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He nods. ‘She’s just fine.’ He gives me a pat, but it makes me flinch.
‘She was with Georgia?’ I ask.
He nods. ‘Of course.’
‘Where is she? Who found her?’
Tristan smiles. ‘Please could I have all of your phones?’
I stare at him.
Lydia holds her hands in front of her, begging. ‘Tristan, where is my daughter? Who is she with?’ She seems more distressed than she has since this whole thing began.
‘You’re okay,’ says Tristan. ‘They’re with Theo.’
And then I’m falling. ‘The man you’ve been helping groom my daughter?’
He rolls his eyes. ‘This is good news. They’re safe.’
I run at him, not quite sure what I’m going to do, wanting to scratch and tear and bite, but he catches my wrists easily.
He shakes his head, disgusted, confused. ‘Phones, please,’ he says. There’s a little glint in his eye and I have to wonder if part of him is enjoying this: the drama, the violence.
‘You don’t have a heart, do you?’ I say.
‘I’m trying to protect my family,’ he says, and I realise that in a way that’s true. My heart hurts. I want to erase the last two days. I want to believe in the myth of Tristan again.
‘Call him back,’ says Lydia. ‘I want to speak to Rose.’
‘He didn’t hang up,’ I say.
‘Good observation, Frances.’ Theo’s tinny voice comes from Tristan’s pocket. ‘I’m so sorry about this, but we’re going to have to insist that you hand over your phones.’
I frown. ‘I don’t have my phone.’
Tristan pulls a sad face at me. ‘Frankie, please.’
‘The text said not to bring them,’ says Lydia.
‘And the only one apart from me smart enough to ignore that was my beautiful wife?’
‘My phone is in my car,’ I say, holding his gaze, a chill running down my back.
‘You aren’t having my phone,’ says Mina.
He gives me a tight smile then steps over to his wife.
Ash and Ava slide closer together in front of her.
‘Stop this,’ Tristan says to them. And then he does something I’ve seen my father do a thousand times to my mother. Her reaches between the twins and takes Mina’s chin in his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up slightly. ‘My dear, let’s not play games now. Not in front of the children.’
Ash wriggles away and starts pacing in front of the open window. Ava shifts directly between her mother and father. My heart breaks for her.
I was that girl once, staring my father in the eye, wondering how long I could hold up my invisible shield.
Mina watches Tristan, unblinking, and I wonder how many times he has held her like this. I think of her crying in the kitchen, what seems like a lifetime ago. Maybe if we weren’t here, things would change? But my brother is who he is and always has been.
I look around the bedroom for something to hit Tristan with, but I couldn’t kill him. How hard do you have to hit someone to just knock them out?
