She wiped her hand over her tired face. ‘It’s so hard keeping it all to myself.’
‘Then tell me, like you used to when we were kids.’
She peered towards the other room. ‘Is Maddy here?’
‘Yeah, but she’d sleep through World War Three. What happened?’
Melissa told him everything, from the moment she walked into her house to see Patrick on the floor to just now, when she’d seen a strange, silent figure watching her.
Ryan stood up when she finished, going to the window and peering out, fists curled as he tried to find the stranger she’d mentioned. ‘I wish you’d come to me sooner,’ he said.
‘I couldn’t. Imagine if the same happened to you. Wouldn’t you want to keep things as close to your chest as possible for Maddy?’
She saw him frown in the reflection of the window. ‘Yeah, I would.’ He walked back to the sofa and sat down, thinking about it all for a moment. ‘So you’re sure it’s one of the kids? You sure they’re not covering for someone?’
‘I really don’t know, Ryan. I can’t imagine them hurting a hair on their father’s head, but equally . . .’ She shook her head, pursing her lips as tears flooded to her eyes. ‘It’s such a mess.’
‘Have you thought about which of them could do that to Patrick, if it is one of them?’
She shook her head.
‘I guess the obvious choice might be Lewis,’ Ryan said.
She looked at him in surprise. ‘Why would you say that?’
‘He’s been in trouble at school for beating some kids up, right?’
‘Not quite beating them up, Ryan. Anyway, that’s completely different!’
‘Sorry,’ Ryan said quickly. ‘I didn’t mean . . .’
‘It’s fine,’ Melissa said with a sigh. ‘They all have their quirks. Lilly can blow up at the smallest thing sometimes. Grace is fascinated by the weird and dark side of life, but they’re all good kids!’
‘They are,’ Ryan agreed. ‘If one of them did it, they’d have to have had a good reason.’
‘That’s what I keep thinking. But Patrick is a good man. Why would they want to hurt him? Why would anyone?’
Ryan looked down at his hands.
‘I can’t help but blame myself,’ Melissa admitted. ‘I’ve always been a bit lax about them watching films, you know? Letting them watch 12s when they were five. Especially Grace – she’s always preferred the Disney villains to the Disney princesses. Maleficent is an icon to her!’
Ryan smiled. ‘That’s cool. She’s different. I like that.’
‘Then there’s Lewis, with those video games. I let him buy that God of War game with his birthday vouchers last year, even though it’s too old for him. What about Lilly, too, with her social media obsession, maybe I should have—’
‘Oh, come on, Melissa!’ Ryan said, interrupting her. ‘You sound like Kitty Fletcher. It’s all BS. I mean, look at Andrea Cooper’s kid, Carter? She sticks to all Kitty Fletcher’s stuff like Velcro, and Carter is a little shit – the number of times I’ve seen him wandering around the forest when he should be at school. No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Your kids are good kids. Something must’ve happened between them all, something so big it made one of them stab their dad . . . and then not tell you about it.’
‘They won’t say a word.’
Ryan nodded. ‘One for all and all for one. Wasn’t that their and Maddy’s motto when they were all little?’
‘Yes.’ She peered towards Maddy’s room. ‘Has Maddy said anything to you?’
‘Nothing.’
She remembered the conversation she’d overheard between the kids in Bill and Rosemary’s summer house. ‘I overheard Maddy chatting to the twins about something,’ she said, lowering her voice. ‘They mentioned Carter Cooper saying something about me at the New Year’s Eve party. I’m not sure it’s related in any way, but the kids seemed cagey about it. Any idea what they might mean? You were at the party, maybe you overheard something?’
‘Nope,’ Ryan said, focusing on packing all the first-aid stuff away and turning the kettle on.
Melissa looked out at the trees, trying to find a familiar comfort in the dark, swaying branches. ‘I do wonder if I should have just been honest with the police from the start. Do you think I should have?’
He shook his head. ‘Nah. But then, you know me, not exactly a fan of the authorities.’
Melissa’s eyes travelled over to the rifle that was leaning up against the wall. She knew he needed it in case he found a fatally injured animal in the forest that