‘I can’t,’ Sarah replied.
Juliette cried out in frustration. ‘Where is your phone?’ Why was Sarah being so obstructive?
Richard rummaged around in the drawer. He pulled out a piece of thick rope.
Juliette frowned. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Move over to that chair,’ Richard demanded.
She looked up at them both. ‘Please! You have to help Danny.’
‘On the chair,’ Richard roared.
Sarah pulled her upright and it was then Juliette caught her eye. Sarah was pleading with her to do as she was told. Did she have a plan?
But Richard grabbed Juliette by the chin.
‘Do you really want to know what happened to Louisa? Well, I’m going to tell you before I kill you too.’
Juliette was sobbing openly now as Richard tied her hands together.
‘I killed her, and then Sarah and I buried her in the woods. Your friendly neighbour, your new friend was in on it too.’
Juliette froze. That couldn’t be true. Could it? Had they both fooled her all along?
‘Louisa was such a liability. I was glad to get rid of her in the end.’
As Richard ranted, Juliette saw Sarah reach behindthe bread bin and pull out a large kitchen knife. Watched as she raced across the room towards Richard.
‘You bastard,’ Sarah cried, plunging the knife upwards into his chest.
It went in so hard that Juliette heard Richard grunt. He came out from behind her, his face creased up in pain. And then he was stumbling as he made his way across the kitchen.
‘What have you done?’ He held his hand out to Sarah. ‘You mad bitch.’
Sarah stayed where she was, the knife with Richard’s blood hanging down by her side. When he fell and didn’t get up again, she came towards Juliette.
Juliette cowered, for a second thinking Sarah might attack her too. But then she was cutting her loose.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
‘How’s Danny?’ Sarah asked, dropping to sit next to Juliette. ‘I’m sure the paramedics will be here soon.’
‘I think he’s going to be okay.’ Juliette looked down at Danny who was cradled in her arms. He’d woken up a minute ago, although he was groggy and his eyes were closed.
‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t want it to turn out like this. I tried to think of a way around anyone getting hurt.’ Sarah was shaking, as if she was in shock too, but there was something not quite right.
‘What is it that you’re not telling me?’ Juliette asked.
‘He was going to kill you both. We talked about it before you arrived.’ Sarah looked at her with so much guilt it was hard to comprehend. ‘You know I haven’t been straight with you, but you don’t know all the reasons. Before Richard murdered my sister, he madeher life hell. He dragged her down so low, he hit her constantly. He had affairs too. And yet he wouldn’t let her leave. I think he must have seen it as a kind of failure, although why he didn’t say he wanted Louisa to go is beyond me. I guess that was control too.’
‘Do you think he loved Daisy too much for her to go?’
‘I honestly have no idea. But he didn’t love Louisa. He made her think she had ME. He drugged her daily, to keep her tired, docile, something he could use and manipulate to make himself feel better.’
‘He told me you have ME too.’
‘It’s a lie. I let him believe a lot of things about me over the past year. I needed him to think I was on his side. That I would live with what he’d done and hidden away. He had me over a barrel really. I’m an accessory to murder, and my sister didn’t have a proper burial, which is against the law. It’s the reason I could never go. I couldn’t leave Louisa here.’
