The Blackout by Sarah Goodwin

Author:Sarah Goodwin [Goodwin, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-08-08T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

01:00

Two and a half hours into the blackout

As the back door crashed inwards I realised that they’d caught me in a simple manoeuvre. One I should have expected. Stupid, stupid Megan. They were the police, they knew how to box someone in. How many times had I seen them do it? On the estate and on those weekday morning TV shows. Two cops at the front door, two waiting to grab you by the jacket if you bolted out the back. I hadn’t thought, hadn’t planned. Now I was cornered.

I’d only taken two steps towards the hallway when I saw Craig coming through the front door, blocking the only other way out. He came running down the hall at me. I darted to the side, circled the kitchen island and looked back at Scarlett, who was blocking the back door.

‘Time to give up now, Megan,’ she said. ‘No more games.’

She moved towards me and I brought the knife up, swiping it through the air.

‘Stay back!’

It had the desired effect – she stopped moving – but I saw her gaze dart sideways. I only just turned in time to raise the knife at Craig, who was trying to creep up on me.

‘I said, back off!’ My own voice sounded strange to me, high and panicked.

Craig raised his hands and took a half step backwards. ‘Don’t do anything stupid now.’

I laughed, though it came out all choked up and wrong. ‘I suppose they train you for stuff like this, do they? Go on, what does the rule book say about confronting women you tried to kill?’

I turned and waved the knife at Scarlett, who’d inched slightly closer. Or was it my imagination? I shuffled my wet slippers on the floor like a boxer, pivoting between them. It was like something out of a horror film. Every time I looked away they crept just a little bit closer.

‘It says deal with her before she opens her mouth,’ Craig said shortly. I turned back to him.

‘Who said I was going to do that, eh? It’s been a year. A year since you killed my best friend, and God help me but I haven’t said a thing. Nothing. So why the fuck are you here? Why don’t you just leave me alone? I haven’t done anything to you!’

Scarlett laughed, short and sharp. Her words from that night came back to me. She’d said I deserved it. I thought she just hated me because I was out late, drunk. Maybe it was more. Maybe this wasn’t just about where I’d been and what I was doing, but about me. A chill ran over me. Maybe she knew something.

Craig looked past me at Scarlett and slowly shook his head. ‘Things’ve changed.’

‘What. Things?’ I ground out.

Scarlett clicked her tongue. ‘Craig messed up again.’

‘Shut it, Scar,’ he snapped.

‘Why? We’re going to kill her anyway – does it really matter? It’d be kind of nice to tell someone the truth, for once. Even if it is her.’

I glanced over at her.

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