Chapter 24
I rush home and unplug the freezer. I cannot believe I have to plan for a dead body thawing on top of everything else, but here we are.
Then I go to school, and, of course, I am late. In the car, I reply to texts from Mel, one of the other teachers, letting me know she’ll take my class and asking if I’m all right. My hand is shaking, and it takes me five minutes just to type, On my way.
Of course, the children are thrilled. They love Mel. Everybody loves Mel. She’s a dynamo, a ball of energy, with short dark curly hair and a lovely personality.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I say, running into the classroom and almost colliding with Mel. I drop my handbag on the desk. The children glare at me, clearly annoyed that I’ve interrupted whatever was going on and spoiled their fun.
‘It’s no problem, Kate,’ she says, frowning at me. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Yes. Everything is fine.’
I’m a bundle of nerves. I play songs for the children to sing along to, as if they were two instead of six or seven. Meanwhile, I sit at my desk, biting my bottom lip.
Your stepdaughter, Holly, who doesn’t know how to drive, got behind the wheel of a car and slammed into me.
Who the hell does she think she is? Why would she say such things? And in front of other people? I thought we were fine about the accident, weren’t we? And what’s this business about me having to pay for her shopping, because somehow it’s our fault she doesn’t have any money?
She’s just a grifter, I realise now, my head in my hands. She’s not Max’s lover, so there’s that, I guess. She’s a con artist. I let a con artist into my house. Oh, and she’s good. Very good.
The whole time she was with us, I thought she was wonderful.
But really, how well do I know her? I mentally catalogue the facts I’ve learned during those earlier conversations.
I know that she’s thirty-two years old and she was married once and she hated her ex-husband.
And she worked in a law firm for a while. That’s it.
‘Kate?’
The bell has rung, and the children are packing up their things, squealing and laughing.
I have managed to survive the entire afternoon on autopilot without anyone falling out of windows or covering the walls in crayon.
Giddy children run out of the class, jostling past Mel who is standing in the doorway.
I pack up my things. ‘Mel, hi. I’m so sorry about before.’
‘Don’t worry about that. It happens to all of us. Mike just left but he asked about you. I believe you were supposed to pop into his office after lunch?’
Great. I forgot. Completely. I mean, I was late, but still, the children were in good hands, Mel was here. I could have swung by his office, apologised for being late and got an update on Mrs Ashford-Wells.
Except my brain was so consumed by Teri that I completely forgot.
‘Sorry about that. I came back late, as you know. It just slipped my mind.’
‘That’s what I told him,’ she says. She knots her eyebrows together and narrows her eyes at me. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, of course. Just, you know…frazzled.’ I smile.
She shrugs. ‘No need to look so worried, Kate. He said to pop in first thing tomorrow morning.’
‘I will. Thank you.’
I will myself to calm down. Of course she’s not Max’s lover. She’s broke, for Christ’s sake. Her furniture looks like it came from a charity shop. She’s just a con artist who lives next door.
Well, too bad. I never have to see this woman again.
Well, she lives next door, so I might see her when I go in and out of the house, but so what?
Just a polite hello, too busy to stay and chat, that sort of thing.
And if she rings the doorbell, I’ll tell her I’m very busy and promise that we’ll get together soon.
I walk out the door and towards my car. I managed to snag one of the closest parking spaces for once. You never get a spot like that normally. It’s dog eat dog out there at pick-ups and drop-offs, but as it turns out, being late has its perks.
I am fiddling with my bag, getting the snap to close properly and when I look up, I see Teri leaning against my car, her cane by her side.
And this time, her foot is swathed in white bandages so that it looks like it’s in a cast.
‘You have got to be kidding me.’
‘I can’t believe you!’ she says, raising her arms in dismay. ‘What happened to you? You disappeared! You left me stranded at the supermarket till with all my shopping and no lift home! That’s not very nice, Kate.’
I can barely get the words out because my brain has stopped working. I blink a few times. I’m dreaming, again, surely. We had what I thought was a fairly major argument, for me anyway, and she’s talking to me like she has no idea why I left.
‘On top of that,’ she says, lifting her swaddled foot a little, ‘I can barely walk. Thanks to you-know-who.’
My heart does a little somersault. I look around quickly. There are so many people milling about at this time. Parents and children, staff, teachers… But fortunately, no one seems to be paying attention to us.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ I ask in a low voice.
She counts on her hand. ‘Well, firstly, I had to make my own way home, even though I can barely walk. And secondly, I had to carry everything into my house, all by myself, when I was counting on you to help me. So, I don’t know, Kate, but if you want to apologise to me, I’m right here.’
‘How did you get here if you’re so incapacitated?’
‘I took a taxi, if you must know. Even though I am very poor, Kate.’
I shake my head at her. ‘I don’t know what you want from me, but you got as much as you’ll ever get out of me. I guarantee it. Now, can you move, please? I need to get home.’
She doesn’t budge, but just gives me that half smile. What do I do now? Do I push her out of the way? Do I kick her?
‘What do you want?’ I say, lowering my voice. I don’t actually want to know what she wants. It’s just an expression. But she takes it literally.
‘Finally! Thank you for asking. As it happens, I’m in a bit of a pickle. I need money. Taxis aren’t cheap, you know.’
‘I just paid for your groceries, Teri. Two hundred odd pounds. I think that’s enough.’
She laughs. ‘I was joking. I need a lot more than money for taxis and groceries.’
‘Not my problem.’
She checks her fingernails. ‘What do you think the police would do if I told them what Holly did?’
My stomach flips again. I look around to make sure no one is listening.
‘You said you didn’t want to go to the police,’ I hiss.
‘No, Kate,’ she replies, definitely not keeping her voice down.
‘You said that. I wanted to call the police, as we ought to. There was an accident caused by your underage stepdaughter who was under your care. Of course, I thought the police should know. And I wanted to go to the hospital, but you flat-out refused. You said there was no need. That it was probably just a sprain. You know, my ankle is probably broken. I’ll probably have ongoing medical issues because of you. Not to mention expenses.’
And the entire time she is talking, I am whispering at her to stop, be quiet, even moving my hands in front of her face, begging her to please shut up, please stop. I am inches from putting my hands over her mouth.
‘Enough!’ I shout. Now people really are looking at us. ‘You’re lying, and you know it,’ I say. ‘All of it lies. You didn’t want to call the police. You didn’t want to go to the hospital. I suggested both those things, and you refused. Repeatedly.’
‘Holly could be prosecuted,’ she says calmly. ‘I looked it up. What would Max say to that, do you think?’
I shake my head slowly. ‘You don’t even know Max.’
‘Oh, that’s right. I don’t.’ She smiles. ‘I’m sure I’ll meet him eventually.’
It’s her. Is it her? Yes. Of course it’s her. No, wait. It can’t be her.
‘You would do that? Go to the police? Have Holly prosecuted?’ I say that last word in barely a whisper.
She shrugs, like this is very much a possibility. ‘Like I said, I need money, Kate.’
‘But it’s all lies! You didn’t want to go to the police, or the hospital. You said nobody needed to know.’
She scratches her eyebrow. ‘Did I? I don’t remember that. Anyway, my point remains. I’m short of cash, you have money, and I think under the circumstances, you should give it to me.’
‘And if I say no?’
‘It’s your word against mine.’
My heart is thumping. ‘How much?’
‘Twenty-five thousand pounds.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘You heard me. Twenty-five thousand pounds. Cash, please.’
I laugh because, for a moment, I think it’s a joke. But it’s not. ‘You’re out of your mind. I don’t have that kind of money and even if I did, why should I give it to you? There’s no evidence; there were no witnesses to the accident. You said so yourself. I’ll just say you’re lying.’
She tilts her head. ‘And you think they’ll believe you instead of me?’
I don’t like the way she says that. ‘Yes, why wouldn’t they?’
She pulls out her phone, flicks through it and shows me the screen.
I feel lightheaded. It’s a video recording. I recognise the road where the accident took place.
And Holly is right smack in the frame.