TOYL

‘If you are, I’d rather you just admit it now.’
    ‘I’m not leaving you,’ he replied. ‘I’ve let people down in the past, but I’m trying to change.’
    ‘You’ve never let me down,’ she said, embracing him.
    Edward held her for a few seconds, taking in her perfume, but this was only wasting time and making things harder.
    ‘I’d better go.’ He kissed her on the cheek before pulling away. ‘I’ll be back in the morning.’
    ‘You’re staying overnight? But where are you going to stay?’
    Edward got into the car and closed the door. He started up the engine, not answering her.
    ‘Edward!’ she shouted, knocking on the car window. ‘Have you got your angina spray?’
    Edward nodded, glancing in the rear view mirror. ‘Don’t worry about me,’ he said through the glass, as the car began to reverse out of the drive.
    He backed out onto the main road, and then moved forward, slipping the car into second gear. He deliberately didn’t look back to see if Miranda was there watching him. Instead he glanced across at the glove box that contained the loaded gun.
    He was going to finish this, once and for all.

    ***

    Emma sat on the sofa in Lizzy’s apartment and stared at the photograph, searching for answers. She looked across at Will, who was kneading the sides of his head.
    ‘I know it sounds crazy,’ she began, ‘but I’ve been thinking – maybe Stephen Myers isn’t really dead.’
    Will shook his head.
    ‘But what if the person they found in the canal wasn’t him?’ Emma tried. ‘His dad said that they couldn’t identify him visually.’
    ‘They would have used dental records.’
    ‘Maybe they didn’t,’ Emma countered. ‘Maybe they just assumed that it was him, and didn’t do the proper tests. I might have been right all along, and it was Stephen Myers that has been doing all this. Everything pointed to him from the very beginning.’
    Will blew out a deep breath, closing his eyes. He started to cry.
    ‘Will, what’s the matter?’ Emma moved across to comfort him.
    Will shook his head.
    ‘What’s up?’ she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
    ‘I know he’s dead,’ he said, struggling to fight back his emotions. ‘I saw him.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    Will looked up, his face contorted with grief and regret and his eyes glazed with tears. ‘Please forgive me, Em,’ he pleaded. ‘Don’t hate me. Everything just got out of hand – if I’d had time to think, I wouldn’t have gone along with it. But I thought I was doing the right thing.’
    ‘You’re worrying me, Will, what are you talking about?’
    ‘Stuart Harris. He killed – murdered – Stephen Myers.’
    ‘What?’ Emma said, horrified. ‘But they said he committed suicide.’
    ‘No,’ Will said, shaking his head, ‘it was meant to look like a suicide, but it was murder. Stuart murdered him.’
    ‘How do you know this?’ Emma said, standing up, feeling the urge to move away from her brother. ‘Please tell me you’re not involved.’
    ‘I’m sorry, Em. I was involved. I helped him dispose of the body.’

64

    ‘I don’t understand,’ Emma said, pacing backwards and forwards across the living room. ‘Tell me that you’re joking about this, Will.’
    ‘Why would I joke about something like this?’ he said, looking up at her through teary eyes. ‘I’ve been carrying around this secret for years, Em, and it’s been tearing me apart.’
    ‘Then tell me everything,’ Emma instructed, still not sitting down. ‘From the beginning.’
    ‘Well,’ he began, struggling to find the words. ‘You know how I told you that we had warned Stephen Myers off you – that was true. We knew he’d started coming down to London, watching you, taking photographs. Stuart and I tried to reason with him, and then things got a bit nastier. Stuart threatened him, saying that if he didn’t leave you alone, something bad might happen.’
    ‘Go on,’ Emma said.
    ‘Well, I didn’t really agree with what Stuart had done, but it seemed to work. I thought Stephen had finally got the message. But then one night I was in my flat – I can still remember what I was watching on the TV – and I got a call from Stuart. He was really freaking out, saying that something had happened with Stephen and could I come around to your place straight away. So unfortunately I did.’
    ‘And he’d…’
    Emma couldn’t bring herself to say it.
    ‘I got over to yours. You were out performing. Stuart answered