‘My grandson!’ Cassie yelled suddenly, causing Kim to almost leap out of her skin. ‘Whereishe?’
‘Not here!’ Kim yelled back, nerves knotting her stomach. ‘He’s not here,’ she repeated more quietly, her legs trembling as Cassie came towards her. ‘He’s with a friend. She’s babysitting. I—’
‘What friend?’ Cassie asked tersely.
‘Just a friend. Freya. She’s an old friend… from school,’ Kim stammered, taking another stumbling step away. ‘You don’t know her, but Adam’s met her,’ she lied.
Smiling cynically, Cassie took another step towards her and then stopped, her gaze shooting to the phone Kim still held in her hand. ‘Give that to me,’ she said. ‘The phone, give it to me.’
You must be joking.Kim sidestepped as Cassie held out a hand, palm up. ‘I just want to talk, Kim,’ she said, attempting a reassuring tone, though it was anything but. ‘We’re friends, aren’t we? We can sit down and have a nice cosy chat.’
‘He’s not here, Cassie,’ Kim repeated gently, her mind ticking feverishly as she tried to reason with her. ‘Even if he was, you can’t take him.’
Cassie blinked in puzzlement. ‘Why ever not?’ she asked. ‘It will free you up, after all, if you think about it. You’ll have plenty of time to titivate then.’ Her face darkened. ‘And sleep with my husband.’
Shit, she’d dug her own grave. Cassie had seen the bed, obviously. She’d come to confront her. Her heart pelting in her chest, Kim moved fast, swiping the ornaments from the mantel shelf as the woman continued to advance on her.
Cassie faltered as the ornaments fell at her feet. Kim grabbed her chance. Reaching quickly for the mirror, she heaved it from the shelf, summoned all her strength and swung it hard sideways, hitting her target with a dull thud.
The glass smashed satisfyingly. Cassie stumbled, staggering slightly as the broken shards tinkled to the floor.
Kim froze for a horrified second, taking in the rich red blood oozing from the cut on Cassie’s temple, and then she flew, heading back towards the conservatory.
Shit!She’d locked the doors. Her stomach clenched violently. She could almost feel Cassie’s breath on her neck as she fumbled with the key.
Fifty-Five
Cassandra
Cassie watched Kim as she stood with her back pressed to the conservatory doors. Kim broke eye contact first, glancing quickly towards the kitchen and then taking a faltering step sideways. Cassie shadowed her, and Kim froze. ‘What do you want?’ she asked tremulously.
‘My grandson,’ Cassie answered, her tone even, her temper simmering dangerously.
‘He’s nothere! I’vetoldyou,’ Kim cried, her voice catching. ‘Please leave me alone, or…’
‘Or what, Kim? What will you do? Send me a threatening text?’ Cassie narrowed her eyes.I know all about you, the first text had said. Others had followed.Don’t you think it’s time to acknowledge what you did? You took everything that was worth anything away from me.How much did Kim know? How much had she learnt stalking them, storing up information to use in her twisted little plan?I haven’t put a price on it yet, she’d replied when Cassie had asked her how much she’d wanted.
She had, though. She’d wanted to take everything.
‘Why did you send them?’ she asked, out of curiosity.
‘Ididn’t. I haven’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about!’
‘Why have you done all of this?’ Cassie ignored her. ‘To drive me mad? Convince Adam that I was crazy? Is that what you did to Josh? Played mind games with him, tried to manipulate him?’
The colour drained from Kim’s cheeks. ‘You need to leave.’
‘Do you know how close I was to murdering the person I thoughthad sent those texts?’ Cassie watched her interestedly. ‘I was an inch away from mowing her down in my car. I even considered giving her fatal drugs.’
Kim’s eyes widened with shock.
‘Did you factor that in when you started out? That you might be dealing with someone who is every bit as capable of evil asyouare?’
‘You need to go!’ Kim shouted.
‘Whereishe?’ Cassie growled. ‘Where has Jemma taken him?’
Kim’s eyes skittered again to the kitchen, Cassie could almost see the wheels going around. ‘I’ll call the police!’ she warned her.
