Chapter 66: Lori - The Foster Child

Mum is terrified. So am I, I can barely stop shaking. Besides me I can feel Violet trembling as she squeezes my hand tight.

Jacob must be here. And he’s done something to Elliot.

You read stuff all the time in the newspapers, don’t you, of jilted men tracking their ex-partners down and killing all the family. Is that what Jacob is doing, going to kill us all off one by one? Nausea swills in the bottom of my stomach. I should never have come to Mum’s for Christmas. I should have gone somewhere else. Laid low for a while. I’ve brought danger to us all. I’ll never forgive myself if something has happened to Elliot. Or happens to my mum.

Then Violet releases my hand and bends down. ‘What’s this?’ She picks up something glittering on the floor and holds it out. ‘It’s a gold sovereign ring.’ I recognise it instantly. It’s the one Jacob always wears.

‘It’s Jacob. He is here. This is his ring,’ I say.

We all spin around as we hear a scuffle behind us. The menacing silhouette of a man wearing a balaclava and dressed completely in black fills the connecting doorway. He must have been hiding in the utility room, waiting for us to go and look for Elliot in the garage.

He takes his hand from behind his back and holds out a gun. ‘Hand me that ring,’ he orders. I recognise his voice. It’s definitely Jacob. He’s wearing a black glove on one hand, but not on the hand with the gun. Did Elliot put up a fight, pull his glove off and the ring with it?

‘What have you done to Elliot?’ Mum demands. ‘Where is he?’

Jacob waves the gun at each of us in turn and points to the far corner of the garage. ‘Put the ring on the floor, Violet, then all of you get over to the wall, sit down on the floor and put your hands on your laps where I can see them.’

Violet puts the ring down carefully. Then we all do as he said and sit down by the wall, with our hands on our laps in front of us.

I really believe that he will kill us. I don’t recognise this Jacob. I can’t connect it with the Jacob who used to hold me in his arms, tell me how much he loved me, shower me with affection. When we first met that was. I soon saw another side to him and discovered how cruel he could be. But to do this! To threaten us with a gun. And what has he done to Elliot? Tears swim in my eyes and I gulp them back. Please don’t let Elliot be dead.

Still pointing the gun at us, he steps forward, picks up the ring and puts it in his pocket. I’ve got to be brave. It’s me Jacob wants. I can’t let him hurt anyone else.

‘Please don’t hurt them, Jacob. I’ll come with you. Leave my mum, Violet and Elliot alone. They haven’t done anything to you,’ I tell him.

‘Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t want you. Do you really think that I’d be interested in anyone like you?’ Jacob snorts cruelly. His eyes meet mine and what I see there sends a chill down my spine. ‘You were only ever a pawn in the game. I went out with you so that you would lead me to Elliot. He was the one I wanted.’

I stare at him uncomprehendingly. What does he mean? He asked me out before he even knew that Mum was living with Elliot. And what has Elliot got to do with it?

‘Why? What has Elliot done to you?’ Mum asks, her voice trembling although I can tell that she’s trying hard to keep it steady. ‘He barely knows you.’

‘Yeah, well I know him,’ Jacob snarls. ‘He and his mate killed my dad.’