Langford held out his arms. 'Come and join our happy family reunion.'
Thorne walked on to the pool deck and across to Donna.
'Careful of the broken glass,' Langford said. He nodded towards the green shards at the edge of the pool, the remains of a beer bottle. 'My ex has been playing up.'
'I don't understand,' Donna said again. 'What about the photos? Somebody sent me those photographs…'
'You're even more stupid than I thought,' Ellie snapped.
Thorne had already worked it out, but it took Donna a few seconds.
'You?'
Langford looked up at his daughter. ' What?'
'I was going to explain-'
' You sent the pictures?'
Ellie nodded, opened her mouth again to speak.
'Have you any idea what you've done?' He pushed her hand away from his shoulder. 'How much fucking trouble you've caused. How much you've cost me?'
'What trouble might that be, Alan?' Thorne asked.
Langford turned slowly and glared at him. He said nothing, but the blood that had rushed to his face was clear enough, even through the tan.
Donna was still looking at her daughter. 'Why?'
Ellie sniffed, spoke as though she were telling someone the time. 'Because I wanted you to know that you'd been sitting in prison for killing someone who wasn't dead. I wanted you to see what a great life he was living while yours had turned to shit. I wanted you to suffer .'
It was clear that Ellie Langford had got her wish. Donna took a faltering step forward but then had to lean down and hold on to the table to keep from falling.
Thorne moved forward and laid a hand on her arm. Said, 'I think it's time to go.'
'Yeah, look after yourself, Mum,' Ellie said.
Thorne stared at her, saw the sarcastic sneer replaced by the same sullen pout he had seen in the photographs of Ellie as a young teenager.
She cocked her head. 'What?' A challenge.
Donna gently removed Thorne's hand from her arm. She still seemed bewildered, disoriented. 'But the photos were posted in London.'
'Jesus, I've still got friends in London.' Ellie nodded dismissively at Thorne. 'I would have thought PC Plod could have worked that one out.'
'But it was like you'd been… taken. You just vanished.'
'Nice clean start,' Langford said. He was trying to sound calm, but was obviously still shaken by Ellie's admission. 'Best way. Same thing I did.'
'Plus, he didn't want anyone sniffing around over here,' Thorne said. 'That's why her passport was left behind, why he got her out of the country on the quiet.'
Langford smirked. 'What? Are you going to do me for people smuggling?'
'If I have to.'
'Bring it on,' Langford said, aggressive suddenly. 'Sounds like fun.'
'Why didn't you at least tell your foster parents you were all right?' Thorne asked.
The girl seemed more concerned with a few stray hairs that had been loosened by the breeze than with the devastation she was casually wreaking.
Thorne tried to keep the disgust from his voice, not wanting to give her the satisfaction. 'Have you any idea what they've been going through?'
Ellie shrugged. 'Not that it's any of your business, but I would have told Maggie and Julian eventually.' She spoke their names mockingly, like a bad comedian taking the piss. 'They'll survive, don't worry. They've got their precious Sam, anyway. I was always going to be second best once he came along.'
Now Thorne could see the extent to which this pretty, dark-haired teenager was dead inside. Cold and hard as stone. Sending the pictures had been only part of it. Not letting the Munros know she was alive and well had all been in the cause of torturing her mother, and she had been happy for Donna to believe that she was dead. Thorne watched her tuck her hair behind her ears and realised that, although Ellie Langford had inherited her mother's looks, all the things that defined her had come from her father.
Donna was staring at the floor, muttering.
'You'll have to speak up, love,' Langford said.
'You've no idea,' Donna said. She raised her head and looked at her daughter. Pleading. 'What it was like with him. The things he did, the things he made me do, the way he made me feel. What was I supposed to do?'
'God, here we go,' Langford said.
Donna lurched towards Ellie, and for a second panic replaced boredom on the girl's face. 'He did this,' Donna screamed. She reached out to show the flash of pink, puckered skin across the back of her hand. 'Look at what he did to me…'
Ellie had already recovered herself. She shrugged. 'That routine didn't work in court, so don't try it on me, OK?'
Donna let her arm drop and turned her head to stare across the pool. She looked hollowed out and hopeless.
Thorne took a step towards her. 'Come on now, Donna.'
She didn't move.
'Christ, she won't take a hint, will she?' The girl's voice was raised suddenly, shrill and contemptuous. 'It's not like I didn't make it clear enough when I spoke to her 'girlfriend'.' The distaste was obvious. 'I told her I never wanted to see the bitch again, that I'd happily let her die in prison. I told her I didn't even have a mother.'
There were a few seconds of silence then, save for the sound of the pool cleaner sucking its way across the bottom of the pool, ticking and slurping at the end of its long hose. Donna finally turned away from her daughter and began to walk slowly towards the sliding doors, listing slightly as though she were a little drunk.
'I need a drink,' she said. 'Some water…'
Thorne watched her disappear inside, sympathy fighting for space with guilt now that he finally understood what Kate had kept from her
… and why. It had been a small lie – a simple and tender not-telling – to protect the thing that Donna cherished more than anything else.
He knew better than most that love could cause as much damage and death as hate ever did.
'So, what do we do now?' Langford asked. 'You fancy a dip, Mr Thorne?'
Thorne said nothing. He would not rise to Langford's bait, and besides, he was too busy wondering if the people-smuggling charge might provide some sort of starting point. If there was anything he could feasibly nick the daughter for.
'I wonder where your mate Gary's got to,' Langford said. 'Still skulking around inside somewhere in case Donna sees him, I suppose. Not that it really matters much any more.' He watched Ellie as she calmly lay down on an adjacent sunbed, then pointed to his ears. 'Hear anything interesting, by the way?'
'Just bullshit and bravado,' Thorne said. 'The sound of someone running out of time.'
Langford lay back on his sunbed. 'Yeah, the pressure's terrible.' He reached for a paperback on a small table, then, almost as if he'd forgotten that Thorne was there at all, said, 'You can let yourself out.'
Thorne watched, feeling the hate bubble up and the blood beating in his veins. Then he saw Langford glance towards the doors and sit up suddenly. He heard Ellie say, 'Dad…?'
Donna walked calmly on to the deck, pointing a gun. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, and when she spoke her voice was flat and low, almost robotic. 'Old habits, eh, Alan? Always slept with one of these near the bed. Always thinking ahead.'
Langford climbed cautiously off the lounger and backed away, his arms held out towards her. Ellie stood up too and edged towards her father. Thorne stayed where he was.
'This is stupid, Donna,' he said. 'Give the gun to me.'
