Page 81 of Her Deadly Promise

She let out a tiny sob. ‘I was trying to keep evidence for when I left him, but he got good at finding things and it would make him angrier. He said if I ever tried to take William from him, he’d find a way of helping me have an accident or worse, he’d say that I was hurting him.’

‘But you made that video. Can you talk me through it?’

She nodded. ‘If he killed me, I wanted my version of what happened out there. Ed kept reminding me that he had the knife. It had my prints on it and his blood. He had the scar to prove he was stabbed and if I ever tried to leave, he’d say I tried to kill him. We’ve been stuck in this deadlock since, but his bouts of anger were getting worse and more violent.’ She huffed and shook her head. ‘Of course, he never hurt me in places people could see but some days were so scary, when he was at work, I made videos or took photos. With the video that you saw, I uploaded it to a private YouTube account online and then I knew I needed someone to be the custodian of the link. I saved it in a message, then I needed to get rid of that message as he read all my social media stuff and texts. I was at Billie’s, and I quickly messaged the link to her while she was in the toilet. Her tablet was out so I opened the message and saved the link deep in Billie’s documents, amongst a year’s worth of to-do lists. Billie never deleted anything. I don’t know what I was thinking really.’

‘Can you go over the night he was stabbed?’

‘He punched me, broke my toe and when I tried to escape, he chased me around the house. I’ve never been so scared. I thought he was going to kill me, like he’d promised. I thought, maybe he’s found some of the photos I’ve been keeping but no, it was all because I asked him about some texts. He cornered me in the kitchen. As he was about to bring his fist down on me, I grabbed a small knife from the block. I only wanted to scare him. I couldn’t hurt anyone. He almost broke my wrist as he guided that point to his own arm and cut it. I was in shock, then he bagged the weapon up with my prints on it. He then laughed, claiming he had all the evidence he needed to get me arrested. He said he’d hide it somewhere safe and if I ever stepped out of line again, he’d use it against me, and I’d lose William forever. I’ve been looking for that knife for ages and he knew. I can’t lose William.’ She began to sob as she clutched the white sheet.

‘I will need to interview you at the station when you’re discharged.’

‘I get that. I’m hoping to be out of here soon.’

‘Nadia, did you cause any of the injuries in those photos to yourself?’

‘What? Why would I do that? He said I hurt myself, didn’t he?’

‘We have to check everything out.’ Gina felt horrible for having to ask.

‘No. I have no history of self-harm. I’d never in a million years hurt myself.’

‘Some of the photos you took show injuries that you couldn’t have done yourself.’

‘I can prove what I said is all true, about Ed stabbing himself. I didn’t want to go down that route, but my son needs me, and I need him. William saw what happened with the knife. Ed didn’t see him, but I saw my terrified little boy peering from the gap between the door and door frame. I didn’t want him to have to relive that night, but he saw it all.’

Gina gave the woman a sympathetic smile. She hated having to question a young child but as Nadia had agreed, it would help them get to what had happened that night. That’s something they would arrange once Nadia had been formally interviewed.

Not all cases had a tidy ending. This one certainly hadn’t and as Gina left the hospital, it grated on her that there was still so much to tie up. It upset her more because a little boy as young as William had seen something so horrific. It hurt that Kayden had lost his mother and that Poppy had one parent that was heading to prison and another who had just died. She almost wanted to cry for those poor children. Their lives turned upside down, mostly because of Mr Brent’s indiscretion, which led to Candice Brent’s murderous reaction. An abduction that had uncovered more secrets of which Nadia was half keeping and half gossiping about, and the discovery that Edward wasn’t sleeping with Billie, he was sleeping with Meera. The tangled web of lies, gossip and secrets had ruined them all.

EPILOGUE

Three weeks later

As Gina said her goodbye to Kathleen Reeves, she glanced back at Kayden and the boy stared up at her with pressed lips. In about twenty minutes, he would get to meet his other grandmother and after speaking to Beryl Brock, initially the woman had been shocked, then she was overcome by the fact that she had a grandson.

‘Thank you for the update. I still can’t believe it was her.’ Kathleen leaned on the door frame as Gina stood on the garden path. ‘She’s not going to get off with it, is she? That woman needs to rot in a cell forever after what she did to my daughter… I still can’t believe Billie’s gone. If only she’d come to me for help.’

‘I’m so sorry you’ve been through this, Mrs Reeves. Your daughter’s killer has confessed to her murder, amongst other violent crimes. We’ll keep you updated with the case and sentencing but she won’t be free for a long time. Is Serena okay?’

‘She’s contacted the university, in the hope that she can get back onto her course. It’s looking likely so that’s something to be thankful for.’

‘Nanny, I’m hungry.’ Kayden gripped his grandmother’s legs.

‘Thank you for everything.’ The woman half-smiled with watery eyes as she closed the door.

As Gina reached the car, she watched as Beryl Brock stepped out of a taxi and took a deep breath. ‘Are you okay,’ Gina called.

The woman exhaled and nodded. ‘I’m nervous.’

‘He’s a lovely boy and I know he’ll be happy to meet you. Just take it slowly. He’s been through a lot.’ Gina was glad that the Reeveses had wanted Beryl in their lives. They too had been upset that the poor woman had never known her grandchild.

‘I can’t wait to meet him. I don’t know what’s going to happen to my Shaun, but I can never forgive him for taking five precious years from me. I’m not going to visit him in prison. This little boy is going to be my life now.’

Gina knew that Beryl might change her mind at some point in the future. Once he received his sentence for kidnapping Kayden, he’d do his time and he’d come out. She hoped that he’d come out a better person.

‘How is he?’

Gina smiled. ‘He knows you’re coming. He’s a little shy, a little nervous but he really wants to meet you.’

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