Keep My Secrets by Elena Wilkes (large ebook reader .txt) 📗

away. I couldn’t allow that to happen, Frankie. I know how much she means to you. Don’t worry,’ he puts his hand reassuringly on her arm and gives it a little squeeze, ‘she’s safe. Totally safe and comfortable. That’s where we’re going now – it was going to be a surprise but—’

He gestures for her to go through the door. She almost stumbles off the step as a great wave of panic and confusion threatens to engulf her. She’d like to cry out – to scream and yell and holler for the whole world to come and rescue her.

‘Oh sweet Jesus, Alex… What have you done? What have you done?’

‘Peter shouldn’t have tried to stop me.’ He escorts her across to his SUV, opening the door and helping her inside. ‘He was going to take her away. You must understand that, Frankie. He was going to take her away from you just like the first time. He was going to meet Vanessa somewhere. “No, no, no,” I said to him, “you’re not allowed to do that. Her mother, her real mother needs her now.”’ He pulls the safety belt around for her and leans across to clip it in. He smells of something odd: like sweat and fear and something chemical.

All she can think about is Chloe.

‘Promise me she’s safe, Alex… Promise me!’ She grabs his arm.

‘I promise you.’ He runs round to the driver’s side and slides in. ‘Come on, if you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself.’ He grins at her and starts the engine. It’s just starting to rain, and the headlights pick out the fine filaments of water as they slant through the beams.

‘You’re taking me to her, you promise? You’re really taking me to her?’

‘I said don’t fret, Frankie. Of course I am. But first we have to make sure that everything is safe and neat and right, so we’re going to the police station to tell them what you know about Peter Vale’s death.’ He begins to reverse off the drive.

‘What?’

‘You don’t know much. Hardly anything in fact.’ He smiles across at her. ‘But you’re going to tell them what Martin told you… About how he confessed to killing Peter Vale. After all, Peter attacked him once, didn’t he? It would be perfectly plausible that Martin would want revenge – but I’ll leave that bit of the story up to you to make up.’ He pats her reassuringly on the knee.

Her head is swimming. She knows she’ll wake up soon and this will all have been just a nightmare.

The early morning sky darkens suddenly as he pulls onto the road and the wipers begin to squeal.

‘Where is she?’

‘So you’ll do that?’

She turns her head to look at him. A stranger is sitting in the driver’s seat. She has no idea who her husband is.

‘You’ll do that?’

‘Yes.’

‘You’ll do that, knowing that Martin Jarvis will get recalled and stay in prison for the rest of his life?’

‘Yes.’

‘And that he’ll die in there. You will never, ever see him again?’

She knows it’s a test.

‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Yes, yes, yes. I’ll do all of it and more. Whatever keeps Chloe safe.’

‘I knew you’d agree.’ He begins to laugh, his face opens into a wide grin. ‘Hey… Do you want to know what’s really funny about this, Frankie? Do you want to know what’s making me feel so happy? This is the first time in the whole of our marriage where I really think you’re seeing me. Do you realise that? For the first time, you’re really listening.’

The car picks up speed and he’s still chuckling.

‘Can you imagine how that feels? It feels amazing, Frankie! This is how it’s going to be from now on. This is how—’

There’s a sudden bang! across the windscreen and the car slews violently to the left. Frankie hits her head on the side window as Alex grapples with the wheel. The wing hits the bank and they skid awkwardly, juddering to a halt.

‘What the hell was that?’ Alex undoes his seatbelt and goes to get out, but the rear door is yanked open and there’s a flurry of wild matted hair, and rain, and fury as Vanessa launches into the back seat.

‘You fucking bitch!’ Frankie feels her head being violently pulled back until her scalp burns and stings. Her eyes flicker and widen with fear as there’s the sudden cool hardness of a blade against her throat.

‘Where is she? Where the fuck is she? I’ll kill you!’ The knife presses harder. ‘I’ll fucking kill you! Tell me!’ she screams.

The only thing that she hears from her own throat is a tiny, strangulated cry. Her eyes flit to Alex who is pressed back against the door, his hands aloft at the sight of an unleashed, untamed animal.

‘I said – Tell me!’ Her spittle peppers her cheek. Frankie feels the knife bite. A tiny trickle of what she thinks must be blood runs down her neck as her heartbeat drums furiously in her ears.

‘Peter didn’t turn up!’ Vanessa hisses. ‘They didn’t come. I can’t get hold of him and I can’t get hold of Jack. This is your doing… It has to be you. Where are they?’

Frankie feels her breath stop. She doesn’t know. Vanessa doesn’t know. She swallows hard. She can’t bring herself to tell her.

‘I-I don’t know where Chloe is,’ she stammers. ‘I don’t know, Vanessa… Really, truly, I don’t know…’ Her eyes bat over to Alex and Vanessa snaps round.

‘Oh this is the husband then, is it?’ Vanessa’s eyes are crazed with desperation and fear. The knife flits from Frankie’s throat and wavers in the air, its tip pointing at her and then at Alex. ‘You know where she is, do you?’

‘No! No, I don’t!’ Alex’s hands are raised in surrender. ‘Yes, I’m her husband Alex, but I don’t know anything! I’m only just finding things out, just like you are. I’ve begged her to go to the police and she’s agreed, haven’t you, Frankie? That’s what we’ve said, isn’t