Page 78 of Death Kiss

Taking a deep breath, I force myself to calm down. ‘We’ll get Ashworth. Somehow. Men like him rarely fare well inside.’

‘Assuming they don’t come right after us.’

We slink together through the trees, making the long trek back to the car. I reach over and take his hand, knowing that this is another bump, and we’ll get through this one too.

With rage.

With sex.

With love.

THIRTY-SEVEN

LIAM

The counter’s overrun with takeout containers and dirty mugs. I should clean it up, but it’s like a fog of indecision has settled over Kat and me. It’s been days since Ashworth’s arrest, and we’re just surviving in a state of What now?

Kat’s holed up on the sofa reading a book. Or reading the same paragraph of the book time and again while her mind is elsewhere, since she hasn’t flipped a page in an hour. Reggie luxuriates in her lap like he hasn’t a care in the world, occasionally shoving his paw in Hamish’s face. The scruffy sausage dog is curled up on Kat’s feet, not minding the cat’s intrusion in the slightest.

I want to curl up in her lap too.

There’s zero chance I can stay still, though. There’s been no place for my anger about Ashworth to funnel to; it’s stored up inside me like I’m a rage-powered battery, just waiting to be unleashed.

Funnily enough, staring at the door doesn’t miraculously make Freddie and Ellie appear. I’m not surprised, given that they said seven o’clock and it’s not even ten to.

Heading into the kitchen, I start shoving takeaway rubbish into a bin bag, needing somewhere to channel my energy. We should be excited. Should be celebrating the list’s completion. Should be packing up our things for the big move to our new home.

Instead, we’re stuck in limbo. Will the police appear at the door at any moment? Will they drag us away, never to see each other again as we rot in different prisons? We’re caught somewhere between freedom and captivity, and it’s doing my mental state no good.

Footsteps approach outside as I finish cleaning the small kitchen, having scrubbed the counter half to death to abate my nerves. Not that it works.

The minute Freddie walks in, I lose it, tearing across the room and punching him square on his perfect fucking jaw.

‘Liam!’ Ellie shrieks, grabbing my arm. But she’s no match for the unending wave of fury that rises in my chest as I grab Freddie by the scruff of his collar and force him back against the wall.

‘Do you know what the fuck you did?’ I snarl as Freddie rubs his chin, staring at me like he’d been expecting worse.

‘Saved you from rotting in a prison cell for the rest of your life?’

‘Fuck you,’ I say, pushing him harder into the wall.

‘You guys were clouded by your bloody list. It could have cost you Kat. Even if not for you, see it for her. Can you imagine spending your life with nothing but letters going back and forth? Spending years apart until you fucking die?’ Freddie stares me down as his words strike.

‘Liam, put him down,’ Ellie pleads. Kat watches, her book resting against the arm of the sofa.

‘It wasn’t your call,’ I say.

‘Someone had to do it. You’ve been incredibly lucky to get away with what you have, but knowing when to stop is essential. If you’d have taken out Ashworth, you’d have been the enemy. His sins would have been usurped by yours.’ Freddie moves his jaw from one side to the other and winces.

‘We’ve been stuck here for days, not knowing whether he would rat us out,’ Kat says, sliding Reggie from her lap and standing.

‘He can’t,’ Freddie says, tugging himself from my grip and adjusting his collar.

‘Why?’ I ask.

‘He’s not being charged with your murders. He’s being charged with the abuse and the murders of the children found at the cottage. His defence will argue that he had nothing to do with the ring. If he gets you taken in for the killings, it will prove you were a victim of his, and pull the rug out from under his case. He’s a cunt, but not an idiot.’ Freddie moves himself over beside Ellie, wrapping an arm protectively around her shoulders.

‘You hope,’ I say.