I Know Your Secret - Ruth Heald Page 0,75

her.’

I frown, caught between the two of them. I can’t ask her to leave. I owe her too much.

‘What are you two doing in the hallway?’ My mother asks, sickly-sweet. She looks at Peter. ‘Danielle and I were in the middle of a conversation.’ I need to explain what’s going on with Beth before Mum gets the wrong idea.

I turn to Peter. ‘I do need to talk to her.’

He sighs. ‘And so do I. We all need to talk. Virginia, I know who you are.’

She pales, reaching out for the wall, and then looks at me, fear in her eyes.

‘You told him? I thought you didn’t want him to know.’

‘He found out.’

She turns to him. ‘So you think I’m a murderer?’

‘You were tried and convicted.’

I glare at Peter. He knows she’s not a murderer. I’ve told him she was innocent.

‘And I suppose you don’t want a mother-in-law like me?’ Her face is expressionless now, but I sense the fury simmering underneath.

‘I think it would be best if you moved out of our house, found your own place to live.’

‘I’ve served my time.’

‘You have. But it doesn’t mean I have to welcome you into my home.’

‘Peter—’

‘No, Dani. It’s time to stop defending her. She’s your mother and you love her, I get that. But I also see the corrosive impact she has on you, the impact of your childhood. Your own anger. You need to break free of her.’

My mother squeezes past me in the hallway.

‘Mum, where are you going?’

I see the tears in her eyes as she walks up the stairs. ‘I’m going to pack a case. I don’t want to hold you back, Sophie. That’s the last thing I’d want to do. I’ll move out tonight.’

Forty-Nine

Beth

When the doorbell rings, I peer out of the upstairs curtains and try to make out who it is. I’ve just put Charlie to bed, and I’m expecting Richard, but I want to be sure it’s him before I open the door. I’ve been thinking about what Genevieve said. Recently, I’ve started to see the same person again and again. Her hood’s always up, her face covered with a scarf. She’s always around. At the bus stop down the road, at the shop near Charlie’s school. I’d thought it was Danielle. But I’m not so sure anymore. Perhaps it’s someone else. Someone from the past.

I go downstairs, unlock and open the door.

‘Hi,’ Richard says. ‘Is everything alright?’

‘Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?’ I think about how isolated I feel, how I might lose my career because of the way I behaved towards Danielle.

‘You took ages to come to the door.’

He steps over the piles of shoes and coats in the hallway and into the house.

‘I have a moving date for you,’ he says.

‘When is it?’

‘Two weeks today. End of half-term. Do you think you can manage it?’

I panic. I was supposed to be looking at houses, finding somewhere to live, but I’ve been so worried about the investigation, so sure someone is following me, that I’ve hardly thought about it.

‘I haven’t found anywhere to move into yet.’

‘I know. I’ve found somewhere near me you could live in temporarily. I can show you the pictures if you like. I can put the deposit down for you and Charlie.’

‘You don’t need to do that.’

‘I’m worried about you, Beth. I think it would be best if you lived close to me. Just in case.’

‘Just in case what?’

‘You’re vulnerable at the moment. I need to look out for you and Charlie. I spoke to Lisa from social services again. And she said the team had had further correspondence in the post about Charlie, more evidence.’

‘What evidence?’

‘She didn’t say. Just said they were looking into it. Do you have any idea who might have reported you?’

I shake my head. I thought it might have been the school, but surely they wouldn’t have had anything more to report recently. I’ve got Charlie in on time every day and there haven’t been any more bruises.

‘I think you need more support,’ Richard continues. ‘If you’re closer to me, I can help more. And wouldn’t it be nice for Charlie to be close to both of us?’

I sigh, defeated. This seems like the easiest option. Richard will pay the deposit and everything will be sorted for me. ‘OK,’ I say.

‘Great. You’ll earn a bit from the house sale too. Even though it’s in my name, I’ll give you a share of the increase in value. Just to give you a head start.’

I’m getting