‘We need it now,’ Avril said. ‘We’ve got no food in the house and Mum’s too much of a pushover to ask you.’
‘Hey,’ said Jasmine, and I saw Avril give her the once-over. ‘Maybe we could lend it to you? How much is it?’
‘Three thousand pounds.’
Miranda curled her lip and said, in a voice that dripped sarcasm, ‘Worth every penny.’
In Avril, Miranda had a competitor in the death-stare Olympics.
‘I’ll speak to Zack,’ Miranda said. ‘Tell him to expedite it.’
‘Tell him he’d better,’ Avril said. Now, I detected a tremble in her voice and, seemingly drained by the emotional toll of confronting the Grants, she slunk into the pub.
‘Charming,’ Lewis said.
‘Well, it is shit when you get paid late,’ said Holly. ‘Not that either of you two would know.’
Miranda rolled her eyes then got into the back of our car, slamming the door. Holly got behind the wheel.
I waited a moment, watching Lewis and Jasmine get into his Mercedes. I wanted to say something. To tell Jasmine not to go. But what would I say? That I’d eavesdropped on half a conversation then heard the tail end of another? I was afraid they would think I was being paranoid. Melodramatic. Lewis looked at me through the car window, as if daring me to speak up, a smirk on his lips. And I was about to do it, was going to run around the car and pull the passenger door open, when he pulled away, almost running over my foot. He sped off, heading in the opposite direction to the Grants’ house, past the row of houses and up the hill.
17
Back at the house, Miranda announced that she had a migraine and was going to bed. I thought it was more likely to be a whisky-induced headache but didn’t question her.
Holly and I went into the living room and she flopped on to the sofa, wrapping herself into a blanket. Her phone beeped, and she glanced at it. ‘Dad and Zack are on their way back.’
I sat by her feet on the sofa. I was impressed by how well she seemed to be coping, especially compared to Miranda’s meltdown. I didn’t trust Lewis’s reaction, though I hadn’t quite figured out what he was up to. Was Holly hiding how she really felt? Jasmine had described her as the ‘nice sister’, and I wondered if she felt this was a role she had to play. If, underneath, she was as horrified as Miranda about everything Jasmine had told us. At the same time, I had a fist of dread in my stomach and wanted to tell her about my suspicions. But I was afraid of being wrong. It’s not easy to tell someone you suspect their brother of… well, of what, exactly? Did I think Lewis was planning to murder Jasmine?
‘How are you doing?’ I asked, trying to buy myself time to think.
‘I can’t answer that at the moment except to say I’m exhausted. I wish Dad was here.’ There was a long pause. ‘I can’t believe he’s done all this without telling us. We’re usually really open with each other, as you’ve witnessed.’
I wasn’t convinced the banter and insult-trading counted as openness, but I let it go.
‘We don’t keep secrets. Not from each other.’
‘Are you sure?’
She narrowed her eyes at me. ‘Why do you ask that?’
Now was the time to tell her. But as I figured out exactly what I was going to say she closed her eyes and said, ‘Will you make me a cup of tea?’
In the kitchen, I put the kettle on, then paced the kitchen while I waited for it to boil.
‘Thank you,’ she said when I took the tea to her. I had made my mind up. I was going to tell her my suspicions, even if I wasn’t 100 per cent sure. But before I could speak, she gestured for me to come closer and put her arms around me, holding me tight. ‘I’m so glad you’re normal. Uncomplicated.’
‘Is that another way of saying “boring”?’
‘No. God, no. You’re sane. Not fucked in the head. That’s exactly what I need.’
‘You’ve had enough of bad boys?’
Now, she laughed. ‘I’ve had enough of drama. You know I’ve had therapy about this? I was drawn to domineering, selfish men because that’s, well, it’s my dad. Now I want something healthy. And no, I really don’t think you’re boring. You’re still driven. You have ambition. But you’re motivated by something pure, aren’t you? By wanting to know the truth. I like that, even if I think you’re wasted doing true crime.’
She had just said she admired my pursuit of the truth. This was my opportunity.
‘Don’t you think it’s weird?’ I asked. ‘That Lewis was so insistent that he and Jasmine go to see this cave painting or whatever it is?’
