Page 156 of The Jealous Girl

I turned back. And froze.

My gaze locked on the shotgun in Martin’s hands.

Aimed straight at me.

53

NOW

Late August

Sunday

‘Dad—’ Ryan gasped, a few steps away from me.

I couldn’t move.

Couldn’t think.

‘Get away from her,’ Martin said to Denise, and she hurried across to the other side of the room.

‘Put the shotgun down, Dad,’ Ryan urged, edging towards him slightly.

‘No,’ Martin snapped, and Ryan froze.

‘She knows too much,’ Martin continued, his gaze locked on me.

Ryan shook his head. ‘You can’t do this.’

Martin shook his head. ‘Your mum did what she had to do, and now so am I.’

‘The police are already on their way, Dad,’ Ryan said. ‘It’s over.’

‘I won’t let your mum go to prison for protecting this family,’ Martin said, his voice steady and firm.

‘Kirsty never did anything to us. It was all Charlotte.’

‘It doesn’t matter. If we let her go, she’ll tell the police everything.’

My heart thudded heavily.

How could it have come to this?

‘You can’t seriously be thinking of killing her,’ Ryan said, his voice full of disbelief.

‘They already triggered the alarm,’ Martin said. ‘We called the police. They’ll believe us.’

‘Believe us? What are you saying?’

‘They broke in, attacked your mother,’ Martin said. ‘I stopped them.’

‘Dad—’ The disbelief in Ryan’s voice had shifted to desperation now.

Bile rose in my throat.

This couldn’t be it. There had to be something I could do.

My gaze darted about the room, searching for something. Anything.