The End of Her - Shari Lapena Page 0,27
and you know it! You’re making all this up; you’ve never felt guilty about anything.’
She turns wide eyes on him, smiles and says coyly, ‘But I don’t believe you, you see. And it’s been bothering me all this time.’
‘Bullshit! Then why wait all this time? You only came to me now because you want money. Everyone will see that.’
She shakes her head. ‘I was young, and stupid, and afraid after what happened. Afraid they might think I was a part of it. You know what we’d been doing. I’d just learned I was carrying your child. I was even afraid of what you might do to me, because I knew what you’d done. And I knew you were clever – I mean, you got away with murder.’
She seems to almost believe her own lies. He finds himself clenching his hands and forces them open. He’d love to wring her neck.
She continues. ‘So I moved away and had the baby. But now I’m older, and not so stupid. I’ve had time to think. I have leverage, and I mean to use it. And I’m not afraid of you any more.’
‘No?’ he says. ‘Maybe you should be.’ He didn’t mean to threaten her, it just slipped out.
She looks at him as if taking his measure. ‘Yes, maybe I should be,’ she agrees.
‘So is that what this is all about? You want child support? Why didn’t you just fucking say so? We could have worked something out. You don’t need to make all this up about what happened to Lindsey.’
‘I’m not making anything up,’ she says. ‘I’m just telling the truth.’
‘You are so full of shit,’ he says acidly.
‘I think the authorities would appreciate having all the facts, don’t you?’
They stare at each other for a moment. He has to set her straight. ‘I told you – we’re not going to pay you anything. Stephanie knows everything. She knows I would never hurt anyone, and she’s very tight with her money.’ He takes a deep breath, exhales. ‘Look,’ he says, trying to sound reasonable, which is difficult, because he is completely enraged. ‘A child is different. If it’s mine, and you can prove it, I’ll pay the appropriate support. Out of my own earnings.’
She glances at him. ‘Are you going to tell your wife about our son?’
He cringes at the words our son. He bites back his immediate response. ‘I tell Stephanie everything.’
She snorts derisively; he lets it go.
‘I don’t understand why you’re doing this,’ he says desperately. ‘I didn’t kill Lindsey on purpose. And even if I wanted to pay you, I couldn’t get you any money – not without Stephanie knowing, and she’d never agree.’
‘You have to find a way. I want two hundred thousand dollars. In cash.’
He gapes at her in disbelief. ‘That’s not going to happen.’ He shakes his head. ‘For the last time – I didn’t murder her – it was an accident!’ He’s hissing at her now, spit flying.
She waits for him to calm down and then says coolly, ‘If your wife was dead, you’d have lots of money.’
He stares at her, aghast, as the silence lengthens. He lowers his voice and says, ‘Surely you’re not suggesting I murder my wife?’
‘You did it before,’ she says coldly. ‘Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it.’
‘You’re out of your mind,’ he says. He clenches his hands tightly again. ‘You’re a fucking psychopath!’
‘Takes one to know one,’ she says, rendering him speechless. He stares at her in horror. After a moment she says, in a reasonable voice, ‘If she were to meet with a fatal accident, it would make things easier – for both of us.’
Patrick continues to stare at her, his eyes unblinking. Finally he says, his voice trembling with rage and fear, ‘You stay away from her or I’ll go to the police.’
‘No, you won’t.’
Silence stretches out between them as the awfulness of his situation sinks in.
‘You got the insurance money,’ she says eventually. ‘What, you didn’t think I knew about that? Two hundred thousand dollars,’ she says. ‘That was quite a bit of money, nine years ago, for someone in his early twenties. Enough for a fresh start, back in New York. Enough to get started in business, maybe.’
‘You absolute bitch,’ he whispers, his face contorting with emotion.
‘The authorities will be interested in that, I think, don’t you? And they’ll be interested in us.’
‘How do you know about the insurance?’ he spits at her angrily.
Instead of answering, she says, ‘Tell me, who insures a young wife for