They leaned back into the sofa, still hugging. So many questions were still unanswered but Jasmine didn’t have the strength to even think right now, let alone quiz her father more. She had got what she wanted; he had put her mind at ease. She couldn’t believe she had even considered that man, that stranger might be telling the truth. She never should have doubted her father. She felt safe again. By now hopefully the police were on their way to her house to get him. When Jasmine finally got home Tim would be gone and everything could return to normal, couldn’t it?

The way these thoughts circled in her mind made her feel uneasy, though. It was as if she were trying to convince herself, but an alarm was going off in the back of her mind that she was trying to ignore.

She had never told her father that Tim’s girlfriend had disappeared in Belize.

Chapter Forty-Seven

‘Listen to me,’ Jasmine whispered to Felicity. ‘I need you to go upstairs and pack some stuff.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Just grab some money, ID, toiletries and clothes, that sort of thing. Get some bits for your mum, too. We all have to get out of here. Please, please, please just trust me.’

‘You aren’t making any sense, Jazz. Are you worried about Tim? The police will deal with him.’

‘I’ll be up in a minute. Please, Flick, I’ll tell you everything in a bit.’

She heard Felicity thumping up to her bedroom and the sound of her floorboards creaking overhead as she followed Jasmine’s instructions. That was when Jasmine realised that was all she could hear. Her father was no longer speaking on the phone. Where was he?

Jasmine stepped into the hallway, but he wasn’t there. The kitchen door was closed, and Jasmine had never seen it closed before. She moved slowly towards it, listening. There were some strange shuffling noises and the sound of metal clanging against the floor, a spoon falling off the counter top maybe.

Jasmine wrapped her fingers around the handle and pressed down, releasing the catch. She held her breath and pushed forward.

Inside the kitchen, her father was standing behind Felicity’s mother with his arm locked around her neck, pulling back as she clawed desperately, a barely audible rasp coming from her throat as she saw Jasmine, pleading with her eyes for her to help, to stop him.

‘What are you doing?’ Jasmine screamed, frozen on the spot. Her father was focused on his task, his left hand gripping his right wrist and pulling it towards him, crushing Felicity’s mother’s windpipe. He didn’t even look up, a focus in his eyes that Jasmine had never seen before.

‘You never said anything about Belize, did you?’ he said, still straining.

‘How did you know?’ she said, tears brimming over before she had a chance to stop them.