Chapter 32
The phone explodes with messages. Too many to count. Some of them are from work, but the bulk of them are from someone called Beatrice.
I want to see you. I can’t stop thinking about you.
I miss you. I love you.
Where are you?
Why aren’t you answering my calls?
Call me!
I don’t know what you think. You’re scaring me. Let’s talk.
I just want to talk.
You know I’m better for you than she is. You don’t even love her.
I turn off the phone and drop it back in the drawer. So now I know. Her name isn’t Teri. It’s Beatrice. B. And I don’t know why she wrote ‘I think I love you’, since she certainly has no doubt about how much she loves Max.
I sit there a while, my heart racing. She’s never going to leave us alone. She’s insane. No wonder they got on so well.
Suddenly my phone rings and my stomach twists even more, if it were possible, because I immediately think it’s Amanda from Max’s workplace. Today is Monday, and I’ve been expecting her call.
Except it’s a number I don’t recognise. She’s probably calling from a different one. Or maybe someone else from Sterling. I let it go to voicemail. It rings again.
I can’t put it off. I pick it up.
‘Kate, it’s Mel.’
I breathe out with relief and bend in half, my hand on my forehead. ‘Hi, Mel.’
‘I know you’re sick today. I don’t want to hassle you—’
‘I’m all right.’ I sit up. ‘It was just a bug. What is it?’
‘Okay, well, you know that Facebook group for the parents at our school?’
‘What about it?’
‘There’s an offshoot.’
‘An offshoot?’
‘A private one. Closed to the teachers. Except I got Georgie to join ages ago so I could keep an eye on things.’
Georgie? I rack my brain. Mel’s wife. Right.
‘There’s some chatter in there about you today,’ she says. ‘We think you should know.’
‘What chatter?’
‘It’s coming from Mrs Ashford-Wells. She shared a post about something you wrote to her?’
‘I wrote to her? You mean about Gregory?’
‘No.’
I try to make sense of this. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. What did she say?’
‘Okay, so, this is what she wrote. I’m reading verbatim, okay?’
‘Okay.’
She takes an audible breath. ‘You will not believe this, but Brookford Park Primary School teacher Kate Price emailed me to tell me to “butt out” because she’s going through a lot. That’s right, butt out. Apparently—’ She stops.
‘What, Mel? Apparently what?’
‘I can’t read it over the phone. We need to talk face-to-face.’
‘Jesus, now I’m really worried. And this is on Facebook?’
‘It’s in the private parents’ group, yes. I’ve already asked Mrs Johnson to have it taken down. That’s Carla’s mum.’
‘I remember Mrs Johnson,’ I say.
‘She’s an admin of the group,’ Mel says. ‘I haven’t heard back yet. But honestly, Kate, we need to talk. As soon as possible.’
I’m starting to wish this had been Max’s workplace after all. ‘Now?’
‘Yes. I can come over to you.’
‘No, don’t do that,’ I blurt. ‘Are you at school?’
‘I’m at home. I don’t work Mondays, remember?’
‘That’s right.’ I try to think. I so don’t need this right now. ‘I could come to you,’ I say.
‘You’re well enough to do that?’
‘Yes. I’m much better.’
She reels off the address. It’s a ten-minute walk from here.
‘Do I need to be scared?’ I ask.
She takes a beat. ‘You tell me.’
‘Come in, Kate.’ A woman I have never met grabs my arm and pulls me inside.
We stand in a gorgeous living room with washed-out red walls and a white ceiling with exposed beams. The white and blue furniture looks comfortable and bright.
The walls are covered with art, books piled on top of tables, photographs in various frames on shelves and green plants everywhere.
The effect is chaotic yet artistic and warm, and for a crazy moment I wish it were my house. Actually, I wish it were my life.
Mel takes my arm. ‘Come and sit. This is Georgie, by the way.’
Georgie has curly red hair in a ponytail. She presses a mug of hot tea into my hands.
‘I added just a little sugar. I’ll leave you to it,’ she whispers, before leaving the room.
‘Come. Sit down,’ Mel says, pointing to the sofa. She takes the armchair. I do as I’m told, but I’m aware of a certain coolness coming from Mel.
‘So, what’s going on?’ I ask.
She raises a hand. ‘First things first. The post is down, okay? I just had confirmation from Julia Johnson.’
‘I really need to know what was in it, Mel. The suspense is literally killing me.’
She grabs her phone from the coffee table and hands it to me. It’s a screenshot of the post Diana Ashford-Wells put up.
You will not believe this, but Brookford Park Primary School teacher Kate Price emailed me to tell me to ‘butt out’ because she’s going through a lot.
That’s right, butt out. Apparently, her husband has left her and her stepdaughter is a criminal in the making.
That’s right. She’s stealing cars and has even caused an accident, even though she’s too young to drive.
She then goes on to call my son ‘spoilt’ and ‘a brat’.
Mrs Price is apparently ‘fed up’ with it all and is moving to Hull, where she has been applying for jobs.
Mrs Price then ends with ‘I can’t wait to see the back of you all’.
Well, Mrs Price, guess what? We can’t wait to see the back of you either. But my question to Brookford Park Primary School is this: What’s the point of pretending to care about our children if their teacher won’t be there for much longer? And good riddance, by the way. She won’t be missed.
I swallow a swell of rising panic while handing the phone back. I put my mug on the coffee table and press the heels of my hands against my eyes until I see stars.
‘Did you send this to her?’ she asks.
I snort a laugh. ‘Of course not.’
‘Then why is she saying—’
‘I don’t know, okay? I have no idea.’
‘Look,’ Mel says softly after a beat. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s terrible what Mrs Ashford-Wells has done. Whatever is going on with your husband or Holly—’
‘There’s nothing going on,’ I blurt.
‘It’s none of my business. It’s nobody’s business. Julia Johnson agrees and took it down. But I have to ask. Are you leaving? And if so, when? We’re not even three months into the school year and—’
But I’m only listening with half an ear. All I can think is, it’s her. It can only be her. Teri, Beatrice, whatever her name is, who told Diana.
Her husband has left her. I think of all those texts and messages lighting up his phone.
Why would she even say that? Because he’s gone?
Because he didn’t come home at the weekend?
So what? And to tell Diana? How do they even know each other?
And to tell her about Holly and the accident? What is Teri trying to do?
Get rid of me. This is her way of saying, ‘If you don’t leave, I will tell the cops about what Holly did.’
She really wants Max that badly.
‘I don’t think many people saw this before it was taken down, okay?’ Mel says.
I look up. ‘What?’ And it dawns on me. This doesn’t just exist as a screenshot on Mel’s phone; this was in a Facebook group.
For Christ’s sake. What if one of the parents happens to work at Sterling & Wicks?
Would they put two and two together? And what about Holly?
Will someone ask questions about the accident now it’s out there?
Will the police get involved after all? And who else is Diana telling, now the post has been removed?
I’ve got to shut this down.
‘I’m going to call Mrs Ashford-Wells right now,’ I blurt, pulling my phone from my back pocket. ‘I’m going to tell her what I think of her antics.’
Mel leans forward and puts a hand on my phone. ‘Trust me, don’t call her now, you’ll only make it worse. Everyone is on your side.’
‘Everyone? Are you saying that the whole school has seen this?’
‘No. It was only up for a short while. Half an hour, maybe. But you need to go through the proper channels, Kate. Talk to Mike. Put in a formal complaint.’
A formal complaint. Immediately I think of Teri going to the police about Holly. I look up. ‘Do you know a lawyer?’
Mel recoils. ‘A lawyer? Why?’
‘Because… Because I’m going to sue the pants off Diana Ashford-Wells, that’s why.’ This doesn’t even make any sense, but at this point I don’t care.
I need to know where Holly stands regarding the accident.
I need to know just how serious a threat Teri is.
And if it turns out that Holly would be all right, just a little slap on the wrist maybe, then we could go to the police ourselves and tell them.
By the way, we had a little accident, barely an accident actually, just that someone tripped in front of the car.
After I get rid of Max, obviously. If I ever manage to get rid of Max.
Then I could go to Teri and tell her, ‘You have nothing. They don’t care.’
Mel stands up and leaves the room. I hear her and Georgie’s voices somewhere out there, speaking in hushed tones. She reappears a few minutes later with a small torn piece of paper.
‘Her name is Penny Malik. She’s an old mate and she’s very good. She specialises in family law, so not necessarily what you’re looking for, but she’s very knowledgeable, and her firm does everything anyway.’
‘Do they do criminal law?’ I blurt.
She frowns at me. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t know. You never know.’
She gives me a small smile. ‘I hope you’re not planning to kill Diana Ashford-Wells.’
I stare at her blankly, too tired to even pretend to join in the joke.
She tilts her head. ‘So what’s going on, Kate? Are you really leaving?’
I stand, clutching the piece of paper in my hand, my stomach churning. ‘I’m really sorry. I can’t talk about this right now.’
‘Kate, wait.’
‘I’m sorry.’
I race out the door.