The Mute and the Liar (54 page)

He
thrashes
about
in
the
wardens’
arms,
kicking,
struggling
and
spitting.
Before
they
pull
him
away,
he
burns
through Jayce
with
a
look
of
pure
hatred
and musters
all
remaining life
to
scream
a
fuming
and
unforgiving:

“
It should
have
been
you!
”

Jayce.

Yes?

*****

I’ve
looked
at
hundreds
of
cases.
I’ve
been
trying
to
solve
any
crime
I
can get
hold
of
for years.

I
know.

I
can
look
at
a
c’ve
and
most
of
the
time
I’ve
at
least
got
a
rough
idea
of
who’s
to
blame
or
what’s
happened.
What
I’m
trying
to
say
is
I
like
to
think
I
can
tell
apart
an
innocent
person
from
a
criminal.
I’d
like
to
think
I
could
do
that at least.

Okay.

He’s
innocent.

I knew
you’d
work
that
out.

What happened?

Becky
died,
Alicia.
People
don’t
just
overlook
something
like
that.
All
those
law-worshipping
bastards
you
want
to
be
so
badly,
they
all
went
and
put
their
noses
into
it
and
had
to
have
answers.
Our
whole
group
were
considered
people of
interest
–
me,
Ryo, Sasha, all
of
us.

Ryo
got
Donny
and
Alex
just
to
confess
to
the
murder
and
say
they
acted
independently
so
they’d
get
off
our
case.
He
could
have
made
any
of
us
do
it,
but
he
chose
them.
So they did
it;
they
confessed.
They were
terrified
of
what
he’d do
to
them if
they didn’t.

Donny’s
still
scared
Ryo’s
going
to
come
back
for
him.
He’s
scared
he’ll
be
waiting
right
outside
the
prison,
arms
wide
open
,
ready
to
reap
him
back
into
his
gang
all
over
again.
I
don’t
know
about
that,
but
I
know
Donny
is
definitely right about one thing.

It
should have been
me.

3:40
PM

J
asper
drops
us
off
back
at
Kit’s
house,
and
it’s
only
now
that
I
realise
there’s
something not
right
here. That
may or
may not
be
because Jayce
has
started
jumping
around
the front
door
like
a
kid in
a
toyshop and
clapping
his
hands
like
a
retarded
seal.

“
They’re
here!
They’re
here!
”
he
cries,
still
jumping
on
his
invisible
trampoline.

What’s
he talking
about?
Who
is
here?

That’s
when
I
see
there
is
another
car
parked
in
the
driveway,
an
old,
beat-up red
Volkswagen.

Jayce
repeats
‘they’re
here!’
again
and
unlocks
and
bangs
on
the
door,
putting
in
all
his
energy,
altogether
so
dramatically
I’m
sure
he’d
win
the
role
of
the
Nobody
who
appears
in
every
Shakespeare
play
just
to
knock
on
doors
and relay messages.

So
apparently…
people are
here?

Before
I
have
a
chance
to
even
register
that
this
house
in
the
middle
of
nowhere
somehow
has
guests,
Jayce
has
grabbed
my
arm
in
childlike
excitement.
“
I can't wait for you to
meet
them!
They are going
to
love you!
”

For
goodness
sake!
Who
is
going
to
love
me?
Who
is
here?

The
front
door
opens.
I gasp.

That
gasp
is
the
only
thing
that
can
describe
the
absolute
horror
I
feel
when
the
curvy,
blue-haired
girl
in
the
black
leather
jacket
turns
her
arctic
gaze
straight at me.

It
must
be
her.
She
could
be
no
one
else.
Her
reputation
is
that
of
a
celebrity
–
you
would
not
only
know
her
before
you
had
properly
met
her,
you would also
fear
her.

I
have
seen
her
before,
many
times,
through
my
window
and
sometimes
when
walking
back
from
school.
I
have
heard
her
voice,
nasally
and
metallic,
threatening
me
without
any
betrayal
of
emotion
on
the
other
side
of
the phone.
I
have
listened
to
them
admirably
mention
her
in
almost
every
conversation that
needs
to exemplify
Jayce's
power.

Her
name
recoils
in
my
mind,
a
dying
basilisk,
thrashing
and
writhing
and screeching
in
pain.

Kaylie.

“
Alicia,
I'd like you
to
meet
my friends.
”

*****

My
hands
are
clamming
up
and
I
can't
breathe.
Too
many
people.
Too
many
people.

So
this
is
what
terror
feels
like.
This
shaking
in
my
legs,
this
sweating
in
my hands, this
python
squeezing
my chest. It's
a
different
sort
of
terror
to
the
one
I
used
to
feel
around
Jayce,
the
fear
that
I
was
going
to
be
hurt.
This
is
the
terror
I
am
forcing
onto
myself.
These
people
shouldn't
scare
me.
I
am
making
myself
scared.
They're
not
going
to
hurt
me.
Jayce
wouldn't
let
them
hurt me.

No.
I
can't
think
like
that.
For
all
I
know,
Jayce
has
brought
these
people
here
deliberately
to
hurt
me.
Jayce
is
crazy.
He
choked
me.
He
killed
Jeffrey,
and
now
he's
trying
to
kill
his
mother.
My
God.
He
actually
killed
Jeffrey.
No,
don't
think
about
it.
Stop.

I know
now
that the
most terrifying
feeling
is
fear itself.

Kaylie
is
terrifying
too.
With
those
sky
blue
expressionless
eyes
made
only
clearer
by
the
electric
blue
ringlets
framing
her
heart-shaped
face,
she
could
well
be
the
Grim
Reaper's
secretary.
Just
by
looking
into
those
vacant
poker-
player
eyes,
you
know
she
is
the
perfect
liar.
She
could
tell
me
right
now
she
has
killed
my
father
and
I
would
believe
her
straight
away.
But
what
makes
me
fear
her
most
is
that
those
empty
eyes
also
mean
she
could
tell
me
she
only
wants
to
help
me,
and
of
course
I'll
believe
her
then
too,
when
really
she's
already
sharpened
her
pitchfork and
is
waiting for
the
moment
I
blink.

I can't understand why
she
is here
though.

When
Nick
gave
me
his
phone
to
call
home,
it
was
this
girl
in
front
of
me
that
picked
up.
She
was
the
one
drawling
threats
at
me
through
an
anaesthetic
smirk.