Sophie’s gaze travelled between her parents. ‘So you’re not telling me you two are going to split up then?’ she asked him suspiciously, the anxious look now in her eyes almost splitting Alicia’s heart in two.
‘No, Sophie, we are definitely not going to split up,’ Justin said adamantly. ‘I’m… not doing this very well, am I?’ He eyed the ceiling, despairing of himself. ‘I was simply trying to tell you that no matter where you are, how old you are, where I might be, that I’ll always be there for you. And you will always be right here.’
Pressing a hand to his heart, he smiled encouragingly. ‘Both of you,’ he said, reaching for Alicia’s hand.
Alicia looked at him, emotion climbing inside her. She knew what he was trying to say, and why he’d needed to say it now, before DI Taylor arrived: he thought he might not be around to afterwards. ‘I love you,’ she mouthed, squeezing his hand hard. And I will, always, whatever the future may bring.
Looking somewhat reassured, Justin nodded and turned back to Sophie. ‘Sorry I scared you, Pumpkin,’ he said. ‘I’ll try not to be so clumsy in the delivery of my next emotional speech. I’ll write it on my cuff or—’ He stopped as the doorbell rang, his gaze shooting fearfully towards Alicia.
Alicia didn’t need to see the police car outside to know who it was. Was DI Taylor accompanied by uniformed officers, she wondered, steeling herself for whatever news he’d come to deliver.
‘I’ll get it,’ Justin said, getting quickly to his feet. Alicia guessed from his steely expression that he was also readying himself for bad news.
Seventy-Nine
JUSTIN
‘Justin.’ Taylor’s smile was inscrutable as Justin pulled the front door open. ‘How are we?’
‘Disorientated, tired,’ Justin answered truthfully. ‘Trying to pick up the pieces.’
Taylor nodded understandingly. ‘It will be a case of taking it one day at a time, I suspect.
‘Definitely.’ Trying not to look obviously nervous, Justin scanned his face, searching for some indication of why he was here. The small talk, along with the fact that he appeared to be on his own, didn’t point to an imminent arrest.
‘Do you mind if I, er…’ Taylor nodded past him to the hall.
‘We were actually about to go out. A belated meal for Sophie’s sixteenth,’ Justin said, testing the waters, hoping the man might say it could wait. A forlorn hope, he guessed. Taylor obviously wasn’t here on a social visit to enquire after their welfare. ‘Sophie was looking forward to it. Can it wait?’
‘It’s important, Justin.’ Taylor smiled again, but still his expression gave nothing away. ‘It’s probably better if I have a quick word now, if I may?’
His stomach tightening, Justin nodded and stepped back to allow him access. It had to be about Radley. Why else would he be here? The ketamine he’d injected into him would have been easily tested for. Justin had handwritten the prescription requesting some from the pharmacy. He’d been right outside his apartment block with his daughter, Taylor as his witness. There was no way to deny what he’d done.
‘Ah, Sophie.’ Taylor’s mouth curved into a warm smile as Sophie came through from the lounge, heading for the stairs, ‘I’m very pleased to see you looking brighter, young lady,’ he said, extending his hand.
‘I’m feeling brighter, thanks to Dad.’ Sophie glanced at Justin, beaming him a smile that would sustain him. It would have to. Justin had thought he was ready for this, that he was mentally prepared. He wasn’t. His daughter was safe, he reminded himself. She had a future with the person most important to her – her mother. That was what mattered here.
‘I’m not so sure I’m pleased to see you though,’ Sophie added, looking the detective guardedly over.
Taylor chuckled at that. ‘Such is a policeman’s lot. We grin and bear it for the greater good.’ He sighed stoically.
To her credit, Sophie didn’t quite roll her eyes at his obvious theatrics.
‘Do you mind if I have a brief word with your parents in private, Sophie?’ Taylor asked her. ‘I gather you have a dinner engagement, so I won’t keep them too long.’
Justin felt a little of his anxiety dissipate. If it really was only a quick word he wanted, then hopefully he hadn’t come to read him his rights.
Looking relieved that it wasn’t her he wanted to speak to, Sophie shrugged easily. ‘No, it’s cool. I was going up to ring Chloe anyway,’ she said, giving Justin an impromptu hug and then turning for the stairs.
Justin watched her go, grateful that she seemed to be getting back to somewhere near normal, wanting to get in touch with her friends and pick up the threads of her life.
‘I take it she’s glad to be home,’ Taylor observed, as Justin led the way to the lounge.
Where she would have been a long time ago, if you’d followed up my suspicions, Justin wanted to say. He decided it was probably better not to point that out.
‘DI Taylor.’ Alicia smiled brightly, turning from the window – though Justin could see that beneath the smile she was as nervous as he was. ‘I was just about to boil the kettle. Would you like something? Tea? Coffee?’
‘No, thank you,’ DI Taylor declined, his expression serious. ‘I won’t take up too much of your time. I’ve actually come with some news regarding Paul Radley.’
And there it was. Justin could almost feel the cell door clanging shut behind him.
‘What is it?’ he asked, swapping worried glances with Alicia. He’d known this would come. He’d resigned himself to prison the second he’d started out on the path to extract information from Radley regarding Sophie’s whereabouts. He’d wanted to scare the bastard as much as he’d terrorised his wife. Once he’d known for certain that his instincts were right, that Radley actually had her, nothing had mattered other than finding out where he was holding her. When he’d realised what Radley had done to her, on top of the torture he’d inflicted on Alicia, his instinct had been to kill him. He’d convinced himself that being locked up for life was a small price to pay.
Taylor looked him over, taking his time. Justin wished he’d bloody well get on with it. ‘Paul Radley is dead,’ he finally announced.
Dead? The news hit Justin like a sledgehammer.
But he hadn’t…? He’d stopped. It had taken every ounce of his willpower to pull back from tipping the man over. Even knowing the bastard might never be brought to justice, he’d stopped, unable to condemn his daughter to living the rest of her life with a murderer for a father and causing Alicia’s nightmare to go on forever.
And now… the evidence all pointed to him having killed him anyway. Justin felt sick to his soul.
‘Or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint,’ Taylor added blandly.
Justin stared at him, uncomprehending. But… ‘How?’ He choked the word out, his gaze shooting towards Alicia. Her face was hard, resigned, almost knowing. He noted the straight set of her shoulders, the defiant tilt to her chin. She looked indifferent – satisfied, almost. Jesus.
‘Suicide,’ Taylor supplied, as Justin attempted to focus and failed miserably. ‘Not long after we left the vicinity, it seems, which puts you in the clear, Justin. A detective inspector’s sworn statement is about as cast iron an alibi as you can get, I imagine.’
Justin felt his blood stop pumping. ‘By what means?’ he asked, swallowing hard as his mind raced through all sorts of scenarios.