Page 67 of The Lucky Winners

David

He watches her, drinks in her fear. She’s frozen in place, her body stiff with tension, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if she can somehow make herself smaller, less visible.

But she can’t hide from him. Not now. Not ever again.

He smiles, thinking of Dev – battered, bloody and sprawled unconscious in a spare room upstairs. So useless and weak. So easily taken by surprise and off his guard. So stupid as to leave his keys lying around for the taking.

Dev is a liability who needed removing, at least for now, until he has time to take care of him properly.

And he knows precisely how he will get her down to the lake. He’ll lead her to believe she’ll see her feckless husband down there when in reality he’s right above her head.

He steps closer, measuring the space between them, savouring the moment. He’s not in a rush. Not any more. He’s not afraid of anything or anyone. It’s a powerful position to be in.

‘You’re shaking,’ he murmurs. ‘And you should be afraid, Janey. Soon you’ll know how David felt in his last moments.’

‘What do you want?’ she whispers, her throat tight.

‘Oh, we’ll get to that. I’ve waited a long time for this. Show some patience.’ He tips his head, studying her face. ‘First, I think you should know a few things. Understand how much I’ve seen, how well I’ve crept around on the edge of your life. We have time, after all. Isn’t that nice?’

She doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need her to.

He gestures towards the large windows, the ones she and Dev had been so concerned about lately.

‘The vandalism. That was me, obviously.’ He chuckles, shaking his head.

‘I was right outside when you were panicking about it. That was funny. And a stroke of genius on my part, framing the comments as coming from disgruntled locals, don’t you think? ’

She swallows, barely breathing.

‘But the car?’ He shrugs. ‘Not me. I watched Tilda do that. She was very angry with you, wasn’t she?

Became obsessed with you from the first day they met you.

I’ve heard all her crazy rants when they’re arguing through the open windows down at the barn.

’ He pauses with a smirk before continuing.

‘She was committed to a clinic before she moved here. Did you know that? She’s got previous on trying to eradicate attractive women who might be her dashing husband’s type . ’

I shake my head, trying to make sense of what he’s saying. ‘Why would she want to be friends if she thought I was a threat?’

‘Heard that saying about keeping your enemies close? She’s quite mad, Janey.

Always been unstable, I’ll wager, but driven to the wastelands of obsession and desperation by her unfaithful charmer of a husband.

’ He coughs bashfully. ‘Even if I did help the escalation of her obsession by one or two well-placed little notes through the door.’

‘Notes?’

‘ Warning from a Friend .’ He hooks speech marks in the air.

‘That was always my first line. Advising her to watch out because you were after her husband. Grassing Simon up when he called here alone that day … telling her she’d find evidence of all your past misdemeanours back at your house in Nottingham.

’ He smiles pleasantly. ‘Then it was just a case of sitting back and enjoying the entertainment when she believed you were shagging her darling husband.’

His grin stretches. ‘Oh, and I saw her let herself into the house, too. Through the window she opened for herself when she left here one day. She walked around taking photographs, followed you to the car park and scratched your car with her keys.’

Janey’s face is pale, but his revelation doesn’t land with the weight he had hoped.

He steps closer still. ‘I see everything, Janey. You’ve been so preoccupied with your splendid win, your good fortune, you didn’t even notice the enemy right under your nose.’

Her chest rises and falls in quick, shallow movements. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because I want you to understand.’ His voice is light, conversational. ‘I want you to see how blind you’ve been. How wrong you’ve been.’ He exhales slowly, then meets her eyes with sudden, searing intensity. ‘And because I want the truth in turn.’

She stiffens. ‘What truth?’

‘Don’t play stupid. You know exactly what I mean. David .’ He watches, fascinated, as her throat visibly pulses.

She says, ‘When you fostered us, you were knowingly throwing us to the lion. You both stood and watched while he groomed me.’

For the first time, he feels his confidence wobble. ‘No! It wasn’t like that. We didn’t know they were going to let him out early … he only served half his sentence. We tried to protect you and Beth when we heard he was coming home, but it was very … It was difficult.’

Her eyes flash. ‘You lied to the police on so many occasions. Let him continue his abuse of young girls.’

He doesn’t want to hear this. It isn’t supposed to be happening. Time to take back control of his plan.

‘I want to hear you say it. The truth about what happened to David, how he died.’

‘I told you. He just slipped and –’

‘ Liar! ’ His voice cracks through the air like a whip, his body suddenly rigid, trembling with the force of his fury.

She flinches and staggers back, her hand gripping the edge of the table behind her.

He shakes his head, his jaw locked tight.

‘He wouldn’t have just slipped . That’s not who he was.

He was strong, steady. He wouldn’t have fallen unless someone pushed him.

I need to know, Janey. I promised Maureen on her deathbed I would make you say the words.

The truth. And now, after I’ve enlightened you, you owe me that. ’

Her voice is hoarse when she speaks. ‘I told you what happened. He pushed Beth. He – he wasn’t thinking, he –’

‘ No .’ He steps forward so quickly that she gasps, pressing herself back against the table.

His breath is ragged now, his fingers twitching at his sides.

‘I don’t believe you,’ he says, voice lower now, a dangerous tremor beneath the words.

‘You took him from his mother. You let him drown and, in doing so, you killed my Maureen, too.’

Her lips part, but whatever she’s about to say is swallowed by a sudden, violent crash from the hallway.

Their heads whip around towards the door.

Heavy, staggering footsteps thunder down the hall, and then Dev bursts into the room.

‘Dev!’ she shouts, joyous at seeing he’s alive. But not for long. His face is swollen, one eye barely open, blood trickling from his temple. He stumbles, but his gaze locks on to Webb with unwavering fury.

‘Get away from her.’

Webb exhales sharply, his fury curling into something colder, sharper.

‘Dev,’ Janey gasps, starting towards him, but Webb moves first.

His hand tightens around the hammer. Then he charges.

‘Dev, RUN!’ she screams.

Dev barely dodges the first swing, the claw of the hammer slicing through the air with a sharp whoosh where his head had been a second before. He stumbles back, panting, fists raised, but Webb is relentless.

The second swing catches Dev across the ribs. There’s a sickening crack and Dev cries out. He crumples, gasping. One hand clutching his side.

Webb stands over him, his breath heaving, the hammer still raised.

Janey cries, ‘Please, don’t hurt him!’

Webb exhales, rolling his shoulders. He tilts his head towards her, smiling almost lazily. ‘This isn’t what I planned, but …’ he steps towards her, lifting the hammer ‘… I suppose it will have to do.’

She scrambles back, eyes darting towards the door, but Webb moves too quickly. ‘Don’t!’ she gasps, raising her hands as if she can stop him.

His grip tightens and he lifts the hammer higher –

And then he sees it, a tall, broad shape looming at the door.

Before he can react, a fist slams into the back of his skull.

The impact is brutal. His body jerks forward, his grip slackening. The claw hammer slips from his fingers.

He staggers once. Twice. Then he crumples, face first, on to the floor.

Silence crashes into the room, thick and heavy.

She sucks in a shuddering breath, her whole body trembling. She looks up.

And sees who’s saved her.