Save Her by Abigail Osborne (i can read books .txt) 📕

Alistair Cavendish was the last person she expected to see at the door. His white hair normally combed back had been tousled by the wind, but this was the only thing that marred his appearance. His pristine black overcoat flapped in the wind, revealing a black suit underneath. It was one of those obviously expensive suits that was impervious to creasing. He smiled widely at Sophie as he waited to be let in. It was not a friendly smile. It was the smile of a predator. He was like the wolf at the door, trying to get the little pigs to let him in.

Flora let out a whimper as Sophie stood back to admit their father-in-law.

Oh no. Is Cecelia on the way? Did the Cavendishes know they were going to leave and were intending to stop them? Maybe he was here to negotiate. He wouldn’t want the world to know that his son was a violent thug who beat up his wife.

‘Sophie, Flora. How delightful.’ He sounded like a kindly old man, but his eyes betrayed him, a wicked glint spoke of his true feelings.

Sophie shut the door and quickly moved so that she was stood in front of Flora, blocking his access to Flora but also Flora’s view of Alistair. Shifting slightly, she moved so that she could see around Sophie.

‘Alistair. Thanks for coming.’

Flora was reeling. Why the hell had Sophie invited the very person she had been warning her about?

‘I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. I was very intrigued when I got your message, I must say. So, what deal do you have for me?’ He rubbed his hands together, looking expectant.

Sophie held up the hardback book, its jacket was shining in the light. ‘This. In exchange for mine and Flora’s freedom. We can leave. No one follows us.’

‘And why might this book What to Expect When You’re Expecting be of any interest to me, dear girl?’ He sniggered derisively.

‘Don’t you recognise it? You found me in Cecelia’s office, and I said I was borrowing it.’

Alistair bowed his head in acknowledgement.

‘Well, it turns out it isn’t a book about babies.’ Sophie pulled off the book jacket and dropped it to the floor, revealing a mahogany Moleskin notebook. ‘This is, in fact, Cecelia’s diary.’

Flora saw the colour drain from Alistair’s face. He moved towards her, but Sophie was quicker, she pulled out the gun from her waistband and pointed it at Alistair. He backed off straight away, hands in the air.

‘Now, now, Alistair. Where is your sense of decorum? That’s no way to act in a business meeting.’ Flora could hear the smile in Sophie’s voice. She sounded confident and powerful. She was now the wolf in the room and there was no doubt in Flora’s mind she would blow this house down, with Alistair in it.

‘Really, Sophie. A gun? I would never hurt you.’

Flora did not believe him. The fury on his face as he had dived for the book was undeniable.

‘Look, let’s quit messing around. I’ve made a copy of every page of this book. It’s quite heart-wrenching, really. Almost made me feel sorry for the old bat. No wonder she was such a bitch to me and Flora when she has to put up with all the things you did to her.’

Alistair’s knuckles clenched and Flora knew without a doubt that if there was not a gun trained on him, he would have lashed out at Sophie. Flora gathered that Sophie was talking about Cecelia. But what did she mean, she felt sorry for her? Why had Sophie not told her any of this? Flora was beginning to realise that there were a lot of things Sophie had kept from her. Dread flooded her.

Alistair was holding himself back and almost shaking with the effort.

Flora was captivated by the whole scene in front of her. It was like she had been living in a separate universe for the last five years. She thought of Alistair as an aloof and ruthless businessman, but it seemed there was much more to him than that. The scene before her was like something out of a wildlife documentary, like two male gorillas fighting for dominance. Only instead of a violent, bloody fight, it was a battle of wills.

‘I see. Can I look, to verify that it really is Cecelia’s diary?’

Sophie turned to Flora. She passed her the book and then nodded towards Alistair. Flora grabbed the book with shaking hands. She moved slowly towards Alistair, scared to make any sudden movements.

‘Don’t let him touch it, just open it and show him some pages.’ Sophie’s voice instructed her from behind and Flora could feel the stare of the gun that was pointed at her and Alistair. She opened the book almost halfway in. She had a glimpse of handwriting and a few words leapt out at her – ‘blood’ and ‘fists’ – before she turned it around so that Alistair could see the pages. His eyes roved hungrily over the words and his face seemed to be turning grey.

Sophie taunted him. ‘Doesn’t make for very pleasant reading, does it?’

Flora shut the book and moved back behind Sophie, pleased to be out of range of the gun.

‘Do we have a deal?’

Alistair wasn’t looking at Sophie. His eyes were darting here and there as if trying to work out a complex maths problem. Sophie continued when he didn’t respond. ‘I don’t care about you or your stupid business. All I want is to be free of you all. For me and Flora to escape this viper’s nest and start afresh somewhere new.’

It seemed the shock of Sophie’s revelation about the book had worn off, the colour seemed to be coming back to his mind and his eyes began to twinkle menacingly as his composure returned. ‘Viper’s nest?’ He began to chuckle. ‘I wonder if dear Flora knows that she will be leaving one viper’s nest for another. Probably the most deadly and poisonous of them all.’

The dread in Flora’s stomach