Page 38 of The Cut

Dani stood at the sink, filling a saucepan with water. She was watching Ben in his usual spot, pacing at the bottom of the garden on the phone, staring out across the river.

She’d lied to him last night when they got back, pretending she’d taken Lily and Nate to the cinema.

She didn’t feel good about it. What had started out as an exciting secret mission had ended in her not being able to meet Ben’s eyes and regurgitating the Wikipedia page of a film she hadn’t seen.

She picked at the chipped lacquer on her nail extensions and slid the pan on to the ceramic hob, dropping eggs into the water.

Her eyes had been glued to the morning news.

The Mill Killer’s imminent release wasn’t just regional anymore; all the major channels had picked up the story and spun it into a national outrage.

Everyone salivating over the past, trampling over the details of a case they had no real knowledge of.

But he was definitely coming out, and soon.

The front door slammed, making her jump. Dani turned to see Karine standing in the doorway. She was coming and going these days like she owned the place. In a way, she did; they were all living on her film set and Dani was like a runner at her beck and call.

‘Oh, it’s you.’ Dani’s tone was flat. She muted the sound on the TV, the scowl on her face morphing into a pleasant smile that concealed the tension tightening in her gut.

Karine stepped one pace into the room. ‘Lily and Nate were great last night … It was a tough scene – they surprised me.’ 208

‘Of course they were great.’ Dani’s instinct was to counter with something akin to ‘they’re my kids’, but she checked herself.

Karine stared at Dani. ‘It’s boiling over.’

‘Sorry?’ Something passed between them before a hissing sound like pressure from a piston broke the spell. Dani grabbed the pan and shifted it to the side of the worktop as water spat and crackled on the hot ceramic.

‘Nate will have a few bruises … Sorry about that.’ Karine ran her hand through her hair and laughed uncomfortably. ‘Don’t sue me.’

‘Seriously?’ Dani turned to face her. ‘Actually, Karine, I think we need to have a little chat.’ Her voice was quivering with the anticipation of confrontation.

‘Really, about what?’ Karine’s voice lightened.

‘Umm … Lily’s sprained ankle and cuts on Nate’s face.’ Dani’s hands went to her hips. ‘OK, look, I don’t know how this filming lark is supposed to be but …’ She was struggling. ‘… frankly, I’m concerned.’ Their eyes met. Dani didn’t blink. ‘They’re just children.’

Karine smiled and tossed her white hair back over her shoulder.

‘Oh, Dani … I totally understand.’ There was an arrogance in her tone.

She took a breath. ‘Yes, I admit there is a certain level of danger when we attempt a stunt, and sometimes things happen in the heat of the moment, but I can assure you, I am watching them like a hawk.’ Her eyes flicked to the TV news bulletin.

‘Lily must get a few knocks and bumps in football, no?’ Karine smiled at Dani. ‘She’s a tough cookie.’

Dani swallowed. She didn’t want Nate’s dreams – her dreams – to be shattered.

Karine continued. ‘Like I said before, I don’t want anything fake … this film needs to feel real. I need to believe everything, I 209 need to feel everything. It has to be visceral. You’ll thank me at the Oscars.’ Karine nudged Dani.

Dani smiled but her voice had an edge to it. ‘All right, well … as long as you’re getting what you need.’

‘Oh, I am.’ Karine glanced at the TV. ‘We are.’ Her eyes returned to Dani. The muted presenters had segued into a piece about paedophiles and AI.

‘What was it you wanted?’ Dani fished out the boiled eggs from the pan.

‘I need to get everything over to the editor this afternoon. Can you please sign the release agreement?’ She pulled an envelope from her coat pocket and slid it along the quartz worktop.

Dani inclined her head and smiled, feeling a sudden sense of empowerment. ‘What exactly is being released? Do I need to read the small print?’

‘It’s a standard waiver for Nate and Lily’s participation. We can’t release the film without it.’ Karine flashed Dani a confident smile. ‘Aren’t you curious, to find out what happens in the end?’

‘No. But I am.’

Karine turned. Ben was standing on the threshold of the back door.

‘I’m fascinated to find out.’ His face was flushed and he gripped his jaw. ‘You seem to be having a wild time with my family, Karine.’

Dani had never seen Ben like this. He had a look on his face like he was about to kill someone.

‘Can I have a word?’ He beckoned Karine out into the garden with a nod. ‘In private.’

Ben was waiting by the edge of the river, as far away from the house as he could possibly get, hidden from sight behind the stack of fallen branches in the burn pile. Come autumn, this would all 210 be ablaze. He heard her feet on the gravel path behind him, but he didn’t turn.

‘Where were you last night?’ Ben thrust his hands deep into his pockets.

Karine stepped close to his side, her shoulder almost touching. ‘Why?’ She nudged him slightly. ‘I didn’t know you cared.’ Ben flicked his head back to the house and pulled away from her.

‘I don’t.’ His tone was flat. ‘But we need to talk.’

She smiled but he cut her dead with his eyes.

‘Oh, OK … well … I went to the cinema with Dani.’ Karine smiled implacably.

‘I dropped into the Red Lion. I’m becoming quite the regular over there these days.

’ He squinted at her, enjoying the power he had in this moment.

‘Your tech guy was in the bar … Ed, isn’t it?

Yeah, I played a round or two of darts with him and your focus puller, Freddie.

Ed and Fred certainly enjoy chewing the fat … so …’

‘So?’

‘So … They told me where you were.’

‘Then why did you ask?’ Karine’s voice hit a register he hadn’t heard before. It was intimate, seductive even.

‘Why did you lie?’ Ben held her gaze, matching her tone.

Karine moved her hair away from her neck, exposing her tantalising white skin, and laughed.

‘Because I … I didn’t want you to know.’ She smiled to herself and turned her face towards the river and the mill.

‘I warned you about overstepping the line with my kids.’ Ben’s voice tightened to a whisper. ‘I’m going to pull them from your damned film.’

Karine breathed in the cool morning air. ‘And I will sue you … It’s all there in the contract you so diligently pressed for, Ben. Plus, 211 of course, you would need to repay all their fees, plus bond and damages for shutting down a studio feature. Do you have any idea—’

‘Why are you doing this?’ Ben cut her off.

‘Oh, come on, Ben, you’re getting all caught up in the drama.’ Karine turned her body towards the house. ‘Which is maybe not such a bad thing.’ She moved past him and began to walk back.

‘Wait, I haven’t finished. I was there, I saw what you did. The dodgems … the fairground set-up.’

Karine stopped and turned back.

‘I followed you.’ He hadn’t intended to tell her that. Now he was the one who was being subversive. Neither of them spoke for a second.

‘Hmm … so you’re curious?’

‘I know what you’re doing. You’re not the first person who has come sniffing around these parts, trying to rake up the past. Books have been written, documentaries … you have no shame, do you? Anything for a quick buck. People just want to be left alone.’

Karine shook her head. ‘It’s always like this, Ben. Everyone always thinks the story is about them …’ She winced sympathetically. ‘But that’s what I do, I get under the skin.’

It was as if he were reliving the moment; it was as if she had been there, in every recurring nightmare that had haunted him over the years. A sharp pain jolted in Ben’s chest, tighter than ever. He flinched.

Karine turned and smiled at him. She could see the effect she was having on him.

‘Filmmakers are the truth tellers … you’ll see.’ 212