A Generation of Vipers by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

Author:Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2023-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

Saturday 16th July – 10.55 a.m.

After packing the previous night, Nell had moved, with Jezebel, to Finchmere House to stay with her parents. The conversation with her parents and Conor about the break-in had been difficult, but they’d all been relieved she’d asked to stay.

Despite not wanting fuss, after the sickening horror of what Nell had found, the cosseting – hot chocolate on the terrace, in her pyjamas, with the night-scented gardenia around them, and hugs on tap – had been a real comfort.

When she’d gone to say goodnight to Conor, though, she’d been alarmed to see him sitting with his security team, surrounded by stacks of letters, all to her mother. On pressing him, Conor had revealed that though some applauded her stance, others responded with threats. A brief search showed Nell that online responses were even more polarised. There, the anonymous threats were off the charts. The posts that argued for the proposed reform only inflamed the opposition.

With all this going on, Nell didn’t want to add to Conor’s already huge task, or distract the team from protecting her mother.

But Conor had been an oasis of calm. He’d had to liaise with the government company, who’d insisted on assessing estate security, as well as Imelda’s personal protection and travel security arrangements. He’d drafted in another team for reinforcements, briefed everyone, assigned prioritised tasks and planned for every eventuality.

Nell knew the operation would be breathtakingly expensive, and that her mother would prefer to fund it herself. And she wondered how the irony – this incredible amount of effort being necessary to keep herself safe, for daring to raise the issue of the safety of women – was making Imelda feel. Determined, Nell guessed. Doubly so.

Conor had told Nell to keep vigilant. He’d made sure Nell was discreetly escorted when she’d gone to Pendlebury Police Station first thing in the morning to make her statement. Despite the gesture, Nell had felt like she was making a fuss over nothing.

Val turning up to speak to her had lanced concern through Nell, but the news that she was at risk from a killer wasn’t the revelation that James and Val thought it would be. Nell realised the general underlying concern had always been there, ever since she found Amy’s body, and James had warned her about the killer’s type. But any worry about that had been drowned out by her concerns over Rav.

And now, her concern about him was skyrocketing, as she waited to see the officials of Motorsport UK for their official verdict. Sitting in the meeting room of the red-brick building, set in a leafy Oxford suburb, Nell’s heart was thumping, her stomach in knots.

Rakesh opened the door, holding it for Neeta. Then he pulled out a chair for his wife. Both of Rav’s parents glanced at Nell, then looked away, chins raised. Neeta was rigid with tension, her face fierce as her glittering eyes took in the company. Rakesh looked somehow sunken, and so much older than when Nell had last properly looked at him.

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