The Likeness

“Bullshit. What do you think he was going to do to Lexie, if she even hinted that she might still sell up, or talk to the cops? You keep saying I could have told her any time, but what do you think Daniel would have done to me, if he thought I was going to step out of line? He had a plan, Abby. He told me he had a plan to cover all eventualities. What the hell do you think his plan was?”

Justin gasped, a terrified, childlike sound. The light in the room had changed; the air had tilted, pressure shifting, all those little eddies gathering themselves together and whirling around some huge focal point.

Daniel filled the doorway, tall and unmoving, hands in the pockets of his long dark coat. “All I ever wanted,” he said quietly, “was here in this house.”

24

"Daniel,” Abby said, and I saw her whole body loosen with relief. "Thank God.”

Rafe eased back, slowly, on the sofa. "Cute entrance,” he said coldly. "How long have you been listening at the door?”

Daniel didn’t move. “What have you told her?”

“She was remembering anyway,” Justin said. His voice was shaking. “Didn’t you hear? In the police station? If we didn’t tell her the rest, she was going to ring them and-”

“Ah,” Daniel said. His eyes went to me, one small expressionless flick, and then away again. “I should have guessed. How much did you tell her?”

“She was upset, Daniel,” said Abby. “Stuff was coming back to her, she was having a hard time dealing with it, she needed to know. We told her what happened. Not who… you know. Did it. But the rest.”

“It was a highly educational conversation,” Rafe said. “All round.”

Daniel took this in with a brief nod. “All right,” he said. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Everyone’s emotions are running high”-Rafe rolled his eyes and made a disgusted noise; Daniel ignored him-“and I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by continuing this discussion right now. Let’s leave it for a few days, really leave it, while the dust settles and we take in what’s happened. Then we can talk about it again.”

Once I and my mike were out of the house. Before I could say anything, Rafe asked, “Why?” Something in the roll of his head, the slow lift of his eyelids, as he turned to stare at Daniel: it hit me, with a vague shapeless warning, just how drunk he was.

I saw Daniel realize the same thing. “If you’d prefer not to resurrect it,” he said coolly, “believe me, that’s fine with me. I’d be delighted never to have to think about this again.”

"No. Why leave it?”

“I told you. Because I don’t think any of us are in any state to discuss this rationally. It’s been an excruciatingly long day-”

“What if I don’t give a fuck what you think?”

“I am asking you,” Daniel said, “to trust me. I don’t often ask you for anything. Please do me this favor.”

“Actually,” Rafe said, “you’ve asked us to do a lot of trusting you, this last while.” He put down his glass on the table with a sharp little click.

“Possibly I have,” said Daniel. For a fraction of a second he looked exhausted, drained to the last drop, and I wondered how exactly Frank had kept him for so long; what they had talked about, the two of them alone in a room. “So a few more days can’t really do that much harm, can they?”

“And you were listening behind that door, like some gossip-starved housewife, for long enough to work out exactly how far I trust you. What are you afraid will happen, if we keep talking about this? Are you afraid Lexie won’t be the only one who wants to leave? What will you do then, Daniel? How many of us are you prepared to kill off?”

“Daniel’s right,” Abby said crisply. Daniel coming home had calmed her down: her voice sounded strong again, certain. “All our heads are wrecked; we’re not making sense. In a few days’ time-”

“On the contrary,” said Rafe, “I think I may be making sense for the first time in years.”

"Leave it,” said Justin, barely above a whisper. “Please, Rafe. Leave it.”

Rafe didn’t even hear him. “You can believe every word he says is gospel, Abby. You can come running when he snaps his fingers. You think he cares that you’re in love with him? He doesn’t give a damn. He’d get rid of you in a heartbeat, if he had to, just like he was ready to-”

Abby finally lost her temper. “Fuck you, you self-righteous bloody-” She shot up off her chair and fired the doll straight at Rafe, one fast vicious move; he threw up a forearm reflexively and smashed it away, into a corner. “I warned you. What about you? Using Justin when you need him-you think I didn’t hear him going downstairs, that night? Your bedroom’s under mine, genius. And then when you don’t need him, you treat him like shit, break his heart over and over and-”

“Stop it!” Justin shouted. His eyes were squeezed tight and his hands were pressed over his ears; his face looked like he was in agony. “God, stop it, stop-”

Daniel said, “That’s enough.” His voice was starting to rise.