Chapter 20
Shannon
I was a mess.
I’d barely moved from where I stood in my kitchen, trying to comprehend that Margie could possibly be behind all this.
I wanted Jace to be wrong so badly, but if she really were Cai’s sister, then it made far too much sense.
I’d known her for over two years, had confided in her with so much personal stuff, and she’d been lying to me the entire time.
Needing something to help me calm down, I grabbed my fake vape and took a long puff of cherry flavoured air. It didn’t help to relax me like it normally did. Not one bit.
Maybe Jace was wrong. All the stress had gotten to him, and he was clutching at straws.
Maybe, by sheer coincidence, Margie resembled Cai’s sister, and Jace had jumped to conclusions because he was so desperate for the mystery to be solved.
Yes, that was it. He was stressed out and trying to pin the crime on anyone who could fit the bill.
I didn’t blame him. I might’ve done the exact same thing in his position.
I became aware of the noise of the bins being collected, the loud, rumbling of the collection truck outside. On autopilot, I walked out to bring my empty bin back in when suddenly Viola was there. Her flowery perfume stung my nose, her coiffed hair so perfect it bothered my eyesight.
With the morning I was having, she was the last person I wanted to deal with.
“I’d like to have a word with you about those cameras you’ve installed, Miss Guerin.”
Of course, she did. “What about them?”
“You do realise it’s against the law to film anything outside of your property line, so if there’s a view of the street or our house next door, you’ll need to adjust the camera angles.”
“The angles are fine. We made sure nothing was being captured other than my own front and back garden,” I said, about to leave, but then I paused.
I was so sick of her uppity attitude, not to mention the fact that she never gave a hoot that I was almost run over by a car right in front of her.
Not once had she enquired about my wellbeing.
“You saw what happened to me that day with the car. I could’ve been injured or worse. Incidents like that need to be recorded, so perhaps filming the street wouldn’t be such a bad idea. In fact—”
“Yes, well, if you didn’t get into fights with your own friends, then maybe they wouldn’t try to run you over. Honestly, Miss Guerin, the company you keep—”
“What?” I interrupted, confused. That was exactly what she’d said the day it had happened. Viola had looked down her nose at me and tutted, “The company you keep, Miss Guerin.” I had no idea what it had meant at the time, but now, with a dawning sense of horror, I thought I might.
“The blonde who’s always stopping by your place,” she went on, looking pleased to deliver the news when she saw I was clueless.
“I was sitting in my window nook having breakfast, like usual, when I saw her park up just outside Mr Morris’ place.
I thought to myself, oh, Miss Peroxide got herself a new car.
Then I thought, well, she and Miss Guerin must’ve had some falling out because she walked right up to your house and dumped a bag of litter all over the pavement.
Then I saw her return to the car and put on a big pair of sunglasses and a hat.
I was about to step outside and give her a piece of my mind about littering, but you’d already come out to pick it up.
That was when I spotted her driving towards you at speed.
I mean, what do a pair of friends fight over that one tries to run the other over?
Then again, I don’t keep company with unsavoury types, so I wouldn’t know … Miss Guerin?”
I was already walking away from her in a daze, hurt and anger and shock clogging my throat. I couldn’t believe it. Margie was the one driving the car? She’d wanted to hurt me? Viola might’ve been a pain, but she had no reason to lie.
Everything fell on top of me like a tonne of bricks, so heavy I could barely breathe. I was back in my house, hyperventilating and panicking, a migraine thumping through my skull when the vibration of my phone broke through the noise.
It was Jace.
“Hello?”
“Shannon.” His voice was urgent. “It’s not Margie. I was wrong.”
“No, you—”
“It’s Dixon. Dixon has been behind the whole thing. Bloody hell, my dad did a background check on him, and he’s been doing this for years. Conning people online with false identities, taking their money.”
“Wait, Jace. I don’t understand. Margie’s the one who—”
“He’s gone!” someone shouted in the background. It sounded like Jace’s dad. “What do you mean he’s gone?” Jace replied, distracted from our call.
“I mean, he’s gone. Vanished. We just tried to call him, and he’s not picking up. I don’t know how he got the jump on us, but we’re about to head to his apartment. He might’ve gone back there to pack his things before doing a runner.”
“Jace, what’s going on?” I asked, perturbed.
“Listen, Shannon. Is Isla still outside your place?” I walked to the window and peered out. Isla sat in her car, singing along to some song on the radio while watching the street. “She’s still here,” I told him.
“Good. I’ll call her to be on alert in case Dixon shows up. Stay inside and lock the doors until I call you back. Okay?”
“Okay, but Jace—”
“I’ll be there soon to explain everything. I have to go.”
He hung up, and I stared at my phone, more confused than ever.
If Dixon was behind the catfishing, then why had Margie tried to run me over?
It didn’t make any sense, nor did it make sense that Dixon would do something like this.
He seemed like such a decent guy, and he also seemed to really like Jace and the rest of the band.
He’d been a part of their team when they’d toured for months on end, almost like family.
I guessed he was just really good at faking being a decent person. The thought chilled me to the bone, pushing me off my centre. In the space of a few short hours, everything I thought I knew had shifted.
I started to look back on all my interactions with Dixon in a new light.
I’d always thought he didn’t like to talk about his time in the military because maybe something bad had happened to him, but that wasn’t it.
He didn’t like to talk about it because his background was fake, and if he’d had to provide details, someone might’ve realised he was lying.
I recalled the day when Jace and Zara had been late home from school because she’d been playing football with some of the other kids.
Dixon had failed to inform me, and I’d worried over their lateness.
When I’d gone outside to ask him about it, he’d pretended like he’d gotten distracted and forgot, but now I wondered if maybe he’d done it on purpose just for kicks.
It definitely seemed to amuse him to inform me how the mothers at the school were always vying for Jace’s attention.
My pulse was racing like I’d just stepped off a rollercoaster.
I went to search my cupboard for some camomile tea, foolishly believing it could possibly help to calm my nerves.
Finding the box, I set it on the counter, then went to put the kettle on.
It had just finished boiling when my doorbell rang.
Okay, if this was Viola come to finish her tirade, I really didn’t care to listen.
Remembering what Jace had said about staying inside, I pulled up the app on my phone that connected to the security feed. My heart stilled when I saw Margie standing at my door. Mascara ran down her cheeks like she’d been crying.
Then Isla appeared behind her, asking a question. Margie motioned to the door, saying something, but I couldn’t read her lips. I needed to go deal with this.
Opening the door, I found Margie and Isla in a standoff.
Jace had clearly given Isla a full rundown of our discovery over the phone because she was eyeing Margie with no small amount of suspicion.
I also noticed a familiar car parked outside Viola’s house next door, the very same car that had almost run me down.
Seeing it again had a chill running down my spine.
So it really had been her. I felt sick to my stomach.
Margie gazed at me with pleading eyes. “Shannon, I know you’ve discovered things about me, but I just want a chance to explain. I value our friendship more than you know, and I hate that I lied to you.”
“You did more than that,” I said, stepping forward, my voice cold. “You tried to run me over.”
Her face went even paler than it already was. Isla swore under her breath as she turned to Margie, aghast. “That was you?”
Margie’s lip quivered. “How did you find out?”
“Aside from the fact that you just drove here in the same car? My neighbour saw you. Turns out, it can pay to have a nosy, overbearing meddler like Viola living next door when your best friend wants to make an attempt on your life.”
“Please, Shannon, I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear. Just let me in so we can talk. I’ll explain everything.”
“Fat chance, darling,” Isla scoffed. “The only place you’re going is jail.”
A part of me agreed, but another part saw the desperation in Margie’s eyes, and my soft heart gave a sharp pang.
Whatever her reasons, she obviously wasn’t in her right mind, and especially since she was still driving around in a stolen car.
I needed to know why she’d done it, why she’d been lying to me all this time, and I needed to hear it directly from her.
“Fine,” I allowed, and Isla looked at me like I was crazy. “You can come in and say your piece, but Isla stays. Whatever you want to say, you’ll have to say with her there, too.”
“Yes, yes, of course, I understand,” Margie nodded her head, her pupils blown wide like she’d taken something. Oh, God, what had she taken?