“Put my mother on the phone,” Colin ordered.
“Phoebe?”
He ground his teeth.
Then through them, he remarked, “Yes, Phoebe does happen to be my mother.”
“I can’t imagine why you’d want to talk to Phoebe,” she declared with sham innocence.
“Put her on the phone.”
“I think she needs a bathroom break,” Mags stalled.
“Put her on the phone.”
There was a pause and then a grumbled, “Oh, all right.”
Then there was another rustle and he heard, “It’s your son,” and then more in the background as the phone was passed, “You’re right, Billie, he is ruthless.”
Colin again gritted his teeth.
“Hello Colin,” his mother greeted him. “How’s your day?” Before he could answer, she nervously continued, “We’re in the library because Rick thinks one of the reporters could be a murderer in disguise. It’s like he wasn’t even there yesterday and doesn’t know we have the all clear. He’s instructed us not to stand by the windows and…”
He cut her off, his patience at an end, “Mum, did you talk to the reporters yesterday?”
“Why, yes. I do believe I had a word,” she said lightly, too lightly.
“Don’t do that again,” he commanded.
“Colin, you shouldn’t talk to your mother that way,” she courageously scolded, looking into the eye of the tiger and thinking he was a pu**ycat. “There is certainly no reason why your extraordinary story shouldn’t be told. It’s beautiful and I’m so happy for you, I want the world to know it. True love reigns…”
“We aren’t out of danger, the person who ordered the man to hold a knife to Sibyl’s throat is still out there. We don’t need to be goading them with stories of true love, exposing our defences or making them think our defences are down so they’ll act before we’ve caught them. I’m asking you, don’t do it again.”
She was silent.
Then she said a shaky, “Okay.”
“I don’t want Sibyl to know that she’s not out of danger.”
“You have to…”
“Don’t say a word. I’ll speak to her when I get home.”
She was again silent.
Then she let out a breathy, “Okay.”
“There will be someone there to clear the reporters within half an hour and they will remain there to watch the house. If Sibyl sees them, make something up but carry on as normal.”
“Oh…kay.” This was even shakier.
“Give the phone to Rick.”
She didn’t hand the phone to Rick. Instead she asked nonsensically, “Colin, are you, I mean, are they… and are you?”
But Colin understood her. “Nothing is going to happen to Sibyl or me,” and when he said this his voice was far quieter and definitely gentler.
Hers was no less tremulous. “Okay.”