“The police want to interview you, Mrs Mathis,” the doctor says.
I shake my head. There’s no way I can deal with that now. I have to get my story straight before I speak to them.
I look up from the bed and say in a weak voice, “I’m exhausted. Can I have a moment to myself first?”
The doctor smiles at me kindly. “Not a problem. I will tell them to come later. You rest now.”
But there’s no way I can rest. Not when Penny is in so much danger.
CHAPTER 59
THE SISTER
His eyes are dark when they regard me. His hand is warm as he slips it up my thigh.
He may have been with your daughter, Faye, but his heart has been mine since the first day we met over twenty years ago.
This journey is going to be hard, but it will be worth it. It’s everything we have planned for, everything we have dreamed of. Alone together at last.
Well, almost. He needs to get rid of Penny. I want him to dump her on the road like he did with you, like the rubbish you both are. But first I want to watch her suffer. I want to see her flinch away from me in fear. She has no right thinking she’s worthy of Magnus. She’s a stuck-up cow just like her mother and she deserves to be punished. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
I watch the countryside rush past the window, as we get further and further away from our past and head into our future. No more hiding. We will be together now, a proper couple.
Don’t worry, dear sister, you will have your precious daughter back soon, although I can’t promise she’ll be alive.
CHAPTER 60
FAYE
Once the doctor leaves, I’m not alone for long before Nathan pokes his head into the room.
“Up for visitors?” he asks.
“Sure.”
“You look like total shit,” he says. “Did you really get pushed out of a moving car?”
“Yes. I think Magnus drugged me and then pushed me out of the car while I was unconscious.”
“Jesus.” He sits down next to me and looks at me with what looks like tears in his eyes. He was worried about me. I take his hand and he rubs his eyes with the other. “Well, the doctor seems to think you’ll survive.”
I allow myself a small smile.
“Now,” he says. “I don’t want to worry you, but I can’t get hold of Penny.”
The smile falls from my face. I think fast. “Oh. She probably decided to stay at the spa for an extra couple of days. You know what Penny’s like, always off gallivanting!” The words stick in my throat. If only Nathan knew the truth.
“Well, it’s bloody irresponsible. I hope you’ll tell her when she resurfaces. She can’t just swan off like this.”
I gulp back the tears. I want to tell him, but the urge to share the truth is overridden by my need to keep him safe. Magnus didn’t just threaten my daughter’s life, he said he’d kill Nathan and his family too. I have no choice, I have to keep him in the dark.
“I’ll tell her.”
We talk a little longer until we are interrupted by DS Oliver.
“Is now a good time, Mrs Mathis? I hope you can appreciate that time is critical in locating Mr Blackburn and I’m sure you’ll have some key information that can help.”
“Yes, of course.”
