How to Kill Men and Get Away With It(83)

She can’t mean what she seems to be hinting at. Can she?

‘What are you talking about, Hen? I think you need to sit down and have a glass of wine yourself. I know it’s been a tough day for you.’

‘The men, Kits. All the men.’ She turns to her dad. ‘She’s almost as prolific as you but at least there’s some purpose behind her crimes. Until poor Ruben.’

Fuck.

‘How?’

‘Because I’m your stalker, Kitty. The Creep. It was me the whole time.’

I take a big swallow of the wine.

She was right about that too. Clever girl.

‘What the fuck, Hen? What the actual fuck? And why?’

Hen stares at me before lighting a cigarette. Since when does she smoke? She offers one to me. I shake my head.

‘So, it’s been you all this time? You’ve been the one stalking me, threatening me?’

She shrugs. ‘Maybe you’re not quite as clever as you think you are.’

‘But why?’

‘Funnily enough, it started as a bit of fun. Well, fun for me. I wanted to scare you. Do you know how sickening you are? So perfect and so fucking smug with it. I wanted to freak you out a bit.’ She takes a long drag of the cigarette, still regarding me. ‘And it worked, didn’t it? At first? When you went to the police, I could tell I’d really shaken you. But then he’ – she nods over at James – ‘found out. And suddenly it was all “security for Kitty” this and “maybe she should move in here” that.’

‘She was scared,’ James growls from the sofa, rubbing his already thinning hairline. ‘Do you not think a stalker might not be a bit terrifying, Hen?’

‘I wouldn’t fucking know. Anyway, it got almost addictive after that though. I knew I should stop, but every time you came and met me for brunch or whatever, it gave me a little kick to see you so jumpy, always looking over your shoulder. Watching that veneer crack was so much fun.’ She claps her hands on each of the last three words.

‘You need help.’

‘But then I struck the jackpot, didn’t I? That night when that loser killed himself on the broken bottle. The night you left your phone in the bar? All it took was five minutes to install some spyware onto it – your passcodes are so predictable – and suddenly your entire world was open to me. Let’s just say, it’s been a bit more cert 18 than I ever expected. I have to admit, I was actually quite in awe of you for a while. Taking those monsters out. I mean, they all deserved it, didn’t they? And you were pretty creative with them. It was fun watching you. That’s why I didn’t say anything. I was biding my time.’

She takes a few steps towards me and then sits down on the floor, inches from where I am.

‘I was planning on going to the police. But then the shit hit the fan with my dad and I figured you’d be of more use to me not behind bars.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘It was me who tipped the police off about James. Me!’ She’s excited. ‘Can you even imagine?’ She laughs but it’s hollow this time. ‘Now I want you to kill him.’ She points at her father, who is still clutching his head.

‘But he’s your dad,’ I say, hating how lame I sound.

‘Unfortunately, yes. But he’s not just my dad though. Are you, James? What else could you call yourself? What else would you say you’ve been to me since I was twelve? My lover? My abuser? My rapist.’ She’s glaring at him. ‘James Pemberton’s liking for young girls didn’t even stay outside of his own family, did it? Daddy? Can you remember the first night you came into my room and raped me? Because I can. It probably all blurs into one for you though, doesn’t it? All those underage girls. Well, let me tell Kitty all about it because, even though I know everything about her, she doesn’t really know a thing about me and my life.’ She comes over to me and tops up my wine. ‘You’ll need to brace yourself for this, babe. It’s quite the story.’

What. The. Fuck.

James looks up at me for the first time. ‘This is bullshit, Kitty. She’s warped.’

‘You remember all those parties our parents used to have back in the good old days? My dad was especially known for throwing a good bash. But it turned out that they were not quite as fun as we thought they were. Definitely not for the girls there at any rate. I’m not quite sure I have the words to explain to you what it’s like to walk in on your own father getting a blow job from a fifteen-year-old he’s promised to make the next big thing in music.’ She turns to James again. ‘I don’t even get why. A fifteen-year-old can’t give a decent blowie, she shouldn’t even know what she’s doing.’ She paces back and forth in front of me. ‘But that’s nothing compared to your own father coming into your bedroom that very same night and explaining that it’s very important that I never tell anyone what I saw him doing.’ There’s an armchair in the corner of the room and she perches herself on that. ‘He got into bed with me and told me that I was the most special girl in the world. And that because I was his most special girl, he had a special present for me. Have a guess at what my special present was, Kits, go on.’

I can’t answer her.

‘I’ll give you a clue, then. It wasn’t a fucking puppy!’ Tears have started to run down her face now, some of them dripping right into the wine.