Chapter 14
‘How the hell did this even happen?’ I ask Scarlett as we drive back to her car. ‘Holly can’t drive – you know that. Why would you take the car out? Whose idea was it?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she says, looking out the window.
Except sorry isn’t going to help. It’s not like I don’t have enough problems to deal with. I have a dead body in the garage for Christ’s sake.
I can’t even think about that right now. What if Teri opened the freezer? Don’t. Don’t even go there. She won’t. Why would she?
Because she’s in my house, with a dead body in the freezer.
My phone rings. The name Diana Ashford-Wells flashes on the dashboard.
‘For Christ’s sake,’ I mutter.
‘Aren’t you going to answer it?’ Scarlett asks.
‘No. It’s a parent at the school. I can talk to her later.’ I put her out of my mind and park behind Scarlett’s car.
‘I can’t drive it home,’ Scarlett says, one fist in front of her mouth, the sleeves of her hoodie pulled over her knuckles.
No kidding. ‘I told you, I’ll drive you back in your car and walk back.’
I walk over to her Mini Cooper – I still can’t believe her parents bought her that car. She doesn’t even have a real licence yet. The insurance alone must cost a bomb. I bend to check the front. There are no marks that I can see, no indication that the car hit someone.
I straighten. Scarlett looks like she’s going to throw up.
‘Come on,’ I say. ‘Let’s get you home.’
It takes literally thirty seconds. I park outside and get out with her. The house is completely dark.
‘No one’s home?’
She shrugs, fishing around in her bag before pulling out her front door key. ‘They won’t be home till after eight.’
‘Are you going to be all right on your own?’ Because now I’m thinking, what if she has a concussion and passes out? But then I remember. She didn’t fall, so why would she have a concussion?
I’m losing my mind. I can tell.
‘I’ll be fine, Mrs Price,’ she says tearfully. ‘Thank you. I’m really sorry.’
‘Well. It’s over, now. Just… I don’t know. Watch TV or something – take your mind off it. It’s going to be all right.’
God knows why I keep telling these girls everything is going to be all right.
Back home, Teri is lying on the sofa, one foot propped on a cushion, the back of her hand on her forehead. She pulls her hand away as I walk in and smiles. I figure if she had opened the freezer, she would say something. I guess I’m safe. For now.
‘How’s the ankle?’
She tries to sit. ‘Much better, thank you.’
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ I say, genuinely. ‘Do you think you can walk on it?’
‘I think so…’ She pushes against the arm of the sofa to stand, then cries out in pain. ‘Ouch!’
‘Whoa, sit back down.’
She falls back on the sofa. ‘Oh, God, that hurts.’
‘Here. Put your foot back on that cushion.’ I pick up her leg, set it down and check her ankle before putting the ice pack back on. ‘You’re sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?’
‘God, no. I’ve had sprains before. Also…’ She looks up.
I frown. ‘Also what?’
‘They’ll want to know how it happened,’ she says softly. ‘And if I tell them, they might have to report it.’
‘Report what?’
‘About…you know…the acc—’
‘But you don’t have to tell them about that.’
She tilts her head at me.
‘I’m not saying you shouldn’t tell them…’ Aren’t I? ‘I mean, there’s any number of ways you can sprain your ankle. The important thing is for you to get an X-ray.’
‘Yes,’ she says, nodding quickly. ‘But don’t worry. I don’t need an X-ray. I’ve twisted my ankle before; I know what it feels like. I just need to rest for a bit longer, and I’ll be fine.’
‘Well. You can rest here as long as you like,’ I say, glancing at my watch. Quarter to six. Plenty of time for Teri to recover, surely. And I can help her get home.
But then she says, ‘It’s just such a shame that my bedroom is upstairs…
with all those stairs…’ She leans forward to touch her ankle and winces.
‘Could I be a total, total pain,’ she begins, eyes like a puppy, ‘and sleep on this sofa tonight? It’s just that I don’t know how I’m going to get up and down those stairs… ’
I rub my forehead. I feel a migraine coming on. ‘Erm…’
My heart is racing. I was going to get rid of Max tonight. Except Holly wasn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to be at Scarlett’s. That’s until they decided to get into a car and go on a joyride. For Christ’s sake.
Which means I can’t do anything tonight anyway.
And I can hardly throw Teri out when she’s been so nice about it all.
I think of all the drab, dusty furniture in her house, including the sofa, which looked like it would poke you with bits of springs sticking through the fabric if you dared lie on it.
‘Of course. And you don’t need to sleep on the sofa. We have a guest bedroom down here. There’s a bathroom next to it.’
‘That would be so good, Kate. But will Holly be okay with me staying here tonight?’
The truth is, I have no idea. But at this point, I am so angry with her, I really don’t care. ‘Why wouldn’t she be?’
‘Okay, well…’ She rearranges herself, wincing again. ‘If you insist, then I won’t say no.’ And I’m thinking, wait, didn’t you just ask to stay?
I give her a smile. A forced one. ‘Good. Then it’s settled.’ I check my watch. Still quarter to six. ‘We may as well have an early dinner. I’ll go and check on Holly, then I’ll get something ready.’ Then I make a beeline for the door to the utility room.
‘Isn’t Holly upstairs?’ she asks.
‘I just need to check something in the garage,’ I reply.
I get in there, close the door behind me and lean against it. I can’t believe all this is happening. Maybe it’s all a bad dream.
But I don’t think so.
I quickly check that everything I put on top is the way I left it. It looks just the same. I don’t know what I expected. Presumably, had Teri opened the freezer for whatever reason, she would be at the police station screaming right now.
I turn around and go back into the house.
I find Holly lying on her bed, curled up into a ball, facing the wall. I sit next to her and put my hand on her hip. Her fists are right up against her eyes.
‘Are you all right?’
She shakes her head. ‘No.’
‘Why?’
She sits up. ‘You know why!’ she hisses. Her face is wet; her eyes are swollen.
I pull her to me and give her a hug. ‘We’ll figure it out.’
She shudders in my arms. She can’t break down right now. Not with Teri downstairs. I release her. ‘Listen. Teri is going to stay here tonight,’ I say.
Her eyes widen in alarm. ‘Why?’
‘Because her bedroom is upstairs and she can’t walk properly yet. She’ll go home tomorrow.’
‘What about…?’
‘I can’t do anything about it tonight.’
‘But you said—’
‘It’s fine, Holly. I’ll do it…some other time.’
She wails softly. ‘When?’
‘I don’t know. Please don’t worry, Holly, okay? I’ll handle it.’
‘Handle what?’
Holly gasps out loud.
My heart somersaults. I turn around.
‘Jesus, Teri. You scared me half to death.’ I put a hand on my chest. My heart is galloping. ‘How did you get up here?’
‘With great difficulty.’ She winces, then smiles. ‘I thought I heard you crying up here,’ she says to Holly.
She sits on the edge of the bed next to me. I shuffle aside by a few inches.
‘So, what’s the problem?’ she asks, looking concerned. ‘I know I’m putting you two out. I realise me being here is very much an inconvenience.’
I start to argue.
‘No, Kate. Please. I can tell by your faces. Both of you. If you want me to go home, that’s perfectly fine.’
Holly looks at me, her eyes pleading, ‘Make her go home.’
‘Is it your dad?’ she asks, frowning, and Holly’s face turns a shade of grey I’ve never seen before.
‘Yes,’ I say quickly. ‘The thing is, Max – Holly’s dad – he’s very strict. He would be very upset about what happened. That’s why Holly is upset.’
‘I’m so sorry, sweetie,’ she says, patting Holly’s leg and shaking her head sadly. ‘It’s my fault. I’m always running with my earbuds in. My sister used to say I’d get hit by a car one day.’ She gives Holly a small smile. ‘I hope it doesn’t sound weird, but I’m glad it was you.’
‘You have a sister?’ I ask.
She turns to me, a shadow across her face. ‘Had.’
I blink. And maybe it’s the shock of today, but the inside of my nose stings with imminent tears. I rub my sleeve against it. The last thing I want to do right now is cry. ‘I had a sister, too…’
Her eyebrows shoot up. ‘Had?’
‘Lily. She was hit by a car.’ While Holly knows my sister died, she doesn’t know how. I don’t think she should know how. She has enough nightmares as it is. ‘Three years ago,’ I say. ‘What about your sister?’
‘Cancer,’ she says. ‘Five years ago.’
Something passes between us. We both nod.
Teri turns back to Holly. ‘Look. To be honest with you—’ she gives a small laugh ‘—I’m really embarrassed. So as far as I’m concerned, no one needs to know.’
‘Really?’ she blurts.
‘If that’s all right with Kate.’ They both turn to me.
‘Well, I mean, that would be good,’ I say.
I’m a little confused. I thought we’d already discussed this downstairs.
We’d established there was no need to go to the police, and Teri doesn’t want to go to hospital anyway.
Who would she tell? ‘What about Scarlett?’ I ask Holly suddenly. ‘Do you think she’ll tell her parents?’
‘No. No way. Scarlett was begging me not to even call you. You heard her before. She was terrified you might call the cops.’
‘Great. So it’s settled,’ Teri says. ‘It will be our little secret.’
‘Thank you,’ Holly says.
‘That’s all right, sweetie,’ Teri says, patting her leg again. ‘It’s not like anyone died, right?’