She was almost out the front door, each step a promise of death.

Gabriella dashed in front of her, blocking the door. ‘No. Eliza, you can’t. If you hurt Madison, you’ll get blamed for the other girls, too.’

‘She deserves to die!’

Eliza tried to push past, but Gabriella knocked her away. ‘No, Eliza.’

Eliza raised her fists. ‘Move, Gabriella.’

‘No.’

Eliza punched, but Gabriella grabbed her wrist and the next moment Eliza was face-first on the ground, Gabriella on top of her. ‘Eliza, calm down —’

Now the true emotion came. Gabriella eased off her, but Eliza remained on the ground, thrashing first and then curling into a ball. ‘Denni! Denni, no! No, no, no . . .’

Gabriella pulled her up into her arms. ‘It’s okay. Shhh. It’s okay.’

Eliza buried her head into Gabriella’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry . . . I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry . . .’

CHAPTER 36

MURPHY

Murphy locked his bedroom door and rested Butch’s laptop on his knees. He opened the USB drive.

My father raped my mum . . .

Jasmine’s words still rolled through his mind.

He played the second video.

Jasmine appeared in front of the camera in Madison’s room. It was a recent video: her hair was dyed black, pulled back in a ponytail. When she spoke, her voice trembled.

‘The first time I saw Mum crying, I was eight years old. It would’ve been after midnight and she was in the bathroom on her knees, her head on the edge of the tub. I remember her smell: like cooking and perfume.

‘I asked what was wrong, and she turned to me and smiled. “Nothing, baby. I’m just praying.”

‘I kneeled down with her and asked if I could pray too. She hugged me close and told me I could, but only for a little bit and then I had to go back to bed. She showed me how to pray to God, and told me that if I asked him to, Jesus would come live in my heart forever. Then I asked her whether Jesus lived in her heart, and she said he still did but she didn’t like to think about him too much, because there was someone in her life that she couldn’t forgive. She wouldn’t tell me who.

‘Five years later, when I turned thirteen, she did. It was only a few months after that that she died.’

Jasmine chewed the inside of her cheek.

‘But she told me something, that last week. She warned me what would happen if Dad found out, so I promised I’d take care of it. And the only way to make that happen was to do something drastic.

‘Dad . . . I need you to know. I’m doing this for the right reasons. You’ll see. I promise you’ll understand. When I come back, I’ll explain everything.’

Murphy felt he was coming apart at the edges.