Fatal Witness (Detective Erika Foster #7) (47)



Vicky stared back at Erika in the darkness.

‘How would you protect me?’ she said in a small voice.

‘I can call on resources to have police officers protect you, if you want to tell me anything.’

‘And how can you be sure that you’re not sending the corrupt ones to protect me?’

Erika realised she shouldn’t have brought up the subject of corrupt police officers. Vicky hesitated, and Erika thought she was going to say something, and then she unclipped her seatbelt.

‘Please. I want to sleep. I want to see my sister.’

‘Will you come back first thing tomorrow and talk to me again? Informally, of course.’

‘Yes.’

‘Can I pick you up here, at, say, half past nine?’

‘Okay.’

They got out of the car and went to the front door. There were no lights on inside the house when Erika rang the front doorbell. A moment later a light sprang on in the window above and then Tess opened the front door. She wore a thick woollen cardigan over a frumpy flowery nightdress.

‘Oh God. Vicky. Why didn’t you call me?’ said Tess, grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. Vicky’s face was muffled for a moment, as she sobbed into her sister’s chest.

Erika could see Jasper in the kitchen, standing at the hob.

‘I’ll come back at nine thirty tomorrow,’ said Erika. Vicky pulled away from her sister, her face red and blotchy, and nodded.

‘Good night,’ said Tess crisply, and slammed the door. Erika hung around for a moment, but couldn’t hear anything through the door so she went back to her car.

Erika was frustrated. She knew very little, and this was a delicate situation. Technically, Vicky had fled the scene of a murder, and that was a crime, but she didn’t want to go down that road yet. She hoped that Vicky would start to talk of her own accord.

Erika started the engine and drove the short journey home.





‘I thought you were dead!’ cried Tess, staring at Vicky with a mixture of anger and relief. The small living room felt hot, and Vicky stared back at her sister’s accusing face.

‘Why didn’t you phone?’ said Jasper, remaining behind the kitchen counter. It was like a barrier, keeping him distant.

‘You wouldn’t have understood,’ said Vicky. Tess moved forward and Vicky thought for a moment that her sister was going to strike her. She flinched, but Tess pulled her into an embrace. She was taller, and Vicky felt her face being pushed into the material of Tess’s fleece, and she felt her sister’s arms encircling her grow tighter.

‘Don’t you ever do anything like that again, you hear me? You’re all I have,’ said Tess. She squeezed tighter and Vicky’s face was pressed harder into the material. She could feel Tess’s ribcage beneath her neck.

‘Ow! You’re smothering me,’ she said, fighting to pull away. Tess held on for a moment longer and then let go. ‘What are you doing? Trying to squeeze me to death?’

‘What am I doing? Hugging you. I’m going mad with grief and worry!’ shouted Tess, raising a finger and pointing it at her face. ‘I thought you were dead! Do you know how that feels? Loss? I spent a day and a night thinking you were dead and that we were going to have to bury you! And now we hear you ran away! Jesus Christ, Vicky! I thought you’d pulled a few stunts in the past, but this!’

Vicky felt a sudden rage at her sister.

‘Is that all you can say, you selfish bitch? Sophia is dead and all you can do is shout at me!’

Tess lashed out, and the slap was hard and unexpected. Vicky stood back in shock, holding her stinging cheek.

‘How dare you speak to me like that in my house!’ cried Tess.

‘It’s not your house. The bank owns it, like everything else!’ shouted Vicky and she launched herself at her sister, nails out, wanting dearly to scratch her eyes out. Tess ducked out of the way, but not before Vicky gouged a corner of her cheek with a nail. Tess fought back and landed another hard slap on the side of Vicky’s head. Her ear rang as she staggered back into the fireplace, hitting her back on the stone mantle and knocking a picture frame onto the carpet.

‘Enough!’ shouted Jasper. He slammed a frying pan down on the counter with a loud clang. ‘Enough, the both of you!’ He came around and stood between them. Vicky was leaning against the wall by the fireplace, clutching the side of her head. Tess was dabbing at a long scratch on the side of her cheek, which had started to bleed.

Vicky was surprised that Jasper seemed so hostile to them both. He didn’t go to help Tess, or offer her a tissue to stop the bleeding.

‘I’m glad you’re okay, Vicky. But there’s things we need to talk about, tomorrow,’ he said. He looked at Tess again, and then went to the coat stand by the front door, grabbed his coat and left the house.

They were silent for a long minute after the front door slammed. Vicky picked up the photos; one was of Tess’s wedding. She looked down and thought how happy they’d been. Tess beaming, radiant in her beautiful dress, as she signed the register with Jasper standing over her, sexy as hell in his dark suit. She smoothed her hand over the frame, and shook the inappropriate thought away guiltily. Relieved that the glass hadn’t cracked in the fall, she placed it back on the mantelpiece. She looked back at Tess, who was standing in the same spot, hand on her bleeding cheek, staring at the carpet.

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