Page 65 of The Last One to See Him

‘It’s time you got Thomas away from Kate,’ Harper says, her voice softer now.

‘On what grounds? Kate’s a good mum. She’d never hurt our son.’

‘How do you think Thomas would feel if he knew you and Kate had been lying to him his whole life? Keeping it a secret that his mother killed someone. Make thattwopeople.’

Ellis moves towards her. ‘He’s not old enough to understand. It would destroy him. We made a decision together to spare him from it. At least until he’s an adult.’

‘Then it would probably destroy him if he found out now. Wouldn’t it?’

‘Are you threatening me?’ he snaps.

‘Thomas must have seen that Kate has a temper, even if it’s never directed at him. He’s a smart boy – he’d quickly piece it all together.’

‘What the hell do you want from me, Harper?’

What she wants is to mess up Kate’s life, like Kate has done to her by taking Dexter’s father away from him. ‘Tell Kate you want full custody of Thomas. You don’t think she’s fit to be a mum and if she doesn’t let you have him, then you’ll be going to the police to tell them she was with Jamie Archer the night he was murdered.’ She could tell him about Jamie’s wedding ring, how Dexter found it in Kate’s house, but she can’t prove that’s where it came from, and she doesn’t want to drag her son into this.

Harper catches the fear in Ellis’s eyes as he turns away from her, walking over to the patio doors. Then, with a jolt he spins around to face her. ‘No. Go to hell.’

Harper doesn’t sleep after Ellis storms out, and by the time dawn approaches, she’s sure of what she needs to do. It took a horrific act of violence to start this, and that’s what it will take to end it.

Dexter walks into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

‘Morning,’ she says, forcing her voice to be breezy. ‘Did you sleep okay?’

Dexter ignores her, and marches to the cupboard, pulling out a box of Cheerios.

‘What’s the matter? Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream again?’ Since Jamie’s death, Dexter’s often been forced awake by nightmares.

‘No, just stop!’

Shocked at the sharp tone he’s never used towards her before, Harper grabs the milk from the fridge and places it next to his bowl. She reaches for his arm but he pulls away.

‘Leave me alone!’

‘What’s going on, Dexter? You’re really worrying me. Please talk to me.’

He shakes his head, but Harper persists and eventually he gives in. ‘I saw Thomas’s dad here last night. I was coming downstairs for water and heard voices. Then he came out and ran out of the house. Why was he here in the middle of the night? Is this about Dad?’

Harper takes his hand and leads him to the table to sit down. She places his bowl in front of him. ‘No, sweetheart. This is nothing for you to worry about – I promise you.’

‘It’s happening again, isn’t it?’

‘What?’

‘It’s just like you and Dad. Whispering all the time. Stopping talking when I walk in. Lying to me. You think I don’t know but I do.’

‘Dexter, that’s not what your dad and I were doing. I’m so sorry you felt that way. We had some difficulties – I know that might be hard to understand, but sometimes relationships can be challenging. I love you, Dexter. And so did Dad. Everything we’ve done is for you.’ As Harper says this, she wonders how much of it is true on Jamie’s part. What he did was for himself more than their son.

‘You’re lying!’ Dexter shouts, swiping his bowl aside. It smashes to the floor, landing in a pool of milk and cereal. Dexter rushes upstairs and Harper begins picking up the broken pieces, the sharp edge of a shard piercing her skin and leaving a bright red bubble of blood on her finger.

They walk to school in silence, and bump into Aleena and Theo on the way.

‘Are you okay?’ Aleena asks. ‘You don’t look so good.’

‘I didn’t sleep last night,’ Harper explains, glancing at Dexter.

Aleena places her hand on Harper’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. I can’t say I understand what it’s like to lose a husband but I’ll listen if you need to talk.’

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