Page 71 of The Lucky Winners

Now everything is falling apart.

45

A tear rolls down Sarah’s cheek as she spins on her heel and quietly leaves the room, avoiding eye contact with any of us. Her footsteps echo down the hallway as we all look at each other in shock.

Jack throws me a withering glare before he follows her, calling her name.

Simon and Tilda stand, still and silent, near the door. Dev, meanwhile, groans and runs a hand through his hair. ‘Shit!’ he murmurs.

‘What was all that about?’ Tilda says. ‘Were you seriously that angry, Merri, because she took a photo of your room?’

‘Someone has been posting private photos of the house online, Tilda. Pictures taken inside without our permission.That’s why I’m so concerned.’

‘Really? You didn’t say.’ Tilda’s eyebrows rise in surprise, but before I can elaborate, Dev cuts in.

‘We suspected it was one of you. That’s why –’

‘Dev!’ I snap, cutting him off before he can say any more. He’s such a liability when he’s had a few drinks.

Simon looks at me, incredulous. ‘Wait a minute. Are you saying that’s why you invited us all here? That this was a set-up all along because you think we’re shafting you?’

‘No! It wasn’t like that,’ I say quickly, but my protest sounds feeble even to my own ears.

Dev, oblivious, keeps going: ‘We thought if we took you each to different parts of the house and left you to your owndevices, we’d know who the culprit was if another photo appeared online.’

Simon’s face is like thunder. ‘So when you found Sarah taking a photo, that was enough to prove her guilt and exonerate the rest of us? How can you accuse her of something like that, after everything she’s done for you?’

Tilda lets out an offended yelp. ‘Why are you defendingher? What do you know about it?’

Down the hall, Sarah and Jack’s conversation grows louder. ‘You can’t go out in this weather,’ Jack’s pleading.

Tilda gives me a withering look. ‘I can’t believe you’d suspect us of doing anything as crass as this.’

‘Tilda, I –’

‘Save your breath, Merri.’ Simon heads out to the hallway and she follows.

‘Don’t go, please, Sarah,’ I hear him say. ‘It’s raining really heavily now, and you’ll get wet through. The storm should pass quickly enough.’

‘Leave it!’ Tilda hisses. ‘It’s got absolutely nothing to do with you.’

I round on Dev. ‘You idiot! You made it sound like we were laying a trap for them tonight!’

Dev throws up his hands defensively. ‘Well … we were!’

I don’t have time to argue. I head towards the front door, which is wide open, letting in the chill of the rain. Sarah stands in the hallway, her face pale and strained. She glances at my rainbow-striped umbrella hanging on the coat rack and snatches it.

Jack hovers nearby, his hands outstretched in a silent plea for her not to go.

‘Sarah,’ I say, softening my tone, ‘can we talk?’

She whirls around, her face twisting in fury. ‘After what you’ve accused me of? I don’t think so.’

The rain is coming down in earnest now, fat droplets pelting the ground and the hall floor as the forecast storm gathers momentum.

Sarah unfurls my umbrella with a clumsy snap and steps out into the weather.

‘Sarah, don’t,’ Jack pleads, following her to the threshold. ‘It’s pouring out there. Just stay and –’