Chapter 58
‘I trust that’s the end of all this nonsense,’ Heather said, glaring at Issy, who was forcing back tears.
Issy said nothing.
‘Good.’ Heather gave her a tight smile and patted her forearm, then disappeared into the crowd.
Issy thought of Stella. Her tiny frame slumped against the dash.
What did her mother say? That she’d had her face sliced open?
Was that true? Issy had asked to see her after the accident, but Mrs Austin wouldn’t allow it.
That was what Heather had told her, wasn’t it?
Then they moved away shortly after, and that was that.
As Issy pictured Stella’s face, bloody and disfigured, a ripple of shame ran through her.
Issy had done that to her. It was her fault, but Heather was right.
She’d barely given Stella a second thought.
She’d thought she was different, but she wasn’t.
She’d inherited her mother’s carelessness, along with her blonde hair and ice-blue eyes.
She was just as bad as the rest of them.
She blinked a few times and took a deep breath. She needed to pull herself together. She checked the time on her phone—12:56. The formalities were due to start in a couple of minutes. Kelly, the event manager, would be losing her mind, wondering where Issy was.
As she made her way to the stage, her phone rang. Meg. She didn’t have time for that. She switched it to silent.
‘There you are!’ Kelly said, exasperated, as Issy approached the stage, reaching for a walkie-talkie. ‘She’s here. Good to go in three minutes.’
Issy’s phone vibrated in her hand. Meg again. She frowned and swiped to answer. Kelly shook her head as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Issy raised her finger to say, ‘One minute.’
‘Meg—’
‘Issy.’ She was whispering, breathless. ‘I need you to—’
‘Where are you? Why are you whispering?’
‘Please, Issy, I need—’
‘I can’t talk now. I’m about to go on stage—’
‘Listen to me!’ There was fear in Meg’s voice, a sharp edge of desperation that made Issy pay attention. ‘Georgie’s in trouble. I’m at the dairy factory. She’s locked in a building here. Hugh and Spencer are in there with her.’
‘What?’ Issy looked around for Hugh and her brother but couldn’t see them anywhere.
‘I was trying to lure Hugh here using the tracker. I was hiding and this other guy turned up, then Georgie arrived, and he grabbed her and now she’s trapped inside one of the buildings.’
‘What?’ None of this was making sense. ‘Meg, you need to call the police.’
‘I have, but it might be too late. I need you to text me your—’ Meg stopped abruptly.
‘What?’
‘I just heard her cry out. I need you to text me your Instagram login.’
‘What? Why? I don’t—’
‘I’ll go live on your Instagram. You’ve got three hundred thousand followers. It’ll go viral. They won’t hurt her if they know the world can see.’
‘But I—’
‘Do it, Issy! Do it now!’
‘But—’
Meg was gone. Issy looked at the phone, her mind reeling.
‘Everything okay?’ Kelly looked at her, frowning. ‘You need to take your seat on the stage. You’re on in thirty seconds.’
Issy gave her a nod. Mayor Skelton and Derek Palmer, the State Government Minister for Planning, were already seated on the stage, expressions smug with self-importance.
She searched the faces of the Hartwell locals standing at the back, hoping to see Hugh and Spencer somewhere there to disprove Meg’s story.
She saw Warwick and some of the subbies.
Chrissy and Robbie, in his wheelchair. Sue, who had closed the Red Lion for the afternoon so she could come along.
But there was no sign of Hugh or Spencer.
She looked back at the phone in her shaking hand.