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He released me and hurriedly grabbed his shirt from a hook on the wall, pulling it on. Up to now, Felicity had been standing wide-eyed and silent, but at this proclamation, she gave a visible start, watching her brother ready himself to leave.
“Where are you going?” she asked, her anxiety palpable.
“The only phone is in the house, so we’ll have to go to the police in person. I have the keys to the truck, but we need to hurry before someone realizes Millie’s here.”
“But—”
“Felicity, don’t argue with me,” he snapped, authoritative, inflexible.
She shut up immediately. I didn’t like the exchange, but it was easy to see that Rodney was worked up, bothered by the situation, and ready to take action. I reached out to her and she grabbed my hand.
“How are you feeling right now?” Rodney asked, hand on the doorknob.
Emotionally, I was destroyed, but I knew that wasn’t what he was asking.
“I’m all right. I haven’t had any tea for a few days.”
“All right, stay on your feet. We’re going to run to the garage, it’s on the opposite side of the estate. We’ll have to head across the back. Both the tower and Callum’s new room have windows facing that way so stick close to the house. No talking. No noise at all.”
These instructions delivered with no room for question, he opened the door and we ran.
It had started to rain, large drops pelting down onto our heads, soaking us through. I could only be grateful that the torrent would obstruct any view through the windows, making it easier for us to reach the garage undetected. Felicity clung to me as we successfully crossed the back of the estate the old building coming into view. Once a carriage house, there was room aplenty for several vehicles, though I’d never seen a single one coming or going. A sickening thought dawned on me. All the times that Callum was supposed to be away on business, had he ever left at all?
When we arrived, Rodney shuffled us around to the side door and into the dry, cavernous space. There were two vehicles, one covered in a tarp to protect it from the elements, and an old work truck, its underside caked in dirt. Rodney switched on a single electric light, which barely offered any illumination, then busied himself with raising the heavy door. The wind rushed in, bringing the stinging, freezing rain in its wake. Felicity and I moved closer to the truck, out of the way of the gale.
Rodney cursed.
“The keys,” he said, “I left them in the old tack room. Stay here, I’ll be back.”
Leaving us alone in the bare light, shivering in the damp, he ran off toward the back of the garage, disappearing in the heavy shadows. As soon as he was out of sight, Felicity started to cry. Thinking her afraid, and needing comfort myself, I hugged her again, but my affection only encouraged her weeping all the more.
“I’m sorry,” she cried into my shoulder.
“It’s all right,” I assured her gently, “You couldn’t have known about the tea.”
Her sobbing quieted, and I was relieved she’d calmed.
“I tried so hard to make you leave,” she murmured, voice still thick with misery, and my arms stiffened around her. “I was trying to save your life.”
I pulled away, hands gripping her diminutive shoulders, searching her face.
“I thought he was going to let you go, but he won’t. He never will.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It wasn’t Callum,” she whispered, the whites of her eyes shining in the dark, imploring me to understand.
“What are you girls chatting about, hey?”
Rodney had returned, swinging a chain of keys around his finger, lackadaisically like we were preparing to take a country drive. All of his previous urgency had vanished, and he smiled, approaching us in the slow, relaxed way I knew him for.
Felicity stepped in front of me as I’d done for her, guarding me from the approach of her brother.
“Nothing,” she lied, but it was too obvious, and too late.
Rodney reached us, features shifting into a theatrical look of disappointment.
“Felicity.” He shook his head. “You little idiot.”
