“Where are you now?” Ellie asked. “Are you with him?”
“I…” Ellie could hear Vic breathing, the sound rough and unsteady.
“You need to leave, Vic. Right now. Please. It’s not safe for you there.”
“I’m not… I mean. He’s out at the moment.” Victoria took a longer, slower breath and seemed to gather her thoughts. “How do you even know this? Did the police catch the intruder? Did he say that he was working with Warren?”
Hell. How was she going to explain? “A witness sent me a video of the crash. Liam’s brother, Josh, was with me when I watched it, and he identified Liam.” Damn, this was hard. “Liam admitted that he was working with Warren just before I got hurt. Liam pushed me forward so the SUV could knock into me…. I think Warren was driving. I think he tried to kill me.”
There was a long silence before Vic spoke, the ice back, her tone even more cutting than before. “So, basically some guy you’ve never even mentioned until now says he recognized his brother and magically knows all of this. But the police aren’t involved at all. You’ve never actually spoken to this mythical Liam. And you have no real evidence Warren was anywhere near there or involved in any way. Damn it, Ellie, this is going too far.”
“It’s complicated?—”
“Is it though?” Vic spat. “You’ve always been against Warren. You’ve always been jealous of me—of us—and you’ve done everything possible to keep us apart. And now you’re accusing me of trying to kill you! You really are insane.”
Blood pounded in her ears, but Ellie forced herself to stay calm, to stay reasonable. “I suggested you split up after your birthday party because I saw Warren kissing a stranger outside the club toilets. I told you at the time.”
“No.” Victoria’s denial was instant and absolute. “Warren warned me about how controlling you were becoming. He warned me that you would try to split us upbeforeyou came up with that story. And that’s what you do, Ellie; you make up stories.”
Ellie swallowed against the tension in her throat. “None of that is true, Vic. Warren is trying to drive a wedge between us because he knows that I care for you and want you safe.”
“Warren wants what’s best for me. He’s protecting me from you.”
God. How was this happening? “Vic, we’ve been friends for years. I would never lie to you about something like that. Youknowthis.”
“I don’t know anything.” Vic’s voice was full of tears. “I feel so betrayed.”
Josh stood up and walked over to wrap his arms around her and Ellie leaned heavily against him, letting his solid strength support her.
Shouting wouldn’t help anything. She had to find another way to solve this. She took a deep breath. “Let’s sort it out together. Just please, get away from him for a couple of days.”
“I can’t?—”
“You can always come here, always. Or if you can’t come here, go north and see your cousins. Is your mum in the country? Go to her. Or stay in a hotel. Just please, get out of there.”
“No, Ellie. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Can I come up and help? I can show you?—”
“No. You accuse me of this, and then you want to visit? Absolutely not.”
“But—”
“I said no. If you come here, you’ll make everything worse.”
Hell. She was certain now that Vic wasn’t involved, but even more convinced that Warren was. The problem was, Vic was right: she had no proof. And in the meantime, Vic was still with Warren. “If you change your mind, just call me. Please. Vic—” Victoria disconnected the call before Ellie could finish.
She’d thought everything was crumbling around her before. But now… What was she going to do? Ellie looked out at thedark garden and the forest beyond. The sound of the night whispered in through the open doors. Leaves rustled, the breeze murmured. And somewhere out there, a pair of owls were working to keep each other safe.
They knew who Josh was now. They could start calling hospitals looking for him, although merely finding his unconscious body wouldn’t do much good. They needed a witness. Someone who could speak to the police. Someone who could help her save Josh at the same time as helping Vic.
She turned to Josh, knowing he was not going to like her next suggestion. “How do you feel about visiting your brother?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Victoria put down the phone,breathing hard.
Why would Ellie do this to her? Warren was right; Ellie was spiraling. Her behavior was becoming less and less rational. And now, to accuse Warren… andher! It was a horrible thing to do.
