Belinda shrugged. “Love, right? What can you do? Luckily, the solution was right in front of us. All we had to do was avoid landing ourselves in jail in the process. That’s where I come in.”
The casual dismissal of Chloe’s planned murder as a solution made me want to vomit. “You’re fucking insane.”
She delivered a scathing look my way. “Quite the contrary. It takes a verysaneperson to get the details of a plan right to the very last thing. To understand what people want to hear and to give it to them. To get them onside. And to be patient. So damn patient. Not to mention all my nursing skills.”
I huffed. “The Valium?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Yes, the Valium, amongst other things. You can’t just wing something as delicate as this. You have to control the dosages. Make sure you get the desired effect without overdoing it. Without killing her. And without drawing attention or suspicion. I usually hid it in her favourite foods when I made us lunch. Or in meals I’d leave in her fridge. Chocolate pudding was the most reliable. She never failed to finish those.”
The detail was sickening, and I found my gaze straying to Chloe’s pale face.
Belinda noticed and smirked. “Aw, it’s touching to see you two finding your way again.”
I ignored the comment. “But it was inconsistent. Chloe didn’t appear medicated at all that first day. But the second morning she was definitely off.”
Belinda beamed. “Precisely. Good days and bad days, remember? The days she wandered, I’d sometimes loaded her up the night before so she was far more confused and suggestible in the mornings. Other days she was her usual self. Lucid times mixed with confusion. It looks a lot more... natural. Did you know Valium can mimic and exacerbate the progression of Parkinson’s disease?”
I said nothing.
“Well, it can.” She grinned. “Just an added bonus.”
I grunted in disgust. “Convenient for you that Brendon used to have a prescription then? That whole drama around his medication bottle was you covering your tracks, ensuring the police expect to find Valium in Chloe’s blood, even a lot of it.”
Belinda looked pleased. “See? Details matter. I told you.”
I shook my head. “It won’t work. The police always follow the money. I should know.”
Belinda eyeballed me. “That’s where you’re wrong. It won’t matter if they find out about Austin’s debt. Doesn’t mean a thing with a more obvious explanation staring them right in the face. Everyone knows about Chloe’s wandering. We made sure they did. Confused and wandering around in freezing weather at her age? It’s a recipe for disaster. Add in some Valium and no one’s going to look any further.”
“I did. And so will Mads. What are you going to do about us?” I asked the unavoidable question.
Austin looked up from wiping the stone fireplace to glare my way. “We can’t just let him go.”
Belinda smirked and fear licked over my skin. “Well, no. Obviously, we can’t. I have a plan for Mister Fisher here and he isn’t going to like it.”
Fear tickled up my spine. Belinda had to be talking about getting rid of me. About killing me. She had no other option.
Austin’s gaze jerked to his girlfriend. “But his brother-in-law is a cop.”
Belinda continued to stare at me. “Just means we need to be careful how we go about it. Loose and confusing. No red flags.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that. Madigan already knows I followed you. That’s what he’ll tell the police. And when they track my car here, he’ll know it was only because I followed you here.”
“Maybe.” Belinda appeared bemused. “But what your boyfriend thinks isn’t what counts. What counts is what thepolice can prove. And although the evidence might show thatyourcar was here, maybe even your fingerprints, if we miss any, there’ll be nothing pointing to us. Blenheim isn’t Auckland, Nick. There aren’t security cameras on every corner and we’ve been very, very careful.”
“But how the hell will you explain both of us dead?” I scoffed. “Chloeandme.”
She never batted an eyelid. “Easier than it sounds. I’ve done a bit of researching myself since we discovered who you are. Chloe will be found drowned in the old quarry lake at the far western end of the river walk. People will be surprised she wandered that far, but stranger things have happened.”
I wanted to laugh in her face, to tell her she didn’t have a hope in hell of pulling that off, but the truth was, I could see it working. “Maybe,” I mused. “But I’m not a confused old woman. And I’m an excellent swimmer.”
“True, that’s why I’ve settled on you disappearing, presumed dead, probable suicide. That should cover it.” A terrible smile spread over Belinda’s face. “Picture this, if you will. You lose us and go searching for Chloe on your own, not knowing the area and following random clues, one of which even leads you up here. Eventually you find your mother dead in the lake. After only just reconnecting, it will be devastating for you. Despairing and conflicted, feeling guilty and blaming yourself, you leave the car behind and simply disappear, never to be seen again. Months or years from now, your remains might be discovered in secluded bush, a long way from here and everyone will assume it was suicide.”
I snorted. “Why the fuck would I kill myself?”
Another of those oily smiles. “Why does anyone do something like that? Do we really know what’s going on in someone else’s head? You’ve been under a lot of stress, after all.”
My heart stilled, and fear balled in my throat as I began to see where this was leading.
