Page 80 of The Best Friend
‘I have it all worked out,’ Darcy says. ‘Everything is prepared.’ She glances across at her brother, a look of irritation on her face. ‘God, Cal, can you sit down or something, it’s really distracting having you standing there like some kind of zombie statue.’
‘I was making sure she doesn’t escape, Nic.’
‘She’s in a basement, zip-tied to a chair, I don’t think she’ll be going anywhere right this minute. And how many times do I need to tell you to call me Darcy. I haven’t been Nic for years.’
Callum shuffles across the room to sit on another of the chairs. Darcy’s shoulders relax as he sits.
‘You should know,’ Darcy says to me, ‘in case you were wondering, youaregoing to die.’
I bite my lip, too shocked to reply. I already guessed she was never going to let me go, but to hear her say the words…
‘I’ve been doing quite a bit of planning,’ she says, leaning forward, warming to her subject. ‘The police still haven’t found the murder weapon from Mike’s death.’ She pauses. ‘That’s because I have it.’
‘I knew it was you,’ I say.
‘Of course you did. Clever you.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘Anyway, you still haven’t heard the genius part of it yet… the knife used to kill Mike was taken from part of a knife-block set in your kitchen, and it’s covered in your fingerprints. When the police eventually discover the weapon in a shoe box in your closet – I’ll put it there later – they’ll have found their killer. Too bad you won’t end up in prison – you’ll already be dead.’
I listen to her words as though from a long way away. It’s as if she’s talking about someone else. Instead, I focus on the pain in my body. Pain is good – it means I’m still alive. I’ve almost lost circulation in my hands from where the zip ties are cutting into my wrists. My arms feel as though they’re being pulled out of their sockets, my bad knee is on fire and my heart is racing so fast I’m sure my chest is about to explode.
‘So,’ she continues, ‘You, Louisa, are now going to write a remorseful note about how jealous you were of my life, and how you wanted to make me suffer, so you tried to have an affair with my husband, and when he wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot bargepole, you were so angry, you killed him. Obviously, you can’t live with the guilt, blah, blah, blah.’
‘That’s ludicrous,’ I say.
‘Really?’ she says. ‘I thought it was pretty believable. Especially as half the moms in Ty’s class saw how much you upset me the other day.’ She sticks her bottom lip out, faking sadness. ‘They all witnessed you taunting me about going to visit Mike. They were outraged on my behalf at how mean you were. Hell, you even made me cry. Anyway, once you’ve written the note, you’re going to drive your car off the quarry in the dead of night, and die.’
My palms begin to sweat and my head swims as I hear the details of what she’s got planned for me.
‘I suppose I could have simply set you up for Mike’s murder without killing you, and left it at that,’ she muses, ‘but that would’ve been too much of a risk. You’d still be alive; you would have tried to talk your way out of it. Jared might have ended up believing your innocence. Your parents might have stood by you. This way, you’ll be a self-confessed murderer and the knife will be found with your prints. Incontrovertible evidence. You’ll be remembered as a deranged suicide and I’ll be the grieving widow.’
‘You’re mad,’ I whisper. ‘It’s an insane plan, and the police will see right through it.’
‘They won’t. I’ll be handing the killer to them on a plate,’ she says. ‘They’ll close the case, and that will be that.’
I shake my head. The terrifying thing is, she’s probably right. I need to find a flaw. Something that will convince her to change her mind. Problem is, my brain has come unspooled and I’m having a hard time breathing.
‘I’ll comfort Jared after the loss of his wife,’ she continues. ‘And he’ll comfort me after the loss of my husband. It’s perfect. He’ll feel guilty that it was his wife who killed Mike. He’ll probably feel partly responsible, like he should’ve done more to stop you. I’ll let myself be soothed by him, and I’ll tempt him with my body and my wealth. Eventually, we’ll fall for each other. I can help him out with Joe—’
‘Joe hates you,’ I say. ‘He says you scare him. My son may be young, but he’s a very good judge of character.’
‘He’ll get over it,’ she says coldly. ‘He’ll grow to love me like a mommy. Jared and I will bring up our two boys together. They’ll be stepbrothers—’
‘You know Tyler bullies him,’ I interrupt again. ‘Joe will be miserable. You can’t do this to him.’
‘He’s young, his memory of you will fade soon enough. Most importantly, your parents will get to know me and grow to love me. I’ll become a daughter to them. I still have Mike’s money. We can all go on luxurious family holidays together. It will be perfect, like it was always supposed to be.’
‘You’re deluded,’ I say. ‘You’re actually mad. You can’t write the script to your life. You can’t say, if I do this and this, then all these things will definitely happen. Life doesn’t work that way. I’d have thought you of all people would have realised that by now.’
She shakes her head. ‘I don’t blame you for trying to pick holes in my plan. After all, you won’t be around to see it all happen. You’ll be long gone.’ She twists her hair around one side of her neck and then lets it go, running her fingers through the silken strands. ‘You stole those years from me, Louisa, but now I’m going to take them back. It’s only fair.’
‘My parents will see right through you,’ I hiss. ‘And you’re forgetting my sister, Beth. She will never in a million years believe I killed myself, just like she knows I had nothing to do with Mike’s murder.’
‘I’ll win her over. After all, soon she’ll be my sister. I want my family to get along.’
I give a bitter laugh.
‘And anyway,’ she continues, ‘if Beth doesn’t play nicely, there are ways I can make her change her mind.’
‘What are you going to do?’ I say. ‘Kill her? Kill them all off one-by-one when they don’t conform to your twisted game of happy families? That’ll work out well – eventually, you’ll be back on your own again.’
