‘Craig, is there anything I can do for you?’ Rory asked.
They were sitting in the relatives’ room. The storm outside had abated, the rain wasn’t as intense, and the room was silent. Rory had his arm around Craig who was slumped forward, his head on his chest.
Craig had stopped crying. The anger had drained out of him. He was numb. ‘It’s all over now,’ he said quietly. ‘We said some horrible things to each other over the years. I stopped loving her a long time ago.’
Rory hushed him. ‘Don’t, Craig. You’re grieving. Don’t say something you’ll regret in the morning.’
‘She wanted to have an abortion when she fell pregnant with Riley. I wouldn’t let her. I kept going on about how everything would be fine. I didn’t realise how close to the edge she already was.’
‘Craig, come on, let’s get you home. Jodie and Riley will be waiting for you. They’ll need you right now.’
‘I don’t think I can face them.’
‘You have to. I know it may sound heartless, but you need to be strong for them.’
Craig sat up and looked at Rory. He wiped his eyes. ‘You’re right.’
‘You’ve done a great job bringing Jodie up. I’m sure she’ll give you all the help and support you need.’
‘She will. She’s a good girl,’ he smiled.
***
‘Do you honestly think your dad is going to welcome you with open arms when he finds out what you’ve done?’
‘He will. He loves me.’
‘You’re deluding yourself.’
‘So you say.’
‘Did you push Ellen Devonport over Heeley Bridge?’
It was a while before she nodded. ‘I had no choice. She was trying to take my dad away from me. I saw the way she was with him, touching his arm, laughing at his jokes, tossing her hair back.’
Matilda was driving with Jodie in the backseat, sitting at an angle with the bloodied knife aimed at Matilda’s stomach.
‘You’ll go to prison for the attempted murder of two detectives and your father will go to prison for sexual abuse. You’ll never see him again.’
‘You’re wrong. I know exactly what to do. I’ve been making important decisions for years. I’ve paid bills. I’ve done the big shop. I’ve attended Keeley’s parents’ evenings at school when they couldn’t. I took her on play dates and sat with other parents.’
Matilda drove carefully. Although the rain had stopped, the roads were still slippery, and some were flooded in places.
‘So, what is this plan of yours then?’
‘We’ll just drive somewhere. We don’t need possessions. We don’t need things. It’ll just be the two of us, together,’ she said with a huge grin on her face.
‘You’ve been groomed, Jodie. Can’t you see that?’
‘We can’t help the people we fall in love with. We’re not on this earth for a long time. When you find someone to love, someone who makes you happy, you should grab it with both hands and screw the world.’
***
Rory drove out of the hospital car park with Craig in the passenger seat. He was staring straight ahead out of the windscreen, not blinking, his face expressionless. Rory felt sorry for him. In the last week he’d lost his youngest daughter and now his wife. How was he going to break this news to Jodie? How was he going to cope as a single father working two jobs and Riley needing twenty-four-hour care?
‘Do you have any other relatives who can help you?’ Rory asked. His question went unanswered. ‘Brothers or sisters? Your parents?’ There was no reply.
Rory drove carefully and below the speed limit. He was in no rush to get Craig home. With the news he had to break to his children, it wouldn’t matter if they took the long way home, to buy Craig more time to marshal his thoughts and try to find the right words to use.
***
Matilda drove along Stannington Road. Jodie was sitting back in her seat, Sian’s blood drying on her hands, the knife held firmly, not letting go. Matilda looked across and tried to read her expression, to figure out what was going on inside her head, but there was nothing there. Jodie wasn’t all to blame. She was the product of an abusive father who had convinced his daughter their relationship was one of pure love.
They drove in silence. The streets were empty, and a light rain had started to fall. Matilda racked her brain to think of something to stop Jodie and Craig from meeting. Craig would want to cover up his involvement in the abuse of his daughter. He would lie and twist the situation to make it seem like it was all in Jodie’s head.
Ahead, she spotted a car coming towards them. She didn’t dare risk flashing her headlights or sounding the horn in case Jodie lunged at her with the knife. The closer they got, Matilda was able to make out who was driving, it was Rory, and Craig was in the passenger seat. She didn’t have time to think. She slammed her foot down on the accelerator, waiting until both cars were level then swung the steering wheel.
She knocked into Rory’s car, forcing him off the road. Jodie must have sensed what Matilda was planning to do when the car sped up. She grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it the other way. They left the road, drove onto the saturated grass, smashed through a fence, and Matilda slammed the brakes on just in time before the car crashed into Stanwood Methodist Church.
Jodie banged her head on the side of the door. Concussed, she swung her right hand towards Matilda, aimlessly trying to stab her. Matilda reached out to stop her, grabbing the knife by the blade and cutting open her palm in the process. With her other hand, she slammed Jodie’s wrist onto the dashboard, causing her to drop the knife. Matilda quickly picked it up, opened the driver’s door, and fell out.
‘What’s going on? Matilda? Is that you?’ Rory asked, running towards her.
‘Rory, arrest him,’ she shouted.
‘What? Who?’
‘Craig Armitage. Arrest him!’
‘Why?’ He asked, looking confused.
‘For sexually abusing his daughters. Just arrest him.’
‘Fucking hell,’ Rory turned and ran back to the car. He opened the door, but Craig was nowhere to be seen.
Matilda went around to the passenger side, opened the door, and, with the handcuffs from her back pocket, she handcuffed Jodie to the handle above the door.
‘Jodie Armitage, I’m arresting you for the attempted murders of Ellen Devonport and Sian Mills. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, anything you later rely on in court. Do you understand?’
Jodie looked straight ahead at Matilda and smiled.