‘But she has all that money. That free life.’
‘Money does not buy you happi—’
Ellie heard a click in her ear. The call had dropped out. She looked at the display on the phone – her balance had run down to zero. Ellie slowly replaced the receiver.
Her sister had agun?
THIRTY-NINE
Ellie slowly walked back through reception, not even noticing Madame look up as she passed the desk. She climbed the stairs, her mind racing. Surely it couldn’t be true?A gun.She couldn’t conceive of such an idea. It didn’t seem real; it was a mistake, some sort of madness. She got to the second floor, to the door of their room, and opened it.
The shower was running. Ellie listened to the sound of the water. On Abby’s bed was her travel bag. Ellie hesitated a moment, then went over. Tentatively, she unzipped the bag and, with a sense of treachery, put her hands inside. She felt only the softness of clothes, nothing hard. She checked the inside pocket too but it was empty. She zipped the bag back up.
Ellie looked around. There was a chair on the other side of the room, tucked away in the corner. On it was draped Abby’s clothes, those she’d been wearing that day. And poking out from underneath a T-shirt was Abby’s battered blue leather handbag.
With a jolt, Ellie remembered how she’d lifted that same bag off the back seat of the car earlier, and how Abby had snapped at her to leave it.
It must be in the handbag.
She stepped over to Abby’s side of the room and, pushing the clothes aside, she opened it. The thick envelope of cash lay on the top. Ellie slowly lifted it and then recoiled.
Cold hard metal gleamed up at her. It had an energy, even though it was a stationary object, a brutality that made her shudder.
Ellie suddenly heard the shower turn off. Panicked, she shoved the envelope of money back on top of the gun and, fingers scrabbling, zipped up the bag, then ran over to her side of the room.
The bathroom door opened. Abby stepped out, wrapped in a towel. ‘All right?’ she said.
Ellie smiled as casually, as normally as she could. Her mouth felt strange, as if the muscles couldn’t quite form the right expression.
‘I’m going to give Jamie another call,’ said Abby, ‘then I’m going to turn the phone off. Just in case. Don’t want anyone picking up where we are.’
‘You mean the police?’
‘Yes. I don’t know how they’d track us to the retail park but I don’t want to take the risk. We can switch it back on in the morning, to check for messages.’
Ellie nodded.
‘You OK?’ asked Abby.
She smiled quickly. ‘Fine.’
Ellie watched agitatedly as Abby went over to the chair. Her sister opened her bag. Ellie stared as she saw Abby’s hands disappear into its depths to retrieve her phone. She looked at her sister’s face.She knows there’s a gun in there, thought Ellie,and she doesn’t even flinch. Abby looked up then, caught Ellie watching, and Ellie quickly turned away.
Abby made the call but, by the look on her face, Ellie knew she’d got the answerphone again. Her sister left a brief message, then put on a fresh T-shirt and climbed into bed.
‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ she said.
Ellie snapped to, realized she was rooted to the spot.
‘Yeah, sure.’ Her head felt heavy with tiredness. She undressed and stiffly got into bed. Her legs would hardly move and she had to lift them to turn on her side, her back to Abby.
‘Night,’ said Abby, switching off her light.
‘Night,’ Ellie replied.
She lay there in the dark, rigid with fear and uncertainty.Mum was right.Ellie felt hyper-aware of her surroundings. She heard Abby shift in bed and stiffened with fright. Was her sister getting up? My God, was she, Ellie, even safe in this room with her? But then she heard Abby settle back down again. Heart hammering, Ellie tried to think. But she was so tired.Stay awake, she instructed herself firmly.Do not fall asleep.She suddenly knew what to do. She had to wait until Abby fell asleep and then creep back downstairs. Call Susanna and tell her where they were. This had gone on long enough – Ellie mentally kicked herself for not believing her mother sooner. If she’d listened, she could have avoided this situation; she might not have been lying here in the pitch black, afraid of what her sister might do. Her eyelids drooped and Ellie forced them back open.Stay awake!It wouldn’t be long, Abby was tired too, Ellie knew. She just had to wait long enough for Abby to fall asleep and then...what?Call!Yes, she had to make a call. She could do it. She felt herself drifting and pinched her leg. To her alarm she couldn’t feel anything. She pinched again, harder. There, that was better, she was awake now. Wasn’t she? Ellie sensed her mind might be wandering but she was too tired to chase it, to bring it back under her control.So, so tired.
FORTY
