He ends the call.
I look at Jodie. ‘Talk about fobbing me off.’
‘They probably are shattered, Liz, and you must be too. Why don’t you get a good night’s sleep and drive over to see your mum tomorrow?’
I try to sleep but I can’t, I toss and turn for hours. There was something about George’s attitude that was really off. He’s never been that cold to me before. I bet it’s because he blames me for the fire but it wasn’t me.
Suddenly, I sit up as the realisation that if it wasn’t an accident, dawns on me, that someone started the fire on purpose. Someone tried to kill us. It couldn’t be George because he put out the fire, so someone else sneaked in. Like they sneaked into our house. I have to go back and stay with Mum until Alison comes home. I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to her.
TUESDAY
68
Tonight’s the night. I can’t wait any longer. They want their money and they’re getting impatient. I need to be single-minded and do what I have to do. There’s no time for sentiment. She didn’t care that I was left without a mother at such a young age. This is payback.
I park my car around the corner and walk to the house. It’s in total darkness, no lights are on. Everyone’s in bed. I stop outside the front door and listen. All quiet.
Do I go in the front door or the back? I’ve thought about this all the way over here. The back is the best. It’s easier to sneak in and out that way.
I climb over the gate, unbolt it so I can make a quick getaway then creep over to the back door. I’m wearing trainers so that I don’t make any noise, and gloves so that I don’t leave any fingerprints. Although the police would expect my fingerprints to be here, wouldn’t they?
I take the key out of my pocket and open the back door, pausing to listen. There’s no sound. I gently push the door open and creep inside. I can smell the smoke in the kitchen. That plan that went wrong. This one isn’t going to fail.
I go into the back room, it’s dark and it takes me a while to focus. I see the shape of the bed and carefully make my way over to it, picking up a cushion from the chair as I do so. I stand over her for a while, watching her breathe. She’s fast asleep. She won’t feel a thing. Then I hold the cushion in front of me and bring it down over her face.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ a voice roars from behind me.
I panic and swing around, my hand reaching for the nearest thing. The table lamp. I bring it down on their head. There’s a scream and a thud.
69
LIZZIE
I’m almost at Mum’s when I see a shadowy figure running out of the front door of her house. For a moment I think it’s Nick and call to him, but the person carries on running, bolting around the corner, the opposite direction from where we live.
Is it a burglar?
I increase my speed, pulling up outside the house, then run inside. ‘Mum!’ I shout. ‘George!’
One of them must be awake. One of them startled the burglar or he wouldn’t have run for it empty-handed like that.
I hit the light switch in the hall and make my way down to the back room – the door is wide open. Cautiously I step inside, my hand flying to my mouth at the horrific scene inside. George is lying sprawled out on the floor, blood pouring out of a gash in his head. On the carpet beside him is the table lamp, splattered with blood. The burglar must have hit him with it. In bed, almost comatose, is my mum. Lying on the floor beside her is a cushion. My blood turns to ice and my body trembles so much I have to grip the doorframe for support.
What the hell has happened?
Who was running from the house?
My feet feel like blocks of lead as I walk over to Mum and feel her wrist for a pulse. It’s quite strong, thank God. Slowly I kneel down and feel for George’s pulse. It’s there but very faint.
‘What’s going on here?’ a voice asks behind me, and the room blazes with light.
I look up and see two police officers.
‘Someone phoned us to report a disturbance. We were driving past and saw the front door open,’ one of them explains.
I get to my feet. ‘Someone has attacked my stepfather. And my mother seems to be drugged,’ I reply, my voice shaking.
‘Are you the only people in the house?’ the taller police officer asks.
