Undone(91)

‘I’ll be fine. Thank you. I’m glad you stopped.’

She reaches into the glovebox and hands me a card. I hold the edges of the card between my thumb and forefinger and stare at it. It’s a business card – all fancy and embossed. Melissa Hill. She’s an estate agent. I thought estate agents were supposed to be the spawn of the devil? That’s what Dad’s always saying.

Melissa looks embarrassed all of a sudden. ‘Look, I know this is a bit weird, but call me, won’t you, if you ever – I don’t know – need someone to talk to? OK … now you think I’m crazy, don’t you? I don’t blame you. Just … remember there’s always another option. And things do get better, you know. Trust me.’ Her face is flushed red and she’s staring at the raindrops trickling down the windscreen instead of looking at me. She’s talking about herself now – that’s as clear as anything. It makes me itch with embarrassment for her. That she would expose herself like this.

‘Thank you.’ I clamber out of the car and shut the door before she has a chance to say anything else. I watch as she drives away – all the way along the street until the car turns the corner. There are no other cars for me to watch. No joggers. No dog walkers. Not even a plastic bag blowing down the street that I could pretend to be interested in.

The sensation in the pit of my stomach is similar to the feeling I had the last time I walked up this particular driveway. It’s fear, plain and simple. But I have no reason to be afraid any more. The worst has already happened. Kai. Sasha. This is just about finding out why.

Why would anyone do something like that?

Why would a sister do something like that to her own brother?





chapter fifty-five


Sebastian opens the front door wearing a pair of tight white boxers slung low over his bony hips. He scratches his armpit and looks confused. ‘Gemma, right?’

I hate people calling me Gemma. HATE IT.

‘Are Max and Louise up yet?’

Sebastian yawns and his face transforms into something gargoyle-like. ‘Fuck knows. I think I heard the shower going earlier, so you might be in luck.’ He clearly has no idea what happened last night. Either that or he doesn’t care. I wonder if Amber’s here, sprawled on Sebastian’s bed, completely unaware that one of her best friends very nearly died last night.

Sebastian ushers me into the house and hitches up his pants. ‘Go on up. Better knock first in case they’re getting it on … On second thoughts, don’t bother.’

I’m not sure how to take this, so I say nothing and head up the stairs. I turn and catch Sebastian checking out my bum, and he doesn’t even bother to pretend otherwise. ‘Third door on the left,’ he says with a smirk on his face. Wanker.

I stand in front of the door. There’s no telltale sign saying: ‘Max’s room – KEEP OUT’, but that’s probably because Max isn’t ten years old. I knock before I can change my mind.

Max calls out, ‘Come in.’ And then I’m there. I’m in the room I’ve only seen in that hideous video. I’m staring at the bed that Kai knelt in front of. The duvet cover’s the same.

Louise is sitting cross-legged on the bed, nibbling on a slice of toast with peanut butter. Peanut butter was Kai’s favourite too. Max is sitting on the floor, tapping away on an impossibly slimline Apple laptop. They’re both fully dressed, thank God. Max seems surprised to see me; Louise does not.

‘Drowned rat is a really good look for you, Jem. Also, nice work last night. Really.’

‘Louise!’ Max slams the lid of his laptop. ‘How are you doing, Jem? It must have been awful.’

I close the door behind me and lean against it. I don’t want to be any closer to Louise than is absolutely necessary.

Louise speaks through a mouthful of toast. ‘What are you doing here? Just popped by for a cuppa on your way to church? Off to confess your sins, are you?’

This is the real Louise McBride. This is the Louise she’s been hiding so carefully for the past couple of months. I wonder why she’s decided to unleash the beast now, before I’ve even said anything. It makes me wonder if she knows what’s coming. Or maybe she’s just tired of putting on an act; I know I am.

Max is looking uncomfortable and I can hardly blame him. No boy wants to get caught in the crossfire between two girls who hate each other. ‘Max, would you mind leaving us alone for a couple of minutes?’

He’s halfway to his feet before Louise tells him to sit down. And he does – without a word. He’s a well-trained dog, knowing full well that if he disobeys his master he’ll get a good kicking later. Louise turns to me. ‘You’re not coming here and booting him out of his own room. You can say what you have to say in front of Max or you can just f*ck off home. Maybe think about something to buy Sasha … though Clinton’s didn’t make a “Sorry I melted your face” card last time I checked. What the f*ck were you thinking?’

Max isn’t looking at either of us. He’s fiddling with the upturned corner of a stripy rug. Kai knelt on that rug.

I turn to Louise. ‘Well, if you’re sure you don’t mind Max hearing this, I don’t mind either. And don’t play games with me, Louise. You know full well what I was thinking. Mostly because you’re the one who made me think it.’ I’d only realized this a second before I said it. Jon hadn’t written the note – of course he hadn’t.