The Silent Ones: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller(79)

‘The ambulance is on its way, sir,’ I hear the officer behind Neary say.

I stagger back, let Dana sit me down on a kitchen stool. I feel dazed and sick.

I don’t know how I didn’t see the signs with Beth… I think it’s the same reason I missed so many other signs the people I love were giving off: my obsession with work. My na?vety when it comes to my family and their motives.

‘How come you never realised Beth was Bessie’s carer?’ I ask Neary and he frowns, looks apologetic.

‘We did what we could in a very short space of time, Juliet,’ he says. ‘I had an officer speak to the carers on the list we had and they all checked out. We had two girls back at the station covered in Bessie’s blood and that’s where we focused our efforts.’

It’s not good enough but I can’t help feeling a twinge of sympathy for the guy. It feels like a week ago but Bessie Wilford was only attacked yesterday and there’s only so much ground Neary can practically cover in that time.

I never suspected Beth and I knew her the best… or thought I did. If she’d told me she’d done some care work for Bessie, I still wouldn’t have thought a thing of it.

Dana shuffles uncomfortably beside me. Beth… Lizzie… completely fooled her, too.

Beth was my best friend. I truly believed she had my back. I can’t really blame others for not seeing through her.

Commotion outside again and then paramedics rush past the kitchen door and run upstairs, directed by Neary.

‘I need to go up there to see Josh,’ I say frantically.

‘Let them do their job, Juliet,’ Dana urges me. ‘They can treat him far more effectively if they’re left to get on with it.’

‘Maddy’s waiting for you to take her home.’ Neary says quietly as his officers handcuff Beth.

I smile at that. The words I honestly had begun to believe I’d never hear.

‘Staff at the detention unit are in the process of informing your husband and family what’s happening here. I’ve asked them to keep everyone there until we get back.’

‘They’re no family of mine,’ I hiss. I feel hot and empty inside when I think about my parents and sister. It feels like something has sucked out all my organs and replaced them with fury and disbelief.

I hear footsteps coming downstairs and stand up in terrified expectation.

‘Josh is going to be fine,’ DS March says, walking into the room. ‘He’s been lightly sedated, but they say he should soon recover.’

‘Told you he was OK,’ Beth taunts me. ‘You worry too much, Jules.’

I fly at her, fingernails extended, and feel Neary’s strong arms pull me back.

‘Don’t, Juliet,’ Dana says darkly. ‘She’s simply not worth it.’

The fury drains and I feel so weak. I stagger back and lean against the kitchen counter. Minutes later, the paramedics appear in the doorway, carrying my boy on a small stretcher and a blast of energy whooshes back into me as I fly towards him.

‘Josh,’ I whisper as I stroke his pale face. ‘I’m so sorry. I love you.’

His eyelids flicker slightly.

‘He’ll be fine, Mum,’ the jovial paramedic says kindly. ‘He’s been given a mild sedative but it’s wearing off now. A good meal and a session on his Xbox and he’ll be good as new,’ he quips as they carry my boy out to the ambulance.

Now that I know Josh is safe and that Maddy and Tom are waiting for me back at the unit, I can breathe.

But still one thought dominates, filling me with both sadness for the lost years and pure happiness for the future, all mixed together in a powerful rush.

My brother is alive.





One Month Later





Sixty





Juliet





Our lives are like the aftermath of a battlefield, but we’re getting through it.

Tom and I sat down with Dana and he told me everything. How when Chloe approached him to tell him the truth about Corey’s accident, he made the decision to keep it from me.

‘I’m so, so sorry I chose to make that call,’ he apologised, reaching for my hand. ‘I knew you had so much pressure on with the business, and you were taking medication again… I was convinced it would tip you over the edge.’

‘I had a right to know,’ I told him.

‘You did. You absolutely did and I see that now, but at the time… I thought it would break us, Juliet. We weren’t nearly as strong as a couple as we used to be.’ He shook his head. ‘Chloe was panicking more and more that you would find out you’d taken the rap for Corey all these years, and I ended up being her reluctant confidante.’

‘I was so certain, when I saw you in the car together, that you were having an affair,’ I admit.

‘I would’ve jumped to the same conclusion, I’m sure,’ he says magnanimously. ‘But it wasn’t a lovers’ tiff you were witnessing. I’d finally snapped and insisted we had to tell you the truth about Corey. I only wish I’d done it sooner.’

He hangs his head and clutches my hand before continuing.

‘But there was never anything more between us. And she never told me your brother was still alive.’