready to bring you – and everyone you love – down if we need to. Think about the headlines we will make over killing you.’
Suddenly, the knife made contact with Alex’s hand, slicing the back of it. He winced and took a step backwards, trying to establish in the lamplight the severity of the wound. ‘You’ve just made the worst decision of your life,’ he said and clenched his fists. Libby took a deep breath and mustering up all her strength, thrust the knife in front of her one more time. She missed. Alex managed to grab her wrist and dig his fingers deeply into her ligaments so the knife fell into his hand.
They stood facing one another as he gave her one last tight-lipped smile. ‘I’m sorry it’s come to this, I really am,’ he muttered.
But as he launched himself towards her, she saw a tiny red dot appear on his neck. And with his arm pulled back and the knife ready to push into her, a bullet shattered the glass in the door and hit him squarely in the throat.
PART FOUR – TWO YEARS LATER
Chapter 68
Libby made her way slowly down the staircase, careful not to trip over the hem of her dress.
She studied her reflection in the full-length porch mirror one last time. With the aid of an arrangement of pins and a can of extra-strength spray, her hair had remained in place since leaving the stylist earlier that morning. And after performing make-up duties and helping Libby into the dress, Nia left the house and would greet her later at the location.
‘Are you coming?’ Libby shouted, directing her voice back up the stairs.
‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ a faint male voice replied. ‘Just trying to find my other cufflink.’
‘It’s me who’s supposed to be late on our wedding day, not you.’
‘You said you didn’t go in for all that traditional stuff, otherwise we wouldn’t have been together this morning?’
‘It’s a bride’s prerogative to change her mind.’
‘Found it.’ As Matthew Nelson appeared at the top of the stairs, Libby returned to the lounge where the couple took in one another’s appearance for the first time since they’d dressed in their wedding outfits. Smiles spread across both of their faces.
‘You scrub up well, Miss Dixon,’ Matthew beamed. Once he reached the lounge, he took her hand in his.
‘You don’t look so bad yourself, Doctor Nelson.’
‘Have you got everything?’
He patted the pocket of his baby-blue suit jacket. ‘I have the rings, the licence and the proof of ID.’ Matthew placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her lips.
‘Don’t smudge my lipstick,’ Libby teased. ‘We’ll have the rest of our lives for that once you’ve made an honest woman of me.’
‘Can you believe we are actually doing this?’
Libby shook her head. ‘Not considering the circumstances in which we met.’
‘I fancied you from the moment you walked into the inquest room.’
‘I know that now. But at the time, you disguised it very, very well.’
‘Well, I could hardly ask you out for coffee while on jury duty, could I? I was going to wait until the end of the week before approaching you.’
‘I would’ve said no,’ she teased. ‘I thought you were a pompous prick.’
‘Of which you remind me frequently. And now?’
‘And now I think you’re a loveable pompous prick.’
Matthew’s Smartwatch buzzed and he glanced at the moving images on the face. ‘The car is outside. So, shall we go and do this? They were definitely just twinges you felt and not contractions?’
‘Definitely,’ she replied and rubbed her swollen stomach.
