‘If you want to save your little lady here,’ Wrigley began, ‘you’ll take this key now,now, and lock yourself in the toilet I’ve just been in. You won’t get out of the window, either, because you’d need to be a midget and the lock is rusted shut. So, lock yourself in and push the key under the door.’
She jabbed the nail scissors further into Kim’s neck. Now blood was running down her throat. Kim yelped again. Edward stood. He had to pass Wendy and Kim on his way out of the kitchen – could he take Wrigley? He bet he could. He was more than a foot taller and at least five stone heavier.
But as he weighed up the possibility, Wendy said: ‘In the words of Clint Eastwood, before you decide to rush me,honey, ask yourself if you feel lucky. Well do ya? Because if you aren’t, your sexy lover here will go to the floor with thesescissors deep inside her jugular. And she will bleed out while the ambulance tries to find your ruin of a house in the dark. So think about it.’
At which Kim cried, ‘Noooooo … no, Edward, don’t try anything, please.’
So he did not. He shot Wendy Wrigley a baleful stare and picked the key off the table, scraping it into the wood as he did.
She said: ‘And your mobile, please.’
He pulled his new smartphone out of his trousers and dropped it on the table. As he left the kitchen, hearing Kim’s whimpering, Wendy shouted: ‘Now! Don’t delay! Lock that door!’
He saw Stevie’s mobile on the window ledge by the front door.Oh please, he begged,no one call it.He shut himself in the loo. Could he just pretend to lock it? Too obvious. He turned the key and sealed himself in.
Then he did what he was told. Pushed the key back under the door.
Chapter Forty-Five
Kim was going into shock – her legs trembled and spots danced at the corners of her eyes.
‘I can’t stand,’ she whispered.
‘Then walk,’ said Wendy. She forced Kim into the hallway and towards the left, up to the toilet door. ‘Pick up the loo key there. Don’t try anything.’ Kim bent, shaking, for a moment releasing the pressure of the scissors on her neck. Then she felt the point of metal in her side as she moved lower to pick up the key.
Kim squealed as the blade pierced the skin between her ribs.
From inside the loo, Edward said: ‘Kim! Kim darling! Are you okay?’
She did not have the courage to answer. Wendy pulled at the door to check it was locked. ‘Sit on the bottom stair,’ she told Kim. ‘Don’t move from there, not even for a second.’
‘You wouldn’t kill me,’ said Kim, hoping Stevie was listening but wondering if the total silence upstairs meant she had fled the house to get help. Did she have her phone? Would she be heard if she made a call?
‘All I wanted was for Edward to clear my name after thatbotched business in the forest. And he did. You’re standing in the way of me and a lot of money, sweetheart, and that’s not a safe place to be.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Kim. ‘Was the motorbike crash your doing?’
‘Nope. That was all Lev, a bloody freak accident that’s nearly scuppered us. No reason for that to happen whatsoever.’
‘Was he a terrorist?’
‘The opposite! A quiet chap. You might almost say a peacefulist.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Kim.
‘Can Edward hear me in there?’ asked Wendy, a little more loudly than Kim was speaking. ‘No. Okay. Well. We had a great scheme, and it nearly went wrong, and tonight we’ll get it back on track.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re going to die. You and that disc-jockey idiot who’s locked himself in the loo. But wait a while. All will become clear. Do you need another tea towel?’
Kim was pressing a handkerchief to her neck to mop the blood. She should stem the flow by pushing harder. ‘No.’
‘You mean, “No thank you, Wendy.” Where have your manners gone?’
‘Can I ask you something?’
‘Sure.’
