Chapter 15
For dinner, I microwaved one of those ready meals made for two people – chicken and beans – and Teri looked at it like it was a piece of cardboard I’d heated up and served on a plate.
She tilted her head. ‘Do you have anything else in the fridge?’
‘Erm…not really…’
‘I bet you do.’ She stood up with some difficulty, rummaged through my fridge, pulled out some ham and sour cream, and some dried-up herbs, then rummaged through the cupboard and found a tin of tomatoes and an unopened jar of capers.
Next thing I knew, Teri had rustled up a creamy pasta dish. It was probably wonderful, but I couldn’t taste a thing, and I had to force myself to eat a few forkfuls.
That was two hours ago.
Now, Holly has gone to bed, and I settle Teri in the spare bedroom. I show her where the downstairs bathroom is, and lend her some nightclothes and a spare toothbrush.
‘This is perfect. Thank you so much, Kate,’ she says, sitting on the bed.
‘It’s me who should be thanking you. You’ve been really good about all this.’
She waves a hand. ‘My fault. Truly.’
‘You have everything you need?’
‘Yes. This is very comfortable. Thank you.’
When I go up to my bed, Holly pops out of her bedroom. She looks really worried.
‘What is it?’ I ask softly.
She grimaces, tugging at her fingers. ‘Won’t he smell?’
‘No,’ I say. Then I add, ever more softly, ‘I turned him on.’
No other explanation necessary. She nods once, looking like she’s going to throw up, then disappears back into her bedroom.
By ten p.m. I’m lying in bed, and only then does the full weight of reality bear down upon my chest. I turn on my side and curl into a ball.
I can’t believe what we’ve done. I cannot believe that Holly actually killed her father.
I know she didn’t mean to, that it was an accident, and the way he was attacking her, I was really frightened for her.
But I wish to God it hadn’t happened.
I should have called the police. I would have told them everything.
They wouldn’t have arrested her, would they?
We would have got a lawyer with the ten thousand pounds I’ve saved.
Why didn’t I do all those things? What was I thinking?
I panicked. And maybe she was right. Maybe she would have had to go through a trial, and they would have sent her to jail for a long time.
We didn’t have a choice.
I lie back and breathe. I wish I could drive him off a cliff tonight.
Now. But I can’t. It will have to be tomorrow night.
Except now he’s going to be frozen. Even if I manage to get him in the car when he’s as stiff as a board, won’t the police wonder how this suicidal man managed to drive himself off a cliff while frozen to minus one hundred degrees?
I’ll have to let him thaw first. Did I actually think those words? Yes, I did. I will let him thaw, and then I’ll drive him away.
I reach for my phone, use an anonymous browser and look up how long it takes to thaw a frozen body. For my purposes, the answer is thirty-six to forty-eight hours. By then, his limbs should be pliable enough that I can wrestle him into the back seat in a seated position.
Great. One and a half to two days. Brilliant.
I look into it a bit more. Thirty-six hours seems to be enough. If I turn off the freezer at lunchtime tomorrow, being Monday, then I can take him out on Tuesday around midnight, one a.m.
Except, Max is supposed to be flying to Zurich tomorrow. I press the heels of my hands against my eyelids. My head is throbbing. I will call Sterling her kitchen and bathrooms are downstairs. Come on, Holly. It’s just one more day.’
Her bottom lip quivers. ‘But what about…?’ she whispers.
‘I’ll take care of it in a couple of days,’ I say quickly. ‘I can’t do anything about it today anyway.’
‘But tonight?’
‘Not tonight, no.’
‘Tomorrow night?’
‘I said I’ll take care of it, okay? Please stop asking.’
But I detect a note of panic in her eyes, like she’s not sure I’m up to the task after all.
When I return downstairs, Teri has gone back to bed. I rummage through the kitchen drawer until I find a tube of superglue. In the garage, I lift the freezer lid by a hair. I don’t even bother to take off the cans of paint. I squeeze a little superglue in the gap, then press the lid down.
I have no idea if this is even going to work. Or if I’ll be able to open it again.