Blue Dome (The Blue Dome Series) by J.G. Gill

deep red velvet and
had a high back which was carved in thick scrolls, reminding Bede of a lion’s
mane. The man was poring over a map that covered the entire surface of the desk.
    At the window, on the far
side of the room, a woman stared out across the city, her long emerald green
dress exposing a ‘v’ of creamy-coloured skin. Her dark hair was coiled into a knot
at the back of her head. She turned to face Bede as he entered the room, her
blood-red lipstick stark against her pale face.
    “Hello Bede,” she said
smoothly.
    “Arlene!” Bede let out a
sigh of relief. “Thank God you’re okay. Are you here looking for Dad as well? Where
is he? Is he all right?”
    The candles in the room quivered
and the man at the desk cleared his throat in annoyance.
    “Morana, you’re ruining
the light,” he said curtly, leaning in towards the map.
    “Sorry,” she said, smiling
insincerely and moving quickly away from the window.
    “Morana?” Bede frowned,
as he glanced from Arlene, to the man seated at the desk, then back to Arlene again.
“I don’t…What’s going on?”
    Arlene’s sly smile slowly
spread into a dangerous smirk.
    “Oh, Bede,” she said, as if
referring to an extremely funny, private joke. “You really have no idea, do
you?”
    “No idea about what?”
said Bede. “Where’s Dad, is he here as well?”
    “No, your father’s not
here,” said Arlene. “And the name’s Morana .”
    “I don’t understand,”
said Bede. “I’ve never heard Dad call you Morana.”
    “That’s because he didn’t
know it was my name,” she replied.
    Bede’s feet shifted
uneasily. It seemed as if a very strange game was being played and no one
seemed remotely interested in telling him the rules.
    “Okay, well, Arlene or
Morana or whatever it is you’re now calling yourself, where’s Dad? Did you know
the cops were at our house? The place has been completely smashed up. Clare and
I were hiding under a bed and we heard one of them say that I’d murdered Dad.
It’s unbelievable.”
    “To the contrary,” said
Morana, calmly. “It’s quite believable, since that’s exactly what I told the
police.”
     “You what ?” Bede
swallowed hard. “Why would you do that?”
    “Because, unfortunately,
at least part of it is true. I hate to be the one to tell you, but your father
is dead.”
    Bede stared at her. He
could only assume she was being so casual because she was still in shock. He
took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on something other than the nausea
that was now churning in his stomach. He desperately wanted to be sick.
    “What happened?” said
Bede quietly.
    “It was Thursday
afternoon. We had a large consignment of reptiles at home and one escaped.
Unfortunately your father forgot that king cobras can actually bite.
    “Thursday afternoon? At
home?” said Bede. “That’s the same day that someone broke in and trashed the
place. I…I don’t understand.”
    “There wasn’t a
‘break-in’, Bede. We had to make it look like that to avoid the police asking
difficult questions. It could have jeopardised our entire operation. The police
are much more sympathetic to burglary and grieving widows than they are to
reptile smuggling.”
    “So that’s why you told
the police it was me?” said Bede. “Why didn’t you just tell the truth?”
    “And lose everything?”
said Morana, snorting dismissively. “Not after all the hard work I’ve put in.”
    “I could get locked away
for years if I get convicted,” said Bede. “Besides, I don’t even understand why
you’re involved. You told me this was something that Dad did, that you just
played along?”
    “I lied,” said Morana
simply.
    Bede shook his head in
disbelief. “I don’t know who you are. My stepmother would never have acted like
this.”
    Morana tipped her head
back and laughed loudly.
    “Your stepmother !
I know, how hilarious. Five years of the most agonising acting I’ve ever had to
do in my life, pretending that I