Public Property (42 page)

She had no choice. She re-started the car.

‘
Shall we have some music? I think I
’
d kind of like some music right now. What have we got in here?
Urgh
, Aero
smith.
H
ow very rock chick of you
.’
Sasha began to flick her way through the CD collection.

‘
Actually that one
’
s Nick’s
.’

‘
Is it?
One of his
favourites
?
Now that
’
s so
mething I didn’t know about him.
An admiration of Steve Tyler.
W
ell, I suppose I could live with that
.’ She pushed the disc into the player.

‘
I don’t understand this
,
Sasha
.
W
hen d
id you start hating me so much?’

‘
When did I start hating you? Hmm, let me think about that. Well, I think it was probably about the time you started dating my guy
.’

‘
What?
’

‘
Nick
’
s my guy
,
you know. He doesn’t really know it yet
,
but it
’
s only a matter of time
.’ She nodded her head to the beat of the music.

‘
You’ve got a crush on Nick
?
T
hat’s
what all this is about?
’

‘
I don’t have a
crush
on him.
I’m no
t some sort of deluded teenager.
I
’
m in love with him
.
A
nd, if it wasn’t for you pushing yourself on to him, he
’
d be in love with me
,’
Sasha
informed her.

‘
This is very biza
r
re
.
I mean I’ve liked guys before, all sorts of guys and believe me I
’
ve been let down by more than a few
.
B
ut I’ve never felt the need to take a gun to someone’s head
.’

‘
Aren’t you listening to me you stupid
, fat bitch? I’
m in love with him! Don’t you know what that means? It means that he
’
s going to be mine and
you are surplus to requirements.
Y
ou
and
that brat
.’
Sasha
let out a scream of hysteria
and
aimed
the gun at Freya’s stomach.

Freya swal
lowed and tried to remain focus
ed on the road ahead.

‘
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end up
,
you know. It was supposed to go on a lot longer than this
,
but you had to ruin that for me too. Making plans to get married and this afternoon, trying to
jet
off to Corfu
,’
Sasha
remarked, tapping the gun on the dashboard in tim
e to the music.

‘
How can you possibly know about Corfu? We only decided that half an hour ago
.’

‘
I know everything
,
Freya! I admit things got a little patchy when you lost your handbag
,
but I still had the wire in the house. I know absolutely everything you and Nick have discussed over the last few months
.’

‘
My God
.’

‘
Now
,
perhaps you
’
ll have a little respect for me, instead of treating me like someone with no brain.
I’ll have a cup of tea please
,
Sasha
.
I’ll have another calorie loaded pastry
,
Sash
a
,
’
Sasha
spoke.

‘
That isn’t how it is at all. I
’
ve been nothing but nice to you. I gave you the job even though you
were the least qualified for it.
I’ve told you things I know about photography I haven’t passed on to anyone else
.
I thought
we
were friends
.’

‘I know you did.
That was the plan.
Y
ou had to trust me for any of this to work
.’

‘
I still don’t really understand why you
’
ve been doing all this. Was it
all
you?
The broken windows?
The photographs?
The letter and the wreath?
What about Mike? Did you arrange for him to be attacked?
’
Freya wanted to know.

‘
I
’
d like to say that it was all me
,
but no
.
I had nothing to do with poor Mike’s attack. That hurt Nick
,
didn’t it? He treats all his staff well,
just
like friends
.
I saw how that affected him. I couldn’t do anything that would hurt him
,’
Sasha
replied.

‘
You couldn’t do anything to hurt him?! What
d
’
you
think all this has been doing to him? He
’
s been worried out of his mind
.
H
e loves me
,
Sasha
.’

‘
S
hut up!
He does
not
love you! He’s just got
confused.
Y
ou’ve
made him confused. You turned up in his life when he was vulnerable over his cancer
.
H
e was an easy target and you manipulated him into a relationship with you. The poor guy didn’t stand a chance. But I’m going to save him from that
.’

She was sounding unhinged. Nothing like the person Freya thought she had got to know over the past few months.

‘
Look,
Sasha
, I know how you must feel
…’

‘
Know how I feel?! You have absolutely no idea how I feel!
Do you know how sick I
’
ve felt having to work with you every day? I
’
ve had to listen to all that boring camera talk in the office and watch you fawning all over Nick. And as for listening to the two of you at home
…
the sex actually turned my stomach.
I pity Nick, having to put up
a
pretence
of enjoying himself
.
I
t just shows what a fantastic actor he is
.’

‘
You
’
re twisted
,’ Freya said through gritted teeth.

‘
Like
you’re
one to judge!
I heard the conversation with your
“
brother
”.
I have to s
ay that gave me great amusement.
I
listen
ed
to him telling you, you completely freaking out, so much so you
had to go to hospital! Imagine!
S
leeping with your brother
! N
ow
,
that
is twisted
.’ She laughed.

Anger
boil
ed
up inside
Freya
and she pulled
hard right on the steering wheel of the car.
T
he SUV veer
ed
across the road towards the embankment.
It
hit the bank and came to a halt.

‘
You stupid bitch!
Get out the seat! Get out
the seat.
Y
ou’re getting in the back
,’ Sasha screamed, pointing the gun at Freya.

‘
Whatever you have planned for me doesn’t really matter
.
Nick will be on his way here with the police and you
’
re going down for
kidnap,
harassment and breaking and entering at the very least
.’

‘
And
,
pleading insanity
,
how long do you think I will get? You
are
the sentence expert after all
.’ Sasha pushed Freya into the back seat of the car.

‘
Whatever you get
,
you won’t be getting Nick
.’

‘
Hmm, you don’t think? With you not here, with him needing support and a shoulder to cry on
…with me explaining
what I did
,
I did for us? I can picture it all now
.
Nick
, me and
our future
.’

‘
You
’
re seriously deluded
.’

‘
Don’t forget
,
Freya
,
I
’
m the one with the gun
.
S
o I
’
d think twice before making any more comments. Now
,
put your hands behind your back
.’
Sasha pulled a roll of twine out of her bag.

‘
This is pointless
,
you know
.
I really don’t see what you
’
re going to achieve
,’
Freya continued as
Sasha
began to tie her hands together behind her back.

‘
I told you
.
I
’
m going to get rid of you. I
’
m doing this for Nick as much as for
me.’ She pulled the wire tight around Freya’s hands.

‘
You keep telling yourself that
.’

‘
You can’t really think he
’s in love with you! L
ook at you for
God’s
sake! What would he see in an oversized frump like you?
’ She took Freya’s face in her hands and squeezed her cheeks.

‘
You can do what you like to me
.
B
ut just think about what you
’
ll be doing to Nick’s baby
.’

Sasha’s nails dug into her flesh and Freya could feel her breath on her face.

‘
Do you really think I give a damn about that? It’s just another obstacle in the way that
’ll be removed.
I
n fact it will be killing two birds with one stone
.
And
how appropriate that is
.’
A smug smile spread across Sasha’s face.

‘
You might have heard everything we
’
ve done over the last few months
,
Sasha
.
B
ut you won’t have seen Nick’s face when he saw our baby on the monitor at
the hospital. He was overjoyed.
T
here were tears in his eyes and he looked at the image as if it were the most amazing
thing he
’
d ever seen
.
T
o him it was only one stop short of a miracle
.’

‘
Oh quit with the dramatics
.
I
t’s just a baby
. I can give him a baby.
I
can give him a baby
and
get my figure back afterwards.
I don’t hold out much hope for you
.’ She jabbed Freya in the stomach with the gun.