“What are you doing?” Dina snaps.
“Sending Mummy a picture of her little Penny. I’m sure she’ll want to know how we’re settling in.”
Dina makes a grab at the phone but he yanks his arm away.
“You’re going to get us caught!” she yells. “Is there anything identifying in the photo?”
“Shut up!” he screams.
She steps back, her eyes wide, her skin pale. But he just ignores her. He sends Faye a message along with the photo.Settling in just fine. Can’t wait for the wedding!
He grins at the photo of Penny. Her tiny frame bent over, her eyes bloodshot and pleading, her nightdress slipping down, almost exposing her breasts. He follows up with one more message.Say anything and she’s dead.
Suddenly an explosion of glass erupts above his head, crystals showering down. He turns to see Dina red-faced, arm in the air. She has thrown a glass against the wall behind him.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” His dark eyes flash a warning.
“Why did you bring her?” she’s shouting. “Why are you doing this? You’re fucking everything up!”
He stands. “Clean that up.”
Dina removes her penknife and flips it open. “No. Not until you get rid of that phone. It’s a fucking liability.”
He isn’t intimidated by her or that knife. But to show some compliance, he turns the phone off and shows Dina. “It’s off. Okay? Get a grip.”
“You want to replace me, don’t you?” Dina says, her voice quiet.
“Ah, insecurity and desperation, the two traits that really turn me on.” Then he rolls his eyes. “Why would I replace you, Dina? And how? There’s nowhere to go. What would I even do with you?”
He redirects his gaze out of the window to the shadowy highland moors. The weather turned cold this morning and a dark fog descended around sunset. Aside from Penny’s quiet sobbing, the place is silent and calm. It’s dead. He’s thinking about digging a grave again. Dina was helpful at first, but now her use has expired. There’s only one way he can end their partnership. When he turns back, he sees the woman he just murdered in his mind staring out of the window and then looking at him. Back and forth. He needs to soothe her anxiety. She can’t know what he has planned.
Dina stands stiffly, staring at her knife. He moves towards her to pull her into an embrace. She holds the blade aloft, pushing it close to his throat. He’s about to grab her wrist, but there’s a blur of motion to his right.
He spins on his heel to find Penny making a run for it. Her bare feet catch the broken glass in her panic. She cries out in anguish as Magnus hurries forward.
He didn’t think she had this kind of fight left in her but she’s moving quickly. Her fingers grope the windowpane, looking for a latch. In a panic, her fists beat the single-glazed glass. He catches her wrist in time, just before she’s able to break it.
He pulls her back, holding her tightly around the waist as she cries and screams, growing weak in his arms as the drugs kick in. He grabs the tape to muffle her shouts, then he drags her over to the beds.
These two women are weighing him down and he needs to lighten his load.
One of them has to go tonight.
But which one?
CHAPTER 66
FAYE
What am I doing? I must be crazy. Mysistermust be crazy. It clearly runs in the family like our red hair and pale skin. And yet here I am, sat in the passenger seat of a campervan, driving up the A1 to Edinburgh, to track down a psychopath.
We’re over three hours into the journey but every minute feels like a week. I keep imagining what he’s doing to her and the thought makes me sick to my stomach. Sweat forms on the back of my neck and this campervan is suddenly suffocating. I lower the window as the hot flash descends.
The coastline to our right glitters with afternoon sun but I can’t admire it, I am too anxious. I wind the window down for a blast of much-needed air, but the scent of salt makes me feel nauseous. The whine of the gulls ahead is like screams of pain. We stop for petrol, making sure to pay cash. Claire was clear about us not leaving an electronic trail.
We’re back on the road when the message arrives. Straight from Penny’s phone. I gasp and clutch my heart.
“What is it?” Claire asks.
