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‘Don’t be afraid, Mummy. It won’t hurt – for long.’
I’ve been lying here trying to get my head around why you were gonna pay me ten grand?’ ‘Why were you asking for ten grand?’ ‘Well, what with that missing copper, I didn’t think you’d want it coming out about your suicide attempt and timeshare in a mental health hospital. I just assumed you’d want to prevent any unwanted attention from coming your way. Now I ain’t so sure that was the reason you were gonna cough up.’ Elaine gave a subtle smirk and said, ‘No – you were right. That was the reason.’ Lenny smiled as she turned and walked away. ‘Lying cow.’
Liam died a long time ago, and this so-called Harper Darmody is the name he was given to hide the sins of others. The man he is now, or was, as the case may be, is the person he created to survive. A caged little boy full of anger for all those years, dreaming and thinking of nothing but vengeance.
The coroner will carry out a full post-mortem, but the early signs are that he may have drowned,’ said Tom, a mournful expression on his face. Horrified, Elaine said, ‘But that means he was still alive when the car went into the pond.’
Elaine flipped the top open to play the eerie melody that had undoubtedly saved her and Lenny’s lives.
Elaine glared at the old, shabby barn. She pulled a box of matches from her pocket, struck one, and tossed it to the ground in front of her.
She hoped burning this God-awful place of unspeakable memories to the ground would be some form of closure. It wouldn’t take away her past suffering, but at least it explained her mental instability and how it had severely affected her life.
Whoever her brother had become and whatever Harper Darmody had done, this was a parting gift from the small shred of Liam that lingered.
she recalled the conversation with Harper in the barn. “You’re just like me,” he’d said. “I haven’t killed anyone, so no – I’m nothing like you,” she’d replied. He came back at her with, “Let’s just say you haven’t killed anyone yet, but how far would you go to protect yourself – your children – to be with them again? What would you do if it were possible to make that happen?” Those words. Bonded by horror, he knew exactly how far she would go to do exactly that.
Oh boy what she about to do?
Lenny Grey once told her he could see a darkness behind her eyes. Perhaps it had always been there, lying dormant, and now it had finally been awakened. Elaine wasn’t going to let this man or anyone else prevent her from being with her children.
She glanced over her shoulder to make sure what she was about to do would be concealed from the oncoming ambulance and police cars. Placing her palm over his mouth, she secured his nostrils with her finger and thumb and blocked his airways.
Okay I'm actually not so surprised here because I had questioned it more that she was so concerned about his well-being after vowing to get her vengeance from him earlier in the book. I had been waiting for the payback and wondered why that earlier scene had been significant if all Robert was going to do was die later in a misfortunate run in with a killer.
‘I know everything, Robert. All about the cheating, the affair with Chloé, and how you thought I was crazy. Guess you could be right about that.
At that moment, she knew Harper was right; she was like him. The reasoning may not have been the same, but Harper had merely pointed out that she was indeed capable of murder.
‘If you let me go, the monster won’t be able to hurt me any more, either.’
The grief of losing a child would be evermore, but as the ache she’d fiercely harboured subsided, a faint smile broke through the sadness. Fuelled by a new sense of priority and purpose, she had the foundations to build on and the strength to tackle the infinite measure of her pain.
An explanation for how the teddy bear came to be outside on the bench evaded her. Maybe it was better that way. Could it be a sign from Charlie he was at rest, or could it be a sign of something else?
You’ve always had it in you to be a killer. I recall the crazed look in your eyes the moment you rammed that hay fork into your father’s neck. Nearly took his head clean off.’ He laughed. Yet another revelation for Elaine. Her brother had told her he’d killed their father, though he had admitted he couldn’t remember doing it.
The person behind Denley stepped out from behind the chair into full view. Recognising her brother, Mr Parker’s eyes exhibited the terror that the muscles in his body could not. One of the siblings coming for him had always been in the back of his mind, but seeing them both was something he had never envisaged. Now he was at their mercy, of which he knew there would be none.
The unsympathetic pair watched on, revelling in their own brand of justice, which would soon be handed out to others responsible for the crimes committed against them. ‘How do you feel?’ asked Harper. She took her time, weighing up her answer, not once averting her eyes from the flaming head of Denley Parker. ‘Fucking great.’
