Chapters (72)
The idea that she had fallen for Mrs W’s son, that she had slept with him, trusted him, made her want to vomit. What was worse was that she still couldn’t separate Liam Quinn from Bill Wickham. Some depraved part of her still lusted for Liam. Even though it had never been real.
Once home, she let herself into her flat and pulled out her phone. The screen was dead and she tried to restart it, groaning in frustration when she realised it was definitely broken. How was she supposed to speak to Josh now?
And she needed to. Tired as she was and keen to get out of her damp clothes, Hannah knew she wouldn’t settle until she found out whether her suspicions were right.
She should have driven to Josh’s instead of coming home.
Damn it. She was going to have to go out again; she wouldn’t feel safe in her flat until she knew the truth about Liam.
She had wanted to act normal on the ride from Suffolk, but her emotions had got the better of her. It had been obvious she was mad at him. Frightened too. Would it really be that difficult for him to piece it together and work out why? And when he did, when he realised she knew. What then? What if Liam came after her?
If he had murdered her friends, then he was surely planning to kill her at some point too.
She had been alone with him on so many occasions these last couple of weeks, had trusted him completely. How could she have been so foolish?
She would go to Josh, get confirmation of her suspicions, then they could call the police and tell them exactly what Liam… no, Bill, had been up to.
She grabbed her keys, threw open the door, almost tripping over the music box that was sitting on her doorstep.
A chill crept up her spine as she stared at the box, even after all these years recognising the ornate pattern carved into the woodwork. She didn’t need to open it to know the ballerina would pop up, and the tune that would play was already in her head.
She glanced warily around the landing. Was Liam here? Had he followed her? Left it there to scare her?
If he had done, it was working.
She hesitated, unsure what to do. Barricade herself inside the flat or make a run for it and go to Josh?
The creak of a door opening had her tensing and her head shot round in time to see the figure step out of the maintenance room, blocking her path to the stairs.
Twenty years had passed, but she recognised him immediately. The glacial blue of the eyes, the cruel curve of his mouth. His face just a shade too hard to be handsome. And in that moment, she realised she had made a terrible mistake.