Declan wasn’t expecting Claudia to twist her body as he made a grab to save her. He misjudged his step and lost balance. As he began to flail, Claudia reached out a hand. It was pure instinct.

37

‘You were standing with Declan. I can see you reaching for him,’ Karin said, her face twisted with anguish. ‘Why didn’t you save him?’

Recoiling in horror at Karin’s outstretched arms, Claudia stepped back. She could feel the flagstones sloping towards the water’s edge. One wrong move could be her undoing. Wasn’t it always the way?

The fire at the Empress had been one near miss after the other. If Declan’s flat hadn’t been so close; if he hadn’t been notified of the alarm; if the emergency services had arrived sooner to cordon off the theatre; or if luck hadn’t been on her side for a myriad other reasons, then Claudia’s marriage would be over by now and she would be trapped with Declan in some crappy, rented house, hidden and forgotten. It was everything she had tried to escape, as her mother had before her.

Claudia wanted to explain to Karin that she had loved Declan. He was a good man, even if he had acted on impulse occasionally without considering the consequences. It was something they had in common.

Karin’s eyes widened. ‘Did you push him?’

Claudia continued to stare at Karin’s outstretched arms as if they held the answer. She had reached for Declan as he began to fall and her fingers had snagged on his sleeve. ‘I tried to save him,’ she stammered.

‘No,’ Karin said, her confidence growing. ‘I don’t believe you.’

Claudia didn’t believe herself either. In her defence, Declan had pushed her first, if only metaphorically speaking. She had never given him the slightest indication that she would ever consider leaving Justin. If Declan had paid more attention, he wouldn’t have looked so surprised when Claudia reached out to urge him over the balcony and out of her life for good.

Karin blinked hard, determined to resurrect the memory. ‘I saw what you did,’ she said. ‘My God, you killed him!’

There was only so much Claudia could take. Karin was almost as annoying as her brother for persistence. ‘So what if I did?’ she yelled.

‘You bitch!’

Claudia was ready for her, and grabbed Karin’s coat sleeve as she lunged toward her. She twisted her around so that it was the turn of Declan’s sister to teeter towards oblivion. The heels of Karin’s boots hung over the edge of the canal. All that Claudia had to do was let go.

38