The Mute and the Liar (84 page)

“
So
sorry
for
intruding,
I
really
hope
I
wasn’t
interrupting
anything.
I
do
apologise
for
my
brash,
unanticipated
entrance
but
I
was
just
in
the
area
and
thought
I’d
drop
by,
you
know,
to
drop
off
your
house
keys
and
see
how
everyone
is,
have
a
nice
catch
up,
maybe
have
a
cup
of
tea.
I
saw
you
left
your
gun
downstairs,
Mr
Lewis.
You
shouldn’t
really
leave
it
lying
around
like
that,
you
know. Very
dangerous.
”

Dad
lunges
forward,
but
Jayce
keeps
the
gun
pointed
right
at
him,
his
white-hot,
smouldering glare
warning him
not
to
take
another
step
closer.

“
Sorry
it’s
taken me
so
long
to
give
you
back
your
keys,
please
forgive me.
It’s
my
own
fault,
I
was
just
I
was
being
a
little…
slow.
It
only
just
hit
me
today, you see.
”

This
really
is
happening,
Jayce
really
is
standing
opposite
me.
But
why
is
he
holding
a
gun
to
my
Father’s
head?
My
hand
subconsciously
covers
my mouth,
probably worried
I’m
going
to
do
something
stupid
like scream.

“
Put
my
gun
down,
Jayce,
”
Father
says,
in
a
voice
that
would
have
sounded
firm
and
authoritative
if
it
were
not
for
the
slight
waver
at
the
end.
Recovering
from
my
horror,
I
manage
to
let
out
:
“
Jayce,
what
the
Hell
are
you
doing?
”

“
Alicia,
don’t
panic-
”

“
Don’t
panic?
”
I
shriek,
quickly
pressing
my
hand
to
my
mouth
again
to
suppress
that
nauseous,
shaking
feeling once
more.

“
Alicia-
”
Jayce
tries
again,
looking
at
me.

“
If
you have any
brains
at
all,
you will put
my gun
down,
”
Father
warns.

“
What
the
hell
are
you
doing?
”
I
repeat,
even
louder
this
time.

“
Are
you
trying
to
get
us
all
killed?
Are
you
completely
out
of
your
mind?
Put
the
gun
down!
”
I’m
drenched
in
ice-cold
sweat
now
.
It
consumes
my
entire
body
and
sends
shivers
all
down
my
spine.
I’m
shaking
a
lot
now
and
I’m
losing
my
grip
on
my
breathing;
I
can
feel
it
slowly
slipping
out
of
time.
I
think
I’m
going to be sick.

“
You
heard
her.
Put
the
gun
down,
Jayce,
or
I
will
put
you
behind
bars
for
so
long
you’ve
forgotten
what
the
sun
looks
like.
”

“
Have
you
gone
completely
mad?
What
the
fuck
is
wrong
with
you?
Why
are
you
trying
to
kill
my
father?
”
I
scream,
voice
shaking
uncontrollably.
“
What
the
actual
fuck are
you
doing?
Put
the gun
down!
”

“
Alicia!
”
Jayce
screams
this
time,
a
deafening,
unexpected
sound
that
silences
my
father
and
I.
“
You
don’t
understand-
”

“
I
understand
perfectly
well!
You’re
fucking
crazy!
And
now
you’re
going
to
kill my
father,
what
the
fuck
is
wrong
with
you?
”

“
Listen
to
me!
It’s
him!
Alicia,
it’s
him!
”

That
stops
me
for
a
moment.
Where
have
I
heard
that
before?
Without
taking
my
eyes
off
him,
I
fish
in
my
pocket
for
the
piece
of
paper
I
had
been
holding just
now.
I
flip it
over.

There it
is, written in
Jayce’s
small,
almost
unreadable
scrawl.

Alicia, it’s
him.

It
is
just
coincidence.

But
the
words
cannon
around
my
mind
for
a
moment,
writing
themselves
out
in
my
head
again
and
again,
blinding
and
sizzling
and
leaving
sequined,
ghost-like trails
behind
them.

And then it
makes
sense.
Clicks
into
place, like toy train
tracks.

I
look
at
father,
who
seems
so
helpless
and
small
now Jayce is pointing
a
gun at him.

“
It…
It
was
you?
”

J
ayce
drops
the
key
on
the
floor
and
fishes
out
Becky’s
phone
from
his
pocket.

Becky
gave
Kaylie
a
spare
house
key.

“
Phones
are
amazing
things,
aren’t
they?
They
have
so
much
information
on
them.
Phones
are
just…
solid
information
right
at
our
fingertips.
And
they
can
tell
you
so
much
about
their
owners,
too.
What
they’re
like,
what
they’re interested in,
what
they
talk about
to
other
people.
”

Becky
knew
a
lot
about
me.

“
You
can
find
out
about
their
friends
too.
Who
they’ve
been
talking
to,
who
their
friends
are,
what
they’re
friends
are
like.
”

Becky
only
contacted
Jayce
and Sasha.

“
You
only
needed
Becky’s
phone.
That
was
it.
I
asked
her
mother
what
happened
to
her
phone.
They
told
me
the
police
had
taken
it
to
gather
evidence
against
Donny
and
Alex
in
court.
Her
mother
said
it
had
not
been
returned
to
the
family and
she assumed
it
was
still in
the
hands
of
the
police.
”

She
only
contacted
them
through
her
phone.

With
a
slow,
shaking,
almost
horrified
voice,
I
start
piecing
the
puzzle
together:
“
you
took
Becky’s
phone.
That’s
all
you
needed
to
find
out
about
Jayce
and
Sasha
and
convince
them
you
were
Becky.
And
you
started
investigating all of this because…
”
I
waver,
un
able to
work out the answer
.

“
Of
Marty,
”
Jayce
finishes
my
sentence.
“
Your
dad
found
out
about
Nick
through
Marty’s
case,
then
found
out
he
lived
almost
right
next
to
you,
and
that
I’d
recently
moved
in
with
him.
”

I
turn
to
look
at
my
father.
“
And
when
you
looked
up
Jayce’s
name
in
the
police records, all the
files
about
Becky
came
up.
”

Jayce
nods.
“
Ryo,
Sasha
and
I
were
all
interviewed
as
people
of
interest
in
her
case.
There
must
have
been
loads
about us
on
there.
”

“
And
that’s
what
inspired
you
to
do
all
of
this.
You
knew
you
could
use
Becky's
phone to
g
et
information and manipulate them
.
But…
I
just
don’t
get one
thing.
Why?
Why did you do all this? What's the point?
”

“
Alicia
,
”
Father
say
s,
his
voice
just
above
a
whisper.
“
Alicia.
”
He
repeats,
louder
this
time,
with
a
mocking,
song-like
quality
to
it.
“
Why
am
I
the
villain
here?
”
his
voice
is
still
soft,
bu
t
it
gives
me
a
prickling
feeling
along
my
neck
.
It's...
dangerous.
A
voice
I
haven't
heard
him
use
before.
He
is
looking
down,
so
his
face
is
shadowed
from
us,
but
I
can
see
a
thin,
unnerving,
wire-like
smile
bending
upwards.

Jayce
notices
this
also
and
edges
closer,
keeping
his
gun
focused
on
Father.

“
You
must
feel
so
clever
trying
to
solv
e
all
of
this
like
you
do
with
all
those
crimes
in
newspapers
.
But
you
fail
to
see
the
obvious.
You
fail
to
see
why
.
I’ll
tell
you,
since
you’re
too
ignorant
to
work
it
out.
It
was
because
I
was solving
a
case too.
A
case
that should have been solved seven years
ago.
”

“
Alicia,
”
Jayce
turns
to
face
me.
“
Becky
kept
pestering
me
to
try
to
get
you
to
talk.
”

“
The
day
Mum
died,
”
I
mumble,
my
voice
sounding
muted
and
broken.
“
So you did all this
just
because
you wanted-
”

“
An
explanation,
”
Father
cuts
me
off.
“
I’m
not
the
criminal
here.
I
never
killed
anyone. Not
like you.
”
He
says
the
last
sentence
in
a
mocking
voice
that
sends
shivers
racing
through
me.

“
Don’t
listen
to
him,
Alicia.
He’s
just
trying
to
get
into
your
head.
Don’t
let
him.
”

“
No,
Jayce
,
”
Father
snaps,
turning
to
face
him
with
an
icy
glare.
“
Do
you
want
to
know
what
happened?
The
day
my
wife
supposedly
commit
suicide?
I
heard a
gunshot.
I
went
into
the
garden.
And
there
was
my
daughter
standing
over
her
with
my
gun
in
her
hand
,
”
Father
says
slowly,
watching
me
carefully.