She paused, forehead creasing. ‘Oh, except someone might spot the flames and come to investigate. Hmmm… What else? Oh – I could impale you with that fork over there. Pin you to the wall while I remind you of the names of every business you’ve closed, every last waiter who ended up out of work, every life you’ve trashed. I have a list here, ready on my phone. That might be fun. Or – how about I tie you up and drag you to the river, watch the bubbles rise to the surface as you drown? A fitting tribute to your so-called friend, don’t you think? Your boyfriend will appreciate the gesture.’
‘You’re insane,’ I croaked.
‘Probably,’ Lucy shrugged, before her voice hardened again. ‘But you drove me to it.’
‘The police will know it was you. Everyone heard how much you hate me.’
‘Hundreds of people hate you! Not to mention the Alami family, who after their little attempt at intimidation last year, provided the perfect cover. And so what if the police do figure it out? My life is over, anyway.’
‘You have an amazing life!’ I tried to jumpstart my brain again, to keep her talking until maybe someone got worried and came looking for me, or I could think up some other way to get out of this. ‘You’ve got a glamorous career, money, fame, a fabulous social life. Marcus. Why would you risk all that?’
‘Why would I give a crap about that, compared to what you did to my family!’ She shrieked. My panic jolted up another level. She genuinely was insane.
‘Well? Don’t you have anything at all to say about it?’
‘I… I’m sorry. Whatever happened to your family…’
‘Don’t pretend you can’t even remember!’ Tears and spittle flew as she shook her head, enraged. ‘We were just another column to you, another cheap laugh. After your review my dad had to sell the restaurant! We lost our house. Had to move into a two bedroom flat!A two bedroom flat!I was fifteen years old! Can you imagine what that felt like?You ruined my life!’
‘Lucy, I get that it must have been hard, but moving house is not worth going to prison for murder for.’
‘What would you know about it?’ she screeched.
‘I shared a bunk bed with my grandma until I was twenty-six. That’s why I couldn’t turn down being Nora Sharp. I needed a job. A chance to get away. A life! But you have that now – you stole my life. My job, my reputation. My boyfriend. Please don’t throw that all away on some fleeting revenge. I’m not worth it.’
‘You didn’t want them any more! Don’t pretend that by scaring you off, I wasn’t doing you a favour. And I don’t have those things. Miles fired me. Marcus got bored. Turns out no one liked the new Nora. Now I have nothing. And you’ve ended up, yet again, with everything. So there’s no point trying to ruin your life, you’ll just get yourself a new one. I’m ending it.’
‘Lucy, please…’
‘Stop talking!’ She sized up the nearest farm implements to her, before taking hold of the huge garden fork.
‘No, wait…’
‘Shut up!’ Lucy dropped her phone, and in the dim light cast from where it lay on the floor, I saw her shove a pallet out of her path, clamber over the lawnmower and launch herself across the short distance still between us.
Along with freaking out and bracing myself for the prongs, I somehow found the presence of mind to dodge to one side and grab something to block her follow-up thrust.
I’d seized a soggy, rotten cardboard box. I might as well have plucked a fistful of cobwebs from the shelf. The fork instantly tore through the sagging card, and Lucy flicked it away.
I took an automatic few steps back, before my back smacked against another shelving unit, causing the glass contents to rattle dangerously. A couple of bottles toppled off and smashed, tiny shards catching in the glow of the phone.
Glancing either side, I realised how stupid I’d been. I could just about make out a huge, menacing-looking metal contraption on my right. On my left were the pallets, stacked haphazardly about waist high, two deep and at least five long. Scrambling across them would be slow and clumsy, and I’d be an easy target for my attacker.
For a millisecond, I wondered about using one of the pallets as a shield, at least until I could reconsider my escape route, but before I could reach down to haul one off the pile, Lucy, grunting with effort, held her weapon aloft and jabbed it straight towards my head.
Adrenaline powering my reflexes, I twisted to one side, and as the fork thrust past, I somehow managed to grab the wooden handle. Holding on for dear life, we wrestled and thrashed for control. In the confined space it was inevitable that the more we fought to get the larger portion of the handle, the closer to each other we got. Within what must have been seconds, but felt like hours, we were right up against each other. Lucy’s breath was hot against my neck, and I inhaled the reek of her sweat and fury. She wasn’t the only one sweating – my hands were starting to slip precariously down the handle, until they hit against the prongs.
I took a moment to focus on my breathing, sucking in as much air as my heaving lungs could manage before releasing it in a scream that bounced off the bottles and echoed through the darkness. No one would hear me – unless they happened to be walking around this side of the farm. But it was loud enough to rattle Lucy, and she momentarily relaxed her grip enough for me to wrest the fork out of her hands.
Unfortunately, I’d not quite believed in my own strength, so hadn’t braced my stance for the sudden decrease in tension when Lucy let go. I stumbled back, scraping my shoulder blades against something sharp, and jabbing the back of my knee into a metal spike.
I automatically bent double to clutch my leg, the fork clattering to the ground. If I was some kick-ass heroine from a film I’d have ignored the agonising pain now shooting up my leg like flames. But I wasn’t, I was a clueless, frightened wimp, and I was too exhausted and too traumatised to think any more.
Ignoring the fork, Lucy simply threw herself at me, and we both toppled over, smacking onto the floor side by side with groans and grunts. Hands clawed for my neck, my eyes, ripping out a chunk of my hair. Her feet scrabbled for purchase, those stupid sandals scraping down my shins.
And then a powerful beam of light suddenly appeared from the direction of the door.
A cry of horror, in a voice that instantly made me feel safe.
