Page 28 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

Graham grabbed my neck with such strength that the tips of my boots were barely scraping the floor, and as Mair came to my defence, he tossed me back into her. She hit the stairs, letting out a cry as her head smacked against the bannister, and I came down on top of her, pinning her against the steps.

“Get out,” I shouted. I pushed myself to my feet, creating a barrier between him and Mair, then rushed for him, arms outstretched, to try and push him through the door.

My hands connected with his chest, but I was nowhere near strong enough to budge him. He towered over me by at least five inches, and his shoulders and belly were almost touching the doorframe on either side.

He swatted me back, and I tripped over a box of tools, falling flat on my arse. This time, Mair dodged, and I cracked the back of my head against the bottom stair, letting out a yell.

“You’re not welcome here,” Mair shouted.

I slowly rose to my feet again, less steady than before, and swayed as I stood between them. Iris was still crying from upstairs, and I could see Mair glancing up, but as Graham advanced, I backed away, edging her into the living room.

“Looks like I caught two rats today,” Graham said, and a menacing grin filled his face as he clenched his fists. He took another step forward, and I took one back, clenching my own, ready for him.

He may have once been a police officer, but I knew better than to underestimate him or expect him to be constrained by any ethical code. He’d taken great delight in arresting Gwyn, Mair and me on trumped-up charges, just to appease his psychopathic cousin, and Arthur had revelled in telling us how Graham had plotted with him to frame me for murder. He wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, so with no job and his cousin dead, he seemed set on getting his revenge.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding all this time, is it?” he said, before peering over my shoulder. “And you, lady. We’ve got unfinished business.”

“I’ve got no business with you,” Mair shouted, keeping her voice strong. “You won’t get another penny out of me.”

“I want my money!” he shouted, pointing a fat finger at her. His voice was a low growl, but he spoke with such force that spit flew from his mouth with every word, clinging to the ginger whiskers of his moustache and flying out towards me.

He turned to me and grinned, like I was nothing more than an afterthought. “And as for you… I’m going to kill you. Just like you killed Arthur.”

“I won’t tell you again,” Mair shouted. “Get the hell out of my house.”

“You heard her. Get out. You’re getting nothing. ”

“I guess I’ll deal with you first, then,” he said, grabbing me suddenly by the neck again.

He squeezed it tightly and shook me roughly, cutting off my airway. I clawed at his hand, but nothing was breaking his hold on me.

“You’re killing him,” Mair shouted, and he ducked out of the way as she threw something metal at him from one of the boxes.

“He’s got it coming,” Graham shouted back. “He killed Arthur.” He cocked his head to the side and flashed me a grin, squeezing my throat even tighter as he dropped his voice to a menacing snarl. “When I’m finished with you, I’ll kill her next, and then–”

His words cut off, and the smile on his face began to fade into a look of confusion. For a split second, we just stared at each other, then I noticed the thin trickle of blood running down his neck from behind his ear.

I tore his hand away and gasped desperately for air, but the stare between us only broke when he lunged forward again.

No, not lunged.

His arms stayed straight at his sides as his body tumbled forward, and his forehead slammed into my chest, knocking the air out of me as we hit the ground in a heap.

His hefty weight kept me pinned beneath him, and as I struggled to free myself, I caught sight of Zack standing just inside the doorway. His hands were trembling around a thick iron bar that had been propped against the wall just moments ago, and a look of horror was etched across his face, his body frozen in panic as he stared at the body before him .

I shifted back and caught my first sight of the large open wound in the back of Graham’s head, coating me, the floor, and everything around us with blood.

“Is he dead? Did I kill him? Oh god. What have I done?”

Iris’ cries stopped, bringing an eerie silence over the house as we all stared at each other. The stillness was only broken by the sound of voices drifting in from outside, sending Mair into action. She dashed for the window, drawing the curtains, then rushed to the door and slammed it.

With the scene secure, she turned to her husband and gently took hold of his wrists. He was gripping the bar so tightly that his knuckles had paled, but she eased it from his hands and let it drop to the floor with a clang beside the body.

“I need a hand,” I whispered from below Graham, and Mair turned to reach out to me.

As she tried to pull me up, she lost her footing on the slippery floor and fell to her hands and knees on Graham’s back. She looked horrified at her blood-covered hands, but got straight back to her feet, wiped them down her apron, and eventually pulled me free.

“Zack,” she said, turning back to her husband. “You’re the only one not covered in blood. Go and get Iris and take her to Nellie’s house. Ask Betty to mind her for the afternoon. Tell her… Just make up an excuse. Then come straight back here. Do you hear me, Zack? Zack!”

Her husband was still in a trance, staring down at the man he’d just killed, but when Mair used her elbow to dig him in the ribs, it was as though his soul re-entered his body, and he suddenly began to panic .

He rubbed his hands through his hair and clung onto his head, and for a moment, I thought he might cry. “He was going to kill you,” he said, looking over at me. “I had to do it.”

“Zack, did you hear what I just said?” Mair shouted. “You have to go. Now!”

He ran from the room as she stepped around the body and dug her shoe into Graham’s side, not kicking him, but checking that he was really dead.

“Mair, what are we going to do?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even despite my panic.

She brought her bloody hands up to rub her forehead, before thinking better of it and grabbing her apron straps instead. “I’m thinking.”

Zack’s footsteps came bounding down the stairs, and he poked his head into the living room, making sure to keep the scene hidden from Iris.

“Shut the door behind me,” he said, then he gave us a final nod and rushed out of the house.

With Zack gone, Mair slammed the door closed and then leaned up against it. She closed her eyes for a second, letting out a deep breath, then moved back towards the middle of the room and began to search through one of the bags that was lying around.

“You’re getting blood on everything,” I said, grabbing her arm. “That’s the last thing we want.”

“I need something to cover him over, Tom. I can’t bear to look at him anymore.”

She shook herself free of my hold and continued to rummage, before pulling out a long woollen blanket with flowers embroidered in each corner. She flapped it open as though she was airing out laundry, and then laid it down over the body. As soon as it touched him, it soaked up the blood that was pooling everywhere, and the pale yellow wool began to turn crimson.

“Mair, why was Graham Morgan all the way out here? I thought you’d sorted everything.”

“I did,” she replied, throwing her hands up in frustration. “I used the money you gave me to pay off the lender, and didn’t tell anyone about leaving except for the Hopkins. I paid him every time he asked, just like we planned. I thought once he realised I’d moved, that would be that.”

“The Hopkins wouldn’t have told him where you’d gone.”

“It must have been cousin Rhodri. Tom, it really doesn’t matter now, does it? He found us. He’s here. He’s… there.” She pointed down to his body and shook her head. “And now we have to get rid of him.”

“Or maybe we don’t,” I said, trying to pace amongst the mess. “He attacked us. He barged into your home. It was self-defence. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“No!” she said, shaking her head without even considering it. “I’m not risking Zack’s neck for this. Graham was a constable. How much faith do you have that they’ll see our side of things? I’ve already been questioned about the suspicious death of his cousin, and now I’ve got another Morgan body in my living room. Do you really want to take that risk? Because I don’t. I won’t.”

She had a point. The few police officers I’d met so far had all stuck together, and the truth of these things was of significantly less importance. Three of us against Graham, regardless of how huge he was, was going to look like an ambush.

“Well, we better work something out, because– ”

The sound of the handle turning in the front door brought me to a panicked stop. Without missing a beat, Mair launched herself into the hallway towards it, but her skirt caught on one of Zack’s tools as she went, leaving her inches shy of reaching it, even with her arms outstretched.

“ Iesu Grist , Gwynfor!” she shouted when it swung open and her brother walked in. She yanked her skirt free and slammed the door closed, latching it to make sure it was locked. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. Get in there, quickly.”

“Nice to see you too. I was just–”

He came into the living room and stopped, frozen at the sight of the bloodied blanket on the floor, obviously concealing a body. He turned to his sister, horrified, and pointed down at it. “Is that…? Mair, have you… Have you killed Zack?”

“What? No. Of course not. Not that I haven’t come close a couple of times, mind you.” She tried to force a smile and make light of the situation, but it was obvious that Gwyn was in no mood for jokes as he stood there waiting for an explanation. “I didn’t even do it?”

“You?” he said, turning to me in shock. “Who even is it?”

“No, it wasn’t me!” I said defensively. “It was Zack, but it was self-defence. He was trying to kill me.”

“Zack tried to kill you?”

“No,” I said, waving my hands impatiently. “I’m not explaining it well. Graham Morgan tried to kill me. Zack was the one who saved me. ”

“That’s Graham Morgan?” he asked. He took a step towards the body and leaned over it slightly, then turned his attention back to us. “You two have been back around each other for five minutes and there’s already a dead body. Someone better start explaining what’s going on.”

A couple of hours later, with Iris safely out of the way, Gwyn, Mair, Zack and I sat around the dining table in Mairs house, discussing our options. Graham’s body remained in the centre of the floor for the duration, but everything that had laid strewn around the room had been moved out of the way to stop his blood from getting onto everything. DNA testing wasn’t a significant concern, of course, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.

“We can’t do anything until it’s dark,” Gwyn said, breaking a silence that had sat over us for a few minutes.

“You shouldn’t be doing anything at all,” I countered. “You weren’t even involved. You’re supposed to be at work in an hour. If you don’t show up and then a body turns up in the morning, it’s opening a line of enquiry that we could do without.”

“Then we have to make sure that no body turns up,” Mair added.

“We could weigh it down and throw it in the river,” I said, looking around the table for reactions to my suggestion. “It’s still high from the storms.”

“The river’s too far,” Gwyn replied. “We’d be seen, for sure.”

“A fire?” Mair suggested .

“It wouldn’t be hot enough to get rid of it entirely,” I replied. “And besides, if we go somewhere and light a random fire, people will start asking questions.”

“How can you all be so calm about this?” Zack said, speaking up for the first time in a while. He was fidgeting with his hands, uneasy with the conversation, and his eyes flicked between us all as he searched for signs of panic or remorse.

I felt as callous as he probably thought we all were, plotting the disposal of a body, a person, in hushed whispers around a dining table, as though it were nothing more than getting rid of some rubbish. But every time the feeling of guilt began to set in, I reminded myself that if Zack hadn’t done what he did, then I’d be the one lying dead now. When it came down to it, I’d sooner see Graham, an actual accomplice to murder, under that blanket than me.

“We have to be calm, Zack,” Gwyn said, and he reached out to put a hand on his brother-in-law's arm. “They could hang you for this. They could hang all of us.”

“But someone is dead. Someone is dead, and we’re talking about disposing of him as though he was nothing.”

“You knew Graham,” Mair said, putting her hand on her husband's other arm. “You knew what he was like, and you saw what he was doing. He would have killed Tom, and he would have killed me next. And after everything else he’s done? I’m sorry to say it, but it’s no loss.”

Zack looked at his wife as though he’d never seen her before, filled with disgust and confusion, and pulled his arms free of Mair and Gwyn’s touch .

“How can you say that?” he asked. “What’s he done that can make what we’ve done ok?”

Mair looked at him, then at Gwyn and me, and it didn’t take long for Zack to notice how awkwardly we were all staring back and forth at each other.

“What is it that nobody is telling me?”

“Zack, don’t worry–”

“No,” he shouted, slamming his hand down on the table. “I want the truth.”

We all fell silent, and Zack stared around, filled with anger, as he waited for an explanation.

“It’s my fault,” I said, and all eyes around the table turned to me.

I couldn’t even look Zack in the eye, but I thought it would be better to come from me. If he was going to end the evening angry with someone, it was better to be me than his family.

“Arthur Morgan tried to kill me. He kidnapped me and held me hostage, and when I escaped, he chased me and Gwyn to the quarry and tried to shoot us. Mair found us before he could, and shot him to save our lives.”

Zack leaned on the table and dropped his head into his hands, shaking it in disbelief. I looked around, unsure of whether to carry on, and Gwyn put his hand on my shoulder, taking over.

“Arthur killed someone,” he said. “A young girl. He buried her in our top field with some of Tom’s things. Graham helped him. They’d planned it together and they were going to frame Tom for the murder. Me too, probably, given where they buried her. The girl they found up on the estate, that was her. But it wasn’t Elinor Lewis like they said. It was just someone they found and killed who looked like her. They’re monsters, Zack.”

For the whole time Gwyn was speaking, Zack didn’t move, and I sat on the edge of my seat, nervously chewing on my thumb, waiting for a reaction.

“There’s more,” Mair said. Gwyn looked at her like he wanted her to stop, and I took hold of his hand under the table. “The attacks on Gwynfor weren’t random. Graham had been trying to find a way to Tom and took it out on Gwyn. He almost killed him.”

I squeezed Gwyn's hand, and he held onto it tightly but wouldn’t meet my stare.

“After Gwyn left,” Mair continued, her voice becoming shaky, “it carried on.”

Gwyn finally looked up and sat straight, and turned his gaze between me and Mair, confused about where this was going. She looked at me and shrugged, resigned to the fact that it had to come out, and I reached out with my other hand to offer her some support.

“Graham’s been blackmailing me since Christmas.” This time, Zack looked up, and though he still looked angry, he softened as he listened to her. “He told me that if I didn’t pay him, he was going to hurt you and the baby. At first, it was just little amounts here and there, but then he kept wanting more. I sold things and borrowed, but it was never enough, and he kept saying that he would hurt you. So I went to Aberystwyth and I took out a loan.

“Graham took it all and more, and the payments got on top of me. They kept adding interest, and it kept growing, and I didn’t know what to do. Tom gave me his savings to pay it off, but Graham still wanted more. That’s why I wanted to move, and that’s why he followed us here.”

The revelations brought the table to silence once more, and we were all avoiding looking at each other now that our secrets were all out in the open.

“You should have told me,” Gwyn said, sounding disappointed, but I had no idea if he was talking to me or Mair because he wouldn’t pull his attention away from his hands, which were clenched tightly together on the table.

“Mair was trying to keep you from finding out because she didn’t want you to worry or come to any harm,” I said, staring between Zack and Gwyn. “Everyone just did what they thought was best in a terrible situation.”

“Is this all true?” Zack asked. He reached a hand out to his wife and rubbed her shoulder, but she refused to take her head out of her hands. “Mair? Why didn’t you say anything to me?”

“I thought we’d be free of it all when we moved here,” she said, finally lifting herself up and looking at her husband. “I’m sorry, Zack.”

I stared at Gwyn, willing him to look at me. I knew he was annoyed that I’d kept Mair’s problems from him, but I hoped that he’d realise what a difficult position I’d been in, and that I was only trying to help.

“It’s not his fault,” Mair said as if she was reading my thoughts. “Tom didn’t tell you because I made him promise not to. If it wasn’t for him giving me his savings, I can’t even imagine what would have become of us. I begged him not to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry, and I didn’t want you marching back to Cwm Newydd and getting hurt again.”

Gwyn remained silent, but nodded as he stared at his hands, then he reached out and took hold of mine, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Zack.

“I know,” he said. “And I’m not angry. I just wish I’d known what was going on so that I could have done something to help.”

“It’s all my fault,” Mair said, slumping down in her seat. “If I’d just told you all from the start, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Zack got up and threw his arms around her shoulders, then kissed the top of her head. “It’s my job to look after you,” he whispered. “You shouldn’t have had to do all this alone.”

“It’s nobody’s fault,” Gwyn said, putting some strength in his voice again. “The Morgans have done this. I’m not going to sit around this table pointing fingers at the people I love, when all any of us have tried to do is survive them. I just won’t. What’s done is done. We all had good intentions, however misguided, and what happened to Graham, he brought on himself. Now we have to look out for each other.”

Zack stood upright and crossed his arms over his chest, nodding in agreement. “Gwyn’s right. So how are we doing this?”

“I actually have an idea,” I said nervously, leaning in close to everybody to explain how we might just be able to get away with murder. “But it won’t be pretty.”