Page 82 of Snow Going Back

An hour later, Kate sat back on the floor of her old bedroom, poring over the box of diaries Cora kept, searching for any useful snippets of information about Aubrey, Evelyn and Edward. She’d found a couple about Aubrey and one on Edward, but nothing too damning so far.

‘Is this the bat you terrified Sam with that first night?’ Amy asked, sticking her head back around the doorway and brandishing it.

‘That’s the one,’ Kate replied, amused. Amy had been roaming the house, shamelessly poking around, since they’d got here.

‘Ooh, I wish I could give him a whack or two with it. I bet it really hurts,’ she said, eying it up.

‘Yeah.’

Kate’s eyes flickered up to the spot on the bed where she’d laid the box with the necklace inside. It had disappeared, so Sam must have been back and taken it at some point. It made her feel strangely empty that it was now gone. Even though it had clearly never meant anything to begin with, just a meaningless prop in his and Aubrey’s big plan, whatever that plan was. The thoughtof them together and how much they must have laughed at her turned her stomach, and she looked back to the diary in her hand.

‘You find anything useful yet?’ Amy asked, walking into the room and wandering over to look at the photo of Cora.

‘Yes, a few things. Nothing massive though.’ She kept reading, her eyes skimming the pages swiftly for any sign of their names. Turning the page, she carried on, almost flicking to the next when something interesting suddenly caught her eye. She went back and read it slowly, excitement dawning in her eyes. ‘Hang on…’

‘Hmm?’ Amy turned to her. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s…’

Kate trailed off, and they both froze as they heard the front door open and then close below. Footsteps trudged through to the kitchen, and Kate and Amy locked eyes. Amy’s gaze slipped down to the bat in her hands, and with a fierce glint in her eye, she retightened her grip and set off out of the room.

‘Amy!’ Kate hissed, quickly standing up. ‘Amy, where are you going?’

She went out to the hallway just in time to see Amy rounding the bottom of the stairs, then with a deep, screeching warrior cry, Amy ran towards the kitchen with the bat held high.

‘Ohshit…’ Kate ran down the stairs after her, alarmed, turning the corner just in time to catch the shock and fear on Sam’s face as he registered the second, crazy, British, bat-wielding banshee coming to attack him unexpectedly in his home this winter.

‘What the hell!’ he yelled, jumping out of the way of the swooping bat as Amy attacked. She raised the bat again, and he hastily set off at a run around the kitchen island. ‘Jesus Christ, what is goingon? Andwho the hell are you? Ow!Ouch!Ow!’

‘Takethat, andthat, andthat!’ Amy roared, hitting him whenever she caught up with him.

‘How did you even get in? Oh. Thank God. Kate, can youhelp me a little here, please?’ Sam begged, spotting her.

Watching him get a little taste of his comeuppance though, Kate wasn’t sure she wanted to help him, after all. ‘Mm.’ Kate rocked her head from side to side, pretending to consider it. ‘Nope.’

‘Kate?Kate!’

Amy managed to corner him and began jabbing away with the end of the bat. ‘How do you likethatthen, tough guy, huh? Andthis!’

‘I don’t!’ he yelled between ouches.

After a few more decent hits, Kate pulled Amy gently back. ‘OK, I think that’s enough.’

‘Yeah?’ Amy checked, breathing heavily from the exertion. ‘You sure? I can do more.’

‘I think we’re good. Thank you though,’ Kate smiled at Amy, and Amy smiled back.

‘No problem.’ As Amy’s gaze turned back to Sam, her smile dropped to an evil glare, and she pointed two fingers towards her own eyes and then his as she walked away.

Sam watched her with a deep wariness as he straightened up. ‘What thehellis going on, Kate? Whatisthis? And why are youhere? Why aren’t you gettingmarried?’

Kate ignored the last part and lifted her icy gaze to his. ‘What’sgoing onis I know exactly what you’ve been up to, Sam. About your partnership with Aubrey to manipulate me into doing what you want with the paperwork for the company.’

‘What?’ Sam frowned.

‘Don’t play dumb, please,’ Kate snapped. ‘I saw you. I heard you talking. The game is up.’

‘Whatgame? There is no ga—Oh…’ Something occurred to him, and he froze for a moment as it finally clicked.

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