The Mute and the Liar (78 page)

Sasha
is
surprisingly
quick
to
agree,
clearly
strongly
believing
and
worshipping
this
fake
Becky.
The
conversation
turns
light-hearted
again.
However,
as
I
scroll
down
the
messages,
something
else
catches
my
eye.
It’s
late afternoon the
same day
when
‘Becky’
gives
Sasha
another
order.

Something’s
just
come
up
and
I
need
you
to
do
something
else
for
me.
Is
that
all right?

What?

When
I
give
you the
phone
tonight,
I
need
you to
go
to
the
Royal
United
Hospital Bath
straight
away.
Take the phone
with
you.
I
want you
to
use
it
to
film
your
conversation
with this person
I
need
you to
talk to. His
name
is Jeffrey Clarke. Say
you’re
his friend
and
need
to
see
him
urgently.
I
need you
to
repeat
the
following
to
him. You’ve

got some pretty
bad
injuries
there.
How
are
you
feeling?
If
he
asks
you
who
you
are,
tell
him
you
are
no
one
important,
but
he
is.
Tell
him
he
became
important
the
moment he
looked
at
that girl
in
the
Abbey.
Reassure
him
that Alicia
is
fine
but
tell him
that
he
could
have
ruined
everything.
If
he
worries
that
Jayce will
do
anything
to
harm
Alicia,
lie
to
him
that
he
is
under
your
control
and
won’t
do
anything
without
your
orders.

Jayce?
Why
do
you
keep
making
me
do
things
to
do
with
Jayce?

Sasha. I’m
trying
to
help
him.
He’s
in
trouble
and
I’m
trying to
get
him
out
of
it.
This
is
the
only
way.

Does
he
know
you’re
alive
too?
Yes.

Oh.
What?

I
kind
of
hoped
it
was
just
me.

Sasha, please.
I
just
want
everything
to
go
back
to
the
way
it was.
Listen; when
you’re
done
I
need
you
to
send
the video
to
Jayce.
You
also
need
to
change
the
sound
of
your
voice
when
talking
to
Jeffrey,
make
it
sound
older
and
deeper
so
Jayce
can’t
recognise it.
Can
you
do
that
for
me?

I
really
don’t
know
about
this.
It
sounds risky.
Why
do
you
want
me
to
do
all
of
that?

To help
Jayce.
And
it’s
the
only
way for
everything
to
go
back
to
the
way
it
was.
Please?
You
want
me
to
come
back
home,
don’t
you?

Fine. I'll do it.

*****

My reading is
cut
off
when
the
phone
starts
ringing.

I
look
urgently
at
Jeffrey,
outstretching
my
hand
to
give
him
the
phone,
with
a
wide-eyed
look
I
hope
will
make
him
answer
it.
He
understands,
takes
it
out
of
my
hands
and puts
it
on
loudspeaker
before
answering
it.

“
Hello?
”

“
Who the fuck is
this?
”
screams
a
furious
voice
down
the other
end of
the
phone.
“
How
fucking
dare
you
steal
my
phone!
When
I
get
my
hands
on
you
I’m going
to
rip-
”

We
never
get
to
hear
what
he’s
going
to
rip,
because
Jeffrey
has
switched
the phone off.

Jeffrey!
I
almost
hiss
out
loud.
We
need
to
talk
to
Sasha
to
get
more
information
out
of
him!
I
snatch
back
the
phone
and
redial
the
last
called
number.
Within
a
millisecond,
Sasha has
already
picked
up
the
phone.

“
I’m going
to
rip you limb
from limb.
”

Limb
from
limb?
That’s
a
bit
cliché.
I
was
hoping
he
was
going
to
threaten
us
with
something
super
cool
and
original,
something
like
“
I’m
going
to
rip
your
ribs
out
one
by
one
and
use
them
to
make
a
scale
model
of
the Eiffel tower!
”

“
Whoever
you are, you get
the fuck here right
now and
give me my phone
back,
or
else I’ll-
”

“
Yeah,
yeah,
we
get
it,
you’re
going
to
rip
me
limb
from
limb.
Okay,
I
need
to
ask
you
some
questions
about
Becky,
”
Jeffrey
says
steadily,
with
a
stern
and
condescending
undertone.

“
What
the
actual…
Whatever,
just
give
me
my
phone
back
before
I
rip
your
fucking
limbs
off.
”

“
Have
you
ever
seen Becky
in
real
life?
The
Becky
who
texted
you
back
in

December?
”

“
What
the
fuck?
Why
are
you
talking
about
this?
Get
here
with
my
phone
or
I’ll
”

“
Rip
me
limb
from
limb,
yeah
I
got
that
part.
I
will
repeat
the
question.
Did
you
ever
see
Becky
face-to-face?
The
Becky
who
started
texting
you
in
December?
You
better
answer
this
or
I
will
take
this
phone
straight
to
the
police and they will find out what really happened to her!
”