Chapter 55
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
In the house now, Richard poured himself a neat whisky, knocking it back quickly before pouring another. His hands shook and he slammed his glass down once he’d finished.
Fuck! How had he lost his temper again? He’d sworn he’d never do it after getting away with it before.
He thought back to the night he’d shot his father.
The thrill of standing over Jack with his finger on the trigger, while he snored oblivious to the danger.
Jack had been arguing with him, throwing several punches Richard’s way until he’d managed to push him off.
He was always hard to get away from when he was drunk.
But as he’d lain back in the armchair and fallen into a stupor, Richard had seen his future mapped out. A lackey lad, farm hand. Never being good enough. Never doing anything right.
And the women Jack brought home. He always had one or two on the go.
Richard failed to understand what they saw in his father. At least he was a gentleman to the women he saw outside his marriage. He treated them well. Of course a little control didn’t do any harm, but for the most part, both Louisa and Sarah had done as he demanded.
There was a single light on in the annexe, upstairs. It was no use going to talk to Sarah now. In the light of the day, things would look different.
He stared out into what was left of the night, the shadows playing tricks with him. His gut reaction was to run, but he couldn’t do that. It would seem suspicious and, if he left Sarah here, who knew what she might say if questioned?
White Oaks was supposed to be somewhere he could forget his past. But now he had brought his violence here as well. Could he really get away with murdering Louisa? Would Sarah keep her mouth shut or would she crack? Would he end up killing her too?
There were so many things to think about. He’d have to get rid of Louisa’s possessions. Slowly but surely over the coming weeks. Then if anyone asked after her, he would say she had left him. If someone called from the doctor’s surgery, he could say she’d gone back to Derby.
That was the beauty of living somewhere so secluded. The house nearest to them had been empty for years and their closest neighbour was a good walk down the lane. No one would bother them, not for a while and by that time he’d be calm again, getting on with his life with Sarah.
He hadn’t meant for it to happen, but it did solve a problem. Maybe it had created another, he wasn’t entirely sure yet. But he would do whatever was necessary to keep his secret safe.
He needed to keep Sarah on side.
In the annexe, Sarah was taking another shower. She was washing off the dirt, scrubbing at her skin as tears poured down her face. No amount of rubbing would take away the anguish of what they had done but she had to try.
Her sister was dead. Louisa, her beautiful sister, was gone.
When her skin was red and raw, she slid down onto the shower tray, wrapping her hands around her knees, and let the water pour over her.
She squeezed her eyes shut to stop herself from seeing the images she knew she would never forget.
Before Richard had started to cover Louisa in soil, she had pushed her eyelids closed.
But all she could see now was them opening wide and Louisa trying to get out of the grave.
It had been cowardly not to call the police, but she’d seen what Richard was capable of, and his threats towards her were real.
She was certain he would have killed her if she hadn’t been compliant.
His eyes were demented. She had never seen them so dangerous.
Once she realised it was going to happen regardless, her first instinct had been to do as he said, then get away later. She had Daisy to think about too.
That poor child. She was an innocent in all this. She had lost her mother.
Sarah couldn’t leave her in the hands of that… that monster. And how the hell did he expect her to be hidden away from everyone? Daisy was due to start at nursery soon.
As grief overtook her, Sarah’s thoughts of revenge turned darker. She would get Richard for what he’d done, even if it took forever. In a matter of hours, he had destroyed any love she had for him.
She would also have to live with the things she had done to her sister – the selfish, callous actions she had taken before she realised how evil Richard was.
And she would look after herself too, cover her back in case he tried anything similar to her.
She needed to keep Richard on side.