Chapter 2 Run

Catherine looked towards the coffin again. Someone bumped into a table downstairs. A glass fell. The sharp sound made her jump. Suddenly the enormous Ashford Estate felt different. Until that moment, the strangers downstairs had simply been mourners. Now Catherine looked at them individually. Richard Ashford stood beside two grey-haired men speaking quietly. Margaret was talking to a woman Catherine didn't recognise. Nathaniel Ashford stood near the fireplace. Liam's brother wasn't speaking. He was looking upstairs. At her. Catherine froze. Nathaniel's eyes dropped. Not towards Catherine's face. Towards the phone in her hand. She immediately turned the screen off. Had he seen? Nathaniel started towards the staircase. Catherine slipped the phone into her handbag. Her heart was hammering. Do not trust anyone. Whom had Liam meant? His family? The police? Everyone? And how could Liam possibly have sent those messages? Nathaniel reached the top. "You've been standing here for a while." "I needed some air." His gaze remained on her. "This isn't exactly outside." Normally Catherine might have smiled. She didn't. Nathaniel's expression softened. "You look pale." "I'm fine." "Catherine..." "I said I'm fine." The words came sharper than she intended. Nathaniel paused. Then nodded. "All right." He turned to leave. Catherine almost stopped him. Almost showed him the messages. Liam and Nathaniel had grown up together. Surely if there was anyone she could trust... Her phone vibrated inside her handbag. One final message. She carefully pulled it out while Nathaniel's back was turned. Six words appeared. Especially do not trust my family. Catherine's eyes lifted. Nathaniel stopped halfway down the first step. Then slowly turned around. For a horrible second, neither spoke. "Something wrong?" he asked. Catherine forced herself to shake her head. "No." He studied her. "You're sure?" She locked the phone. "Yes." This time Nathaniel walked away. Catherine remained motionless. Her grief was still there. But something new had entered it. Fear. She looked at Liam's coffin. What were you involved in? Then another thought hit her. Perhaps the most frightening one yet. What if Liam hadn't sent the messages after his death? What if he had scheduled them before it? If so, Liam had known there was danger. And if Liam had known... Catherine looked towards Richard, Margaret and Nathaniel. ...then perhaps the car accident hadn't been an accident at all. Her hand moved protectively towards her stomach before she caught herself. No. Not here. Not where anyone could see. She lowered her hand. At that moment, a man Catherine had never seen before walked through the front doors. He was perhaps in his early forties, tall, dressed in a perfectly fitted black suit. He didn't approach the coffin. Didn't greet Richard. Didn't offer Margaret condolences. Instead, he stood near the entrance and surveyed the room. Catherine instinctively stepped backwards. Then his gaze found her. He stared for only a second before looking away. But it was enough. Something about him bothered her. Not recognition exactly. More like the uncomfortable feeling that he recognised her. "Who is that?" Catherine whispered. She looked towards Nathaniel, intending to ask him. But Nathaniel was no longer by the fireplace. Neither was the stranger. Catherine's pulse quickened. She searched the crowd. Gone. Both of them. Her phone suddenly vibrated again. She almost screamed. Another message from Liam. When you leave, don't go home. Catherine stared. A second message arrived. They'll expect you to. Her throat tightened. She immediately glanced towards the windows. Her little house. Her clothes. Her passport. Her money. Everything she owned was there. If she couldn't return home, where was she supposed to go? Then she remembered something. Three nights before their wedding, Liam had handed her a small silver key. She had laughed when she saw it. "What is this?" "For an emergency." "What emergency?" "Hopefully one we'll never have." She had assumed he was joking. The key was still on her keyring. Catherine's heartbeat changed. Perhaps Liam hadn't been joking at all. Downstairs, Richard Ashford stepped forward. "Catherine." Every conversation around him seemed to stop. "The funeral procession is ready." Catherine looked at her father-in-law. Then at Margaret. Then Nathaniel, who had somehow returned and was standing near the main doors. Nobody appeared unusual. Nobody appeared dangerous. That frightened Catherine more. She descended the staircase slowly. Every step felt like she was walking deeper into something she didn't understand. When she reached Liam's coffin, she placed her fingertips against the polished wood. She wanted to open it. Wanted to touch him. Wanted him to suddenly sit up and tell her this nightmare had been some terrible mistake. Instead she lowered her head. "You knew, didn't you?" she whispered. Nobody heard. "You knew something was going to happen." Tears slipped down her cheeks. Her hand moved towards her stomach before she stopped it. Not here. Not anymore. Liam had given her four instructions. Trust no one. Say nothing about the baby. Wait until the funeral ended. Then run. Catherine looked at her dead husband one last time. For seven days, she had been Catherine Ashford. Tonight, she would become something else. A widow. A mother. And, if Liam's warning was real, a woman who needed to disappear. She tightened her fingers around the silver key hidden inside her handbag. She had no idea what it opened. But once they buried Liam, she intended to find out. And somewhere across the crowded hall, someone was watching her. Someone who already knew she was planning to run.