Haven't They Grown(101)

‘You’re a rapist,’ I tell him. ‘A rapist and a murderer.’

‘Everything you’ve done, you’ve done it to torture me,’ says Flora as he moves closer to her. ‘Making me live in that house, making me have more children, calling them the same names.’ She’s breathing hard and fast, as if she’s been running. In my head, I’m running away from Lewis. I wonder if she is too.

‘The lies you made me learn by heart to repeat to Beth, while my children that I haven’t seen for twelve years are just round the corner, and I can’t see them, not even once, for a second. What’s next? Let’s say you get your way and I have another baby – what’s next on your torture list after that?’

‘Why are you saying all this now?’ Lewis asks her.

There’s a pause. Flora looks at me. Then she says, ‘I don’t know.’

‘Your friend’s here, and you’ve got some moral support for the first time in years. Clearly it’s gone to your head. But Beth’s not going to be here for much longer. Maybe you aren’t either. Did you stop to think of that?’

He’s going to kill us both. And if he does that, if he’s killed once and will happily kill twice more … ‘Why has Thomas been taken out of school?’ I ask him as he raises his arm to point the gun at Flora’s head.

Her eyes fill with fear. ‘What?’ she says.

‘Ignore her,’ says Lewis. ‘She’s talking shit.’

‘I’m not. Thomas isn’t at the school any more. And Emily’s place has been cancelled. Kevin and Yanina …’ The missing words stick in my throat.

What did Kevin and Yanina do? And why, if Lewis knows nothing about it? They’re supposed to do what they’re told in exchange for life-changing money.

‘What the fuck?’ Lewis swings round and points the gun at me. It makes a clicking noise. Everything inside me starts to shake. His face is twisted: a mixture of rage and confusion.

Flora lunges at him from behind. The gun falls from his hand and lands on the floor. He trips and tumbles, taking her with him. She lands half on top of him, with a noise that’s halfway between a scream and a howl. Lewis lunges for the gun, not quickly enough. It’s in my hand.

It’s in my hand. I stare down at it.

Lewis lunges towards me.

‘Beth!’ Flora screams.

‘Lewis, don’t!’ I say, aiming the words at his phone on the table. ‘Don’t kill me. Please.’

He was about to lunge again, but he stops. Confusion spreads across his face. He can’t think why I’d say those words when I’m the one holding the gun. ‘Don’t do it!’ I cry out. There’s nothing fake about the panic in my voice.

‘What …?’ Lewis tries to scramble to his feet.

I fire the gun.





27


‘Why did you turn it off?’

‘You’re not saying anything. No point me recording silence.’

‘I’ve already repeated it twice.’

‘I know. And I’m sorry to have to ask you to go through it again. You’ve been so incredibly helpful.’

‘Wasn’t the recording on his phone clear enough for you?’

‘Loud and clear, ma’am. You have no idea how grateful I am to have it. But I need to hear the story from you, in your own words. I know you’ve already told Detective Gessinger, but—’

‘And then can I ring my family?’

‘Absolutely for sure. Don’t worry, they know you’re safe. I reached out to your husband myself.’

‘Can’t we do this after I’ve rung home? And slept? I’ve missed a whole night’s sleep.’

‘I have an idea: how about if you only tell me about the last part, for now? Then tomorrow we can talk properly, once you’re rested.’

‘Where’s Flora?’

‘Detective Gessinger’s with her now. She’s hanging in there. Her parents are on a plane, on their way over.’

‘And her children? She’s got four children!’

‘Mrs Leeson, please let us take care of everything. There’s nothing you need to concern yourself with. Trust me. We’ve got this.’

‘Okay.’

‘Now, I need you to tell me what happened. From the beginning.’

‘All right. I—’

‘Wait a second. Resuming the interview at 1100 hours. Detective Sophia Steel interviewing Mrs Elizabeth Leeson. All right, Mrs Leeson, I need to hear your account of how Mr Braid lost his life.’

‘He had a gun. He’d come to the house to kill me – he made that clear over and over again. Kept saying it. I don’t know about Flora. I didn’t think he was going to kill her – I think he might even have said he wasn’t – but then later he implied that maybe he would. It’s all in the recording, just listen to it.’

‘Go on. You’re doing great.’

‘He would have done it. He’d have killed both of us. I had no idea that my question would throw him in the way it did. I assumed—’

‘Wait, back up. You asked him a question while he was pointing the gun at you?’

‘I think … I’m trying to remember. I think he was facing away from me, pointing the gun at Flora, when I asked him why Thomas had been taken out of school. I assumed he knew that had happened, but he didn’t. He was shocked. We both saw it, me and Flora. Any second, he was going to kill us. We both knew it. When he turned round to say something to me, she ran at him and either grabbed him or shoved him, I don’t know which.’