Chapter 1 - the flare in the garden
The back garden of the Carter estate looked too peaceful for what happened there that afternoon. The grass had just been cut, the pale stone paths still held the warmth of the sun, and the white patio edge glowed against the sea air drifting in from the coast. I was standing on the lawn with one hand resting on my pregnant belly when Chloe came straight at me.
She was holding a black metal rod.
I barely had time to register the look in her eyes before she swung it hard and hit me across the leg. Pain shot up through my body so fast I screamed and lurched sideways, instinctively wrapping both arms around my stomach to protect the baby. Chloe didn’t even look shocked by what she had done. She looked triumphant.
“You and that baby need to disappear, sis,” she said.
Before she could strike again, my mother-in-law rushed across the lawn carrying a bowl of porridge she had been bringing out for me. Margaret took one look at Chloe, at the rod, at the way I was trying to stay on my feet, and flung the porridge straight into Chloe’s face. The bowl clattered into the grass. Chloe reeled back, wiping hot porridge from her eyes while Margaret stepped between us.
“What the hell are you doing, you parasite?!” Margaret shouted.
For one second I thought that would stop her. It didn’t. Chloe recovered with a snarl and kicked Margaret hard in the side. Margaret fell onto the lawn with a cry, and Chloe lifted the metal rod again, this time with both hands, ready to swing at whoever was closest.
But instead of backing away, Margaret pulled something small from her pocket—a compact emergency flare launcher. She pointed it skyward and fired.
A brilliant flare streaked up above the garden.
Chloe froze.
Margaret pushed herself up on one elbow, staring straight at her. “You think you can keep acting this recklessly?!”
Then we heard it—the deep roar of engines growing louder from beyond the driveway gates. Chloe turned toward the sound, and I followed her gaze. Several black tactical vehicles were speeding toward the estate, close enough now that the sunlight flashed off their windshields.
Chloe’s face went white. “What the hell have you done, you old hag?!”
May you like
She looked from the approaching convoy back to Margaret, then down at the rod still in her hand. Her fingers started trembling. A second later, the metal bar slipped from her grip and hit the grass with a dull, ugly clang.
That was the moment I knew Margaret had understood something about my sister long before I did.
