Gavin continued to stand there with that smug half-smile on his face.
Kim couldn’t believe the depth of sympathy she’d been feeling for this man just hours ago.
‘What changed?’ Zach asked, as though the penny was finally dropping.
‘Jonathan,’ Kim said simply.
‘Thank you, Inspector, but I can take it from here.’
Gavin turned towards his husband and, although his focus was now in that direction, Kim dared not make a move. If she spooked him in any way, that gun could go off and someone could get killed.
She had to play for time. Any second Bryant was going to realise she was nowhere to be found.
‘I was always going to be part of your family, Zach. I was the first child. I was chosen and then thrown away because of you. I still belonged in this family, but how could I tell them who I was when they’d made it clear they didn’t want me?’
He paused and regarded Zach’s bewilderment for a minute.
‘You weren’t so bad to be around. Less challenging than Rachel but easier to handle. Less fire, less passion but less complications.’
Kim could see that Zach was wilting with every cruel word.
‘As I grew up, I only ever thought about destroying you all. That was always my goal, but then you took me to Sunday lunch and it felt right. Me being there with all of you. My plan was still there, but there was less urgency. I had the chance to enjoy what should have been my life. And then you told me about Jonathan, and I knew she was trying to replace me.’
Zach shook his head as though remembering something. ‘You deliberately wound me up and wound me up about that kid, about how he was going to spoil everything. You urged me to go see them on Saturday and beg Mum to reconsider.’
‘And you failed again, didn’t you? She wouldn’t listen to you. She didn’t care about your wishes at all. She was still going to bring that little bastard into our family. I bet he wouldn’t have been sent packing after a year. I mean, do you have any idea what it was like for me being sent back to that home? To have two mothers that gave you away? They gave me a nickname. They called me reject, and that name stayed with me until I was free to leave. I had a family, Zach. They told me they would take care of me forever, and I believed them. You just can’t play with people like that.’
Kim saw the irony in his words after what he’d done to Zach, the man who now stood before him, crushed.
He literally had lost everything in the space of four days.
Kim heard footsteps approaching the door.
‘Quiet,’ Gavin instructed, pointing the gun at her.
She could see that with the gun turned away from him, Zach was having the same thoughts she had. It was good to see that there was some spirit left inside him, but he was too far away, and he knew it.
‘Guv?’ Bryant called through the door.
Her gaze met Gavin’s. His eyes were cold and hard. He had every intention of walking away scot-free. His expression told her he wasn’t playing. She had to be quick.
‘Guv,’ Bryant repeated, knocking on the door.
‘Gavin did it,’ she cried out. No matter what he did now, her colleague knew who was responsible. It wouldn’t take long before he put it together, if he hadn’t already.
Gavin raised the rifle.
‘Wait,’ she said, holding up her hand. ‘You think you know everything, but you don’t. There’s a lot about Helen you don’t know.’
She adjusted her breathing as he lowered the gun. She knew she was playing for time. Now that Bryant knew where she was, he wouldn’t rest until he had her out. Zach was also watching her closely, wondering what else he was going to learn. His self-esteem had taken a battering after his husband’s revelations and what she had to say wasn’t going to help him one little bit.
Gavin nudged the gun at her to continue.
‘Helen regretted her decision pretty much as soon as she made it. Within days she was trying to get you back.’
‘I don’t believe you. I was still theirs. Social services have a legal obligation to return—’
‘Social services have a legal obligation to protect the well-being of the child. Helen was now on antidepressants and viewed as unstable. She had given you up and then she wanted you back. Social services don’t play like that.’