‘Really?’ I can hear the frown in Beth’s voice. ‘That’s so strange. The Find My Phone app says she’s here.’
‘Here? At my house?’ Katherine laughs. ‘Strange indeed! But you know what signal in rural places is like. It’s patchy at best. Maybe Janine’s still at Otis’s?’
‘There’s no one there, I’ve already checked. Even the police have gone.’
Those words cause Katherine’s hand to move to her hip. As her fingers come to rest inches away from the handle of the knife, my heart thunders.
‘How odd,’ Katherine replies, mirroring Beth’s concern. ‘I can’t think of why that would be other than a signal issue. Perhaps the app is a little muddled?’
‘Maybe,’ Beth replies hesitantly. ‘Are you sure you’ve not seen Janine?’
‘Positive. If I hear from her, though, I’ll tell her to get in touch with you.’
‘That would be great, thank you,’ Beth replies. ‘I guess I’ll leave you to your day. Thanks again for your help.’
‘Anytime,’ Katherine says. As she begins to close the door, I know this is the moment I should shout for help. If I want to be saved, this is my chance. My only chance.
Maybe Beth could outrun Katherine.
Maybe she could overpower her.
Or maybe she could end up dead.
Never has a thought filled me with such devastation. Beth, slain on a doorstep, all because she came looking for me.
My little sister who never gave up on me, even when I’d given up on myself.
Tears choke me as my mind casts itself back to my best childhood memories, each one centred around Beth. Sharing a bedroom meant arguing one minute, being best friends the next. It meant giggling as we pushed our beds together to sleep beside each other. It meant shouting about borrowed clothes, drawing on each other’s toys, reading each other’s diaries. It meant sharing secrets, sharing hopes, sharing everything that mattered.
It meant a bond forged like no other, forever.
A bond I hope my sister knows means the world to me, because once Katherine shuts that door, I know I will never see Beth again to tell her.
But if closing that door means keeping Beth alive, then I’m fine with that. Clamping my lips shut, I roll onto my back and say a silent goodbye to my sister, and to my life.
CHAPTER 52
‘Wait!’
Beth’s sudden shout makes my blood run cold. My eyes snap open, my neck twisting to look back to the hallway. I turn in time to see Katherine stiffen then draw the front door back.
‘Yes?’ she asks.
‘If you’ve not seen Janine, then why is her coat hung up at the end of your banister?’
A petrified gasp catches in the back of my throat as everything around me stops. Even the speck of dust floating past my eyeline seems to pause, captured by this twist of fate.
‘Excuse me?’ Katherine says, her voice eerily calm.
‘That yellow coat behind you – it’s Janine’s. I always tell her she looks like a duck wearing it,’ Beth says, moving closer to the door. ‘Why is it here if she isn’t?’
Katherine is the first to move. As her shock transforms into rage, she lets out a frustrated screech before reaching behind her back for the knife.
‘Beth, run!’
The words leaving my lips are so shrill, so terrified, they sound inhuman. Adrenaline takes over. My bound hands or the gash in my head don’t stop me, not when Beth’s life is on the line. I scramble to my feet.
I hear my sister call my name, but it’s the sound of her scream that really gets me moving. Staggering along the landing, I stumble to the top of the stairs in time to see Beth force open the front door and Katherine lash out with the knife.