Tristan snorted. ‘And what possible motive would I have, eh? Ginny . . . you . . . it was all an accident. We found this place, and then in the morning we’re going to get help—’
‘You found this place because you knew it was here. This was all planned. I confess, I don’t know why. It all seems a bit elaborate. Have the pair of you been watching too many Hitchcock films or something? In between fucking, of course.’
‘Paul—’
‘Save it, Cat. You’re not going to convince me that this was anything other than planned.’ His voice softened. ‘I know things have been difficult. I know I was asking a lot of you to trust me, what with everything that happened . . .’
Tristan looked confused. He turned to Cat. ‘What’s he talking about?’ Cat looked uncomfortable. Tristan turned back to face Paul. ‘What are you talking about?’
Paul shook his head. ‘You know what? It actually doesn’t matter. But I’m just bewildered as to why you thought bumping off me and Ginny was a good plan? If you were having an affair, why didn’t you just leave us? It’s what most people do. Most sane people.’ He muttered the last line under his breath.
Tristan took a step forward. ‘Look, mate—’
‘You can stop with the “mates”， Tristan. I’m not your mate. I don’t think I ever was.’ Paul took a step back, out of arm’s reach. He didn’t trust Tristan not to try and finish the job. He didn’t trust Tristan at all. He couldn’t believe that Cat had been taken in by him.
He fixed his eyes on his wife. She was still crying, but he had no sympathy for her. ‘So what exactly was the plan for when you made it back down to the village? And what’s the plan now that I’ve come back to scupper your romantic night in this pretty little cottage?’
There was an unmistakable creak in the floorboards above them. They all looked up at the ceiling. It seemed like none of them were breathing. Waiting to hear another sound, but none came.
‘It’s an old building. It makes noises.’ Tristan shrugged his shoulders. ‘I checked the whole place out when we arrived.’
Paul caught a look between Cat and Tristan. Another lie? Was she also starting to doubt this man she’d put her trust in? He could exploit this to his own advantage. He was going to have to. Because he certainly didn’t believe that Tristan was going to change his plans and allow him to stay alive.
Tristan extended a hand to Paul. ‘Look, just come in properly. Shut the door. It won’t be long until sunrise, and we can get out of here.’ He gestured down at his bag. ‘I’ve got a first-aid kit. We can sort you out. Patch you up.’ He grinned, then laid a hand on Cat’s shoulder. ‘Cat has been so worried about you. We were so hoping you’d landed somewhere safe.’
Paul laughed. ‘Bullshit.’ He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled something out, keeping whatever it was clasped tightly in his palm. ‘Did he tell you about Ginny, Cat? Do you actually know what this monster is capable of?’
‘Now come on . . .’ Tristan squared his shoulders. ‘There’s no need for name-calling.’
‘Are you actually serious right now?’ Paul’s voice was an angry rasp. It hurt his throat to speak like this, but he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He felt sorry for Cat, despite everything. What on earth had Tristan promised her to get her to go along with all this?
‘I’m deadly serious, mate.’ Tristan’s whole body tensed.
‘Tristan, stop it.’ Cat held out an arm like a bar across Tristan’s chest. ‘We’re all here together now. We need to look after each other. There’s been enough fighting.’
Tristan laughed. ‘You killed your own sister, Kitty-Cat. At least let me keep my end of the bargain.’
He took a step towards Paul, but Paul had been expecting it and ducked to one side. ‘Don’t you want to see this, Cat?’ He held up what he’d been concealing in his hand. A thin gold chain, with a chunky stone pendant hanging off it. ‘You probably can’t see the colour in this light, but I can tell you that it’s emerald green. The same emerald-green pendant that Ginny was wearing earlier. When she . . . fell.’
Tristan stopped. ‘Where the fuck did you get that?’
Cat looked terrified. She’d shrunk back into the darkest corner of the room, her arms wrapped around her chest.
‘I assume your boyfriend didn’t tell you about this part, Cat? The part where he found Ginny on a ledge . . . then pushed her off to make sure she was really gone?’ He locked eyes with Tristan. ‘Was she still alive, when you found her? Did you put her out of her misery, before you threw her over the edge?’ He held the necklace out towards Cat. ‘Yours now, I think.’