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THE FRONT DOOR OF LIV’S flat opened.
Someone was here.
The keys for the agency car were tight in her fist, her phone in the other hand. She’d been trying to call Ellen, but it had just gone straight to answer phone. Now someone was here, and there was only one person she thought it would be.
Michael.
He had done something to Ellen, and now he was here to mess with her, too.
But to her surprise, a familiar blonde, curvy figure stepped through the door. She was looking down, so didn’t notice Liv standing there until Liv spoke.
“Ellen?”
Her friend looked up in shock. “Liv? What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in hospital. I was just stopping by to get your things for the morning.”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been calling you. I’ve been worried sick.”
“The battery died.” Her tone grew firm. “Why aren’t you in hospital, Liv?”
“I left. I had to. I needed to know you were going to be all right. Did you see Michael?”
Ellen nodded. “Yes, I did. I’ve warned him to stay away from you.”
“Oh, my God, Ellen. I told you not to go near him. He’s dangerous.”
She shook her head, her eyebrows drawn together, her nose wrinkled. “He’s not going to come sniffing around again, Liv. I promise. I’ve threatened him—”
“Threatened him? Threatened him with what?”
“You don’t need to know that. Just know that he won’t come near you again. He’s not been good for you, Liv.”
She didn’t care about herself. She caught Ellen by the shoulders. “What did he say to you? Did he tell you to hurt yourself?”
Her face creased in a frown. “Not this again. Michael can’t make someone do something just by telling them to.”
“He might have made you forget. Or maybe he hasn’t done it yet. But you’re in danger, Elles, I know you are.”
“I’m fine, Livvy. Please. You’re not well. I really think you should go back to hospital. The doctors can take care of you there.”
She shook her head, frantic. “No, I can’t go back there. If I’m back there, who’s going to make sure you’re all right? If you threatened Michael, he’s going to want to get rid of you. Even if he didn’t say something when you saw him, I promise you that he’ll have something planned. It’s what he does with every woman who upsets him.”
Ellen shook her head and took a tentative step backwards. “You need help. This is crazy. Go to the police if you think Michael is dangerous.”
“I can’t. They’ll never believe me. I’ll be the one who ends up locked up, and he’ll be free to do whatever the hell he wants. You’ll be next, Ellen. I know you will.”
“I’m fine, Liv, I promise. He can’t hurt me.”
But Liv wasn’t buying it. If he knew Ellen had something over him, he wouldn’t just let it go.
“I need to show you something,” she told her friend.
Ellen’s lips twisted, but she nodded and followed Liv as she turned and went back into her bedroom. She went to the adjoining bathroom, a plan starting to formulate in her mind. She felt horrible for doing it, but she didn’t have any choice. She needed to keep Ellen safe—that was the most important thing of all.
“I’ve been on medication,” she said as she went into the tiny en-suite bathroom that was off her bedroom. She opened the door to the medicine cabinet and took down her pot of antipsychotics, and another pot, too. “They keep me level, or at least are supposed to, but I don’t think they’ve been working too well lately.”
Ellen was standing behind her, and she clung onto what Liv had said. “That’s why you need to go back to the hospital. The doctors can help you there.”
Liv cracked open the second pot of pills and emptied a few out into her palm. They were tiny tablets and easy to swallow. She turned, and not giving her friend time to question what she was doing, lunged for Ellen.
Ellen hadn’t been prepared at all. Liv was so much taller than she was, and Ellen fell backwards, her head smacking on the floor. She was dazed, Liv could see by the way her eyes rolled, but she couldn’t give her friend time to come around. Though she felt awful doing it, she pressed her thumb and fingers either side of Ellen’s cheeks and forced her mouth open. Ellen must have half realised what was happening, as she tried to twist her face away, but Liv was bigger and stronger. She pried open her friend’s lips and dropped the tablets down the back of her throat. Then she clamped her hand over Ellen’s mouth to prevent her spitting them back out or shouting for help.
“I’m sorry,” she said, still pinning her down. “It’s just something that will help you sleep. This is for your own safety. I promise. I need to make sure he can’t find you.”
Ellen’s eyes widened and she shook her head beneath Liv’s palm. She tried to speak, but her words were muffled. She struggled against Liv’s hold, kicking her legs and trying to lift her arms to claw at Liv’s face, but Olivia used her entire body weight to pin her down, and any scratches she delivered fell harmlessly against the leather jacket Liv had stolen.
Liv felt wretched. She didn’t want her friend to be frightened, but what choice did she have? She would rather Ellen was frightened for a short while than dead for good. Ellen struggled, but as the drugs worked their way into her system, she gradually grew weaker, until she finally fell still.
“I’m sorry,” Liv said again, but she was asleep now and couldn’t hear her.
Liv looked around for her next step. Her gaze landed on a small walk-in wardrobe. That would do.
She climbed off her friend and caught hold of her ankles. With her back bent and straining, she dragged Ellen into the wardrobe. She didn’t want to tie her up, not wanting to leave her defenceless if Michael somehow found her before Liv found him. She wouldn’t keep her here for long, she hoped, but Ellen would need to remain here for as long as she was in danger. Thinking of something else, she remembered Ellen’s bag. Ellen had dropped it when Liv had jumped her, but a quick rummage through located the keys to Ellen’s flat. Ellen might need a change of clothes or something, so at least now Liv had the keys and was able to let herself in when needed.
There was one more problem, however. She needed to figure out how to keep Ellen in the wardrobe. She’d just let herself out again when she woke.
If she found some wood, she’d be able to hammer the doors shut.
There was a skip out the back of the block of flats—Liv had noticed it a couple of times. There was bound to be some discarded wooden planks or boards there she could use, and they had nails and a hammer in the flat from all the times they’d needed to put up pictures or shelves.
Yes, she’d barricade Ellen in with the wooden planks, and let her out as soon as she knew her friend would be safe.