Page 123 of Don't Believe A Word

He turned off the engine. ‘Let’s just say I’m not exactly inside my comfort zone,’ he replied. ‘Are we early or late?’

She checked the time. ‘A couple of minutes late.’ Neither of them moved, until she said suddenly, ‘Come on, we can do this,’ and pushing open the car door she stepped out into a swift, chill breeze.

‘What if Mia’s got a gun?’ Connor murmured, coming to join her a few steps back from the arched front door.

Cristy frowned. ‘You’re asking me that now?’

‘Thought it was better than when we’re already facing it.’

‘Why would she want to harm us?’

He scoffed incredulously. ‘Maybe because we’re planning to spill her crimes all over the airwaves and destroy her family?’

‘But how would offing us help prevent that?’

‘She’s got to know she’s beyond help so why would she care?’

Glancing at him, she said, ‘Do you want to turn back?’

‘No way. I’m just pointing a few things out. So, you go first.’

Unable not to laugh, she went to the door and as she knocked it creaked slightly open.

‘Fuck,’ Connor murmured.

Slanting him a look, Cristy pushed the door wider and stepped into the entrance hall. ‘Hello!’ she called out. ‘It’s Cristy and Connor!’

Nothing but the arrhythmic ticking of clocks.

She looked around taking in the paintings and pottery, exquisite formal furnishings, the original Arts-and-Crafts staircase and all the closed doors leading to other parts of the house. All that had changed since her last visit was the posting of a sign outside Lottie’s rooms saying, Private, Keep Out.

‘Hello! Mia?’ Cristy shouted. ‘We’re here.’

Still nothing.

Starting to fear what they were about to walk into, she led the way through to the kitchen, all the time praying that her suspicionswere wrong. Please don’t let Mia have called them here to find her dead body. Was that her plan, to spare Sadie the horror of it? Would there be a note, blaming them for shattering her world, for trashing her and her sister’s reputations, for the corruption of her niece, for the relentless persecution of lies, all lies, all in the name of entertainment?

‘Mia?’ she called, gingerly opening the kitchen door.

‘Come in.’

The response was so unexpected that Cristy’s heart leapt.

She entered the room and her eyes immediately rounded in horror. ‘Jesus Christ,’ she choked. It wasn’t so much the chaos of upturned furniture and smashed everything, or even the bizarre sight of Mia herself – all pasty-faced and wild hair. It was the noose dangling from a beam right above her head.

‘What the fuck?’ Connor muttered under his breath.

‘Come in,’ Mia said again, and she gestured for them to sit down even though there was nowhere, unless they righted some chairs.

Trying to keep her eyes from the rope, Cristy said, ‘You don’t look well, Mia. Can we call someone?’

Mia stared at her unblinkingly, her eyes burning like two small fires inside her chalky mask. ‘This won’t take long,’ she said, ‘but I’d prefer you not to record, thank you. Your intrusion into my life and family has gone far enough. It’s my intention now to bring it to an end.’ She watched Connor as he stepped in closer to Cristy, presumably readying himself to stop Mia going for her.

Continuing, Mia said, ‘I want you to know that if you make my sister’s journals public I will hang myself and make sure the world is aware that my blood is all over your hands.’

Cristy stared at her in disbelief.

Beside her, Connor said, ‘Don’t you want to refute anything your sister said? This is your chance.’