She holds my hand and sits by my side.
The memories poke at the edges of my mind. Fragments and jigsaw puzzle pieces out of place. Then, like a switch, they click into horrifying position. The Middlesbrough house. The bank. Dina. Magnus.
Penny.
I squeeze Claire’s hand. “My daughter! Oh my God, Claire. He has Penny.”
“What?” She leans forward. “Oh Faye! I’m so sorry. The detective is outside. He’s waiting for you to wake up. Let me go and?—”
I pull her closer to me. “No. No, I can’t. I can’t tell anyone, I…”
“What’s going on?” Claire asks. “Is everything okay?”
It hits me, then. In my confused state, I blurted out the one thing I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. And I’ve confided in this person, who looks like me but who is a stranger. Fear rises in my throat as I remember how she has tormented my life for the last few weeks.
“Why were you inside my house? They found your bloody shirtinsidemy house.”
Claire pulls her hand away and sits back down on the chair. Her eyes are filled with tears when she meets my gaze. “I had nowhere else to go. Magnus attacked me, he was going to kill me. I went into hiding, I had nowhere else to turn.”
“You knew about me?”
She nods. “For many years, after I first met Rachel.”
“I met her too,” I say. “She was horrible.”
Claire laughs then, and some of the tension leaves the room. “I know.” She comes closer again. “What were you saying about your daughter?”
I hesitate. But it’s too late, she already knows. “Magnus and Dina have Penny.”
“Dina? Rachel’s daughter Dina?” She is shaking her head, searching the room for answers that can’t be found.
“Yes. They’re working together. They’re after your money, Claire. And now they are on the run with my daughter as hostage.” I break down into uncontrollable sobs. “Penny has done nothing to deserve this, absolutely nothing.”
“Do you know where they’ve gone? Faye, you must tell the police.”
“No! He told me if I involve the police, he’ll kill Penny and then he’ll kill Nathan and Jessica and Kiri too.” I am struggling to breathe against my anguish.
Claire takes my hand again, and strokes my shoulder. “Calm down, Faye. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. You know how dangerous he is.”
She pauses. “Yes, I’m afraid I do.”
“The police can’t know about this. Promise me.”
I look into my twin sister’s eyes, searching for the assurance I need.
“I promise I won’t say a word about Penny unless you want me to,” she says.
I open my mouth to thank her when the door to the hospital room opens.
“Ah, Mrs Mathis, you’re awake.” A doctor in scrubs walks in, and a nurse follows. They make their way over to the bed and start checking the machines around me.
Claire gets up from her seat. “I’ll go and tell Nathan. He’ll be so relieved you’ve come round. I’ll be right outside.”
I nod. “Thank you.”
I sip water while the medical staff ask me questions and make sure I’m comfortable.
