Page 66 of Worse Than Murder (DCI Matilda Darke Thriller #13)

‘They’re not lies,’ I say. ‘The problem is, Iain, you’ve told them so many times over the past thirty years that you actually believe them yourself.

You really think your brother was a paedophile and a murderer, when in reality he was a good man who loved his family but was struggling with his mental health. ’

Iain slowly gets back to his feet. He presses a hand to his head and winces at the pain.

‘Jack was weak and pathetic. He didn’t deserve Lynne, and he didn’t deserve Celia and Jennifer.

You’re right, Alison, I did drug you when you were five.

Do you know what else I did while you were drugged and asleep? ’

‘No!’ I scream. ‘Alison, don’t listen to this. This is a lie. He didn’t do anything to you. He only wants to hurt you.’

‘I fucked you, Alison. I put you to bed and I got in next to you.’

‘No!’ Alison cries.

‘He’s lying. He didn’t do anything.’ I turn to Iain. ‘You’ve hurt this family enough. You don’t need to do any more damage.’

Iain lunges forward. He grabs me and pulls me out of the way. He takes Alison by the shoulders and slams her up against the back wall. I can see he’s whispering something in her ear. He’s smirking, grinning, enjoying himself while Alison buckles and collapses.

I have to stop him. I have to stop him telling more lies and inflicting more damage.

I grab the frying pan from the cooker and swing it at his head. He falls, bangs his head on the table as he drops.

‘Alison, listen to me,’ I begin, taking hold of Alison and pulling her to her feet. ‘Don’t listen to a word he just said. He wants to hurt you. Don’t let him. Go. Leave. Go back to the cottage. Tell Tania to call Gill. She needs to come now.’ I push Alison to the back door and pull it open.

‘Please,’ she pleads with me, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘Please don’t tell me he…’

‘He didn’t. I know he didn’t. Go and get help. Now. Run!’

I slam the door and turn back to see Iain getting to his feet.

‘I have never wanted to kill someone as much as I want to kill you right now,’ I tell him. I can feel the anger rising up inside me. I hope Gill gets here quickly.

Iain smiles at me. ‘You’re right. You’re absolutely right.

I did hate Jack. I hated Lynne even more for dumping me for that pathetic excuse for a man.

I hated Travis for having women offer themselves to him when he was too shy to accept it.

I did steal his car. He reported it to the police, but I knew Lionel had taken that money raised for Gideon, so I told him to remove the statement or I’d tell the whole village. ’

‘You still told them, though.’

‘Of course. I had to discredit him so that anything he might say would be seen as a lie, and it worked. He’s kept his mouth shut for thirty years. Good old Lionel.’ He winks.

‘Why did you take only Celia and Jennifer? Alison was with them on that day. Why didn’t you take her, too?’

‘If you take everything away from someone, they have nothing left to live for. Like you right now, Matilda,’ he says, calm and concise.

‘But leave them something, just one thing– in this case, Alison– and you can see the pain and torment painted on their faces. I saw it in Jack. He really was on the cusp of suicide after Celia and Jennifer disappeared, but he was sticking around for Alison. He loved her so much. But it wasn’t him I wanted to hurt.

It was Lynne. She was the only woman I ever said ‘I love you’ to.

And she said it back. I thought she was the one.

Then I told her I couldn’t have children.

Within a week, we’d split up. How can you do that to someone?

And then, to rub salt in the wound, she turned to my brother.

What kind of a woman does that? She had to suffer, I mean, really fucking suffer.

‘It turned out Lynne was stronger than I thought. She was even planning on going back to work. So, I had to come up with something else. I told her I’d caught Jack wanking over a kiddie-porn mag.

I convinced her we had to kill him to save Alison.

There was no way Lynne was going to lose another child, so she went along with it.

She was there when I killed him. She brought him to the stables.

She lured him in, and I struck the final blow.

‘Lynne hit rock bottom then. Give her her due, it took some doing, but she finally hit the floor. Then, I was able to mould and shape her into the Lynne I wanted her to be. She gave up her job at the hospital, she worked with me at the stables, and it wasn’t long before we were sharing a bed. Job done.’

I can feel the rage boiling up inside me.

‘You’re evil,’ I croak.

‘I’m not. I’m really not. I’m what happens when you’re cast aside, abandoned and used.

I was fine to go out with for a few months and have fun, but as soon as I said I couldn’t have kids, I was dumped like my feelings didn’t matter.

I was fine to work on the farm and do the drudge work.

Jack was allowed to get a job and bring in a steady income, because he had a wife and three kids to support.

And when things became too much, Dad brings in outside help in the form of young, good-looking Travis fucking Montgomery who every slag in the village swooned over.

Once again, I’m in the background. You can only take the hurt, the pain and the torment for so long until you snap. ’

He grabs me by the throat and slams me against the fridge. I can feel his rough, calloused hands around my neck, and he squeezes. He squeezes hard, and I can see the murder in his eyes.

I bring my knee up and kick him in the crotch. He screams out in pain, releases his grip and bends double, hands between his legs. I grab for the frying pan and smack him over the head with it again to take him completely down.

‘That’s me snapping.’

I loom over him. He’s dazed but still conscious.

‘Right then, Iain, it’s about time you learned what happens when you fuck with the wrong woman.’