Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Sarah was in the annexe, waiting for Richard to come across from the studio. She’d been looking forward to it all day. It didn’t bother her that she was being deceitful right under her sister’s eyes. As long as she had a good time on her mission, who cared.
At half past seven, Richard appeared.
‘I need a shower if I’m stopping,’ he said, sniffing at his armpits as she pulled him near. ‘I whiff a bit.’
‘Want me to join you?’ She took a quick look back towards the house, but Louisa was nowhere to be seen.
Richard shook his head. ‘But you can wait for me in bed.’
While he was under the water, Sarah removed her clothes and got out a bottle of whisky and two tumblers.
She wanted to encourage Richard to stay longer and whisky was always a good option for that.
But then there was a knock at the door. Grabbing a towel to cover her nakedness, she went to open it.
It could only be Louisa. Her face was creased up in distress.
‘Hi, Lou. What’s up?’
‘Is Richard here?’ Louisa asked, glancing down at her towel for a moment.
‘No, he said he was going out this evening.’
‘Did he?’
‘Yes. This morning, over breakfast. He said he was meeting one of the farmers – what was his name? Oh, it will come to me in a minute. They were going to The Valley Arms.’
‘I can’t…’ Louisa frowned, looking back at the house for a moment. ‘I can’t remember. Did he say what time he’d be back?’
‘I don’t think so. Are you okay? You look really peaky.’
‘No, no. I’m fine.’
Sarah could see she looked nothing of the sort but didn’t want to push her concern. ‘Do you want me to get dressed and come over to the house with you?’ she offered, hoping Louisa would decline.
Louisa shook her head. ‘You have a night by yourself for a change. I’ll be fine.’
‘If you’re sure.’
Louisa was already walking away.
‘Night,’ Sarah shouted after her.
‘Night.’
Sarah closed the door with a grin. She flung the towel onto the settee and ran to the bedroom, jumping on the bed next to Richard who was waiting for her.
‘She has no idea you’re here,’ she told him, running a hand down his chest.
‘She has no idea of anything really. In the morning, you could tell her and she wouldn’t remember you’d denied it. She’s so forgetful.’
An hour later, they’d made love twice and were lying in bed, legs entwined and whisky downed.
‘For an old man, you sure know how to keep a girl happy.’ Sarah stretched out like a kitten, almost purring.
Richard slapped her bottom. ‘Cheeky bitch,’ he growled.
‘Temper, temper. Do you have a dark side I haven’t seen yet?’
‘You don’t know the half of it.’
She turned towards him, running a hand over his chest. ‘Pray, tell me more.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You have secrets from Louisa?’ She feigned mock horror.
‘I have secrets from everyone.’
‘Let’s play true or false.’
‘I’m a grown man. I don’t play games.’
‘It’s only a bit of fun. You tell me the darkest thing you’ve ever done and I have to guess whether it’s true or a lie.’
He sighed. ‘You go first.’
Sarah paused for a moment. ‘I killed someone,’ she said.
His eyes widened as he turned towards her. ‘You’re joking, of course.’
‘My mum had this man. He’d been messing around with her and thought he could do the same with me.
I was only fifteen at the time. The pervert saw me on the landing as he came out of the bathroom, tried to grope me and as I pushed him away, he fell down the stairs.
I still remember the crack of his head on the floor as he got to the bottom. He didn’t get up again.’
‘What happened to him?’
‘Mum saw me standing at the top of the stairs, a look of shock on my face, and she guessed what had happened. She went ballistic with me because she had to call an ambulance.
‘She told me not to say anything. She told the police he’d fallen down the stairs and I was asleep in bed. She was so angry for days because I’d brought trouble to her door. But he was a vile bastard. An evil predator, and he wasn’t putting his hands over me.’
Richard drew her into his arms as she tried to push away the memories, the fear of wondering what the man was going to do to her. The push that saved it happening again.
‘Remind me not to show you my dark side,’ Richard teased.
‘Do you think that’s true or false?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Gotcha! I did push the bastard down the stairs, but he didn’t die. He was concussed and broke his leg. So, what about you?’
Richard went silent and for a moment she wondered whether he’d join in or not. But then he spoke.
‘You know I told you my father shot himself? Well, he didn’t. I killed him.’
It was Sarah’s turn to look wide-eyed.
‘One afternoon, he came in drunk and started laying into me. I’d taken beatings off him before but on that day, I’d had enough.
While he was in a stupor, he was slouching in the armchair, his legs stretched out in front of him.
I got the shotgun and shot him, making it seem as if he had done it.
Then I called the police as if I’d just found him. ’
‘Didn’t they suspect you?’
‘I was questioned but there were no witnesses to say otherwise. No evidence to say it was me. We both used the rifle to shoot foxes and rabbits. We also both had access to the gun cabinet and cartridges.’
Sarah stayed quiet for a while, wondering about his story. ‘Why do I have a feeling that what you’ve just told me is the truth?’ she asked eventually. ‘Does Louisa know?’
‘No.’
‘I think you’d be wise not telling her either. You know how neurotic she can be at times.’ She paused. ‘Don’t you ever wish you could get rid of her? Send her back to Derby perhaps and live your life without her.’
‘With you, you mean?’
‘Well.’ She grinned. ‘Maybe.’
‘I didn’t think you’d ever say that. I thought you had your sister’s best interests at heart.’
‘I only ever put myself first now.’
Richard rolled over until he was covering her. He kissed her deeply. ‘I think I may have met my match with you.’
‘Good, because you’d be wise to remember that. I’m not as weak as my sister.’
‘And I’m not stupid enough to tell you I killed my father when I didn’t.’
He stared at her and for a moment she thought she saw a shimmer of anger. But it was matched with her determination. She was cleverer than she was making out, purposely.
And he wasn’t clever enough to realise.