Chapter 36
I drive by the scene of the crime, so to speak, and slow down to a stop.
‘What are we doing?’ Scarlett asks.
‘Just checking something,’ I say. I have no idea what. Especially considering it’s dark and this road is not well lit.
We’re back on that quiet residential road around the corner from Scarlett’s.
The houses are set back and hidden behind perfectly trimmed hedges.
An odd place to go for a run. There are no pavements exactly, more a wide verge of grass and gravel punctuated by trees.
I bend down, looking through the windscreen for cameras, which is what I’m really interested in, but I can’t see any.
Probably because the houses are too far back from the road and too hidden.
So far, we haven’t seen a single car on this road.
I hear something, a sniffle. I look at Scarlett and realise she’s crying.
‘Scarlett! What’s wrong?’
‘I’m really sorry about everything, Mrs Price.’
‘I know that.’ I reach for her arm and pat it. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. I mean, you do, but you know…’ I think back to what Penny said. Scarlett would most likely get off with a fine if it ever came to that. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘It’s just that…’ She wipes her nose with the back of her hand. ‘I know that Holly isn’t allowed to hang out with me anymore—’
‘That’s not true,’ I say, rifling through my bag for a tissue and handing it to her.
She takes it without looking at me. ‘I know it is, and I get it, I really do. I did a really bad thing. Holly told me when I asked if she wanted to hang out at my place this weekend that she wouldn’t be allowed because of what happened.’
Did I tell Holly she couldn’t see Scarlett? I don’t even remember.
‘And your friend, that lady—’
‘Which lady?’
‘The one we ran into.’
‘Teri?’
‘She told Holly she can’t hang out with me anymore. That I was a bad influence.’
I am speechless for a moment. ‘Holly told you that?’
‘Yes – Teri told her.’
‘Well, Teri was wrong. Of course Holly wouldn’t get into trouble if she spent time with you. As long as you don’t drive around the neighbourhood like a couple of boy racers.’
She looks up, frowning.
‘I was joking.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Of course.’
‘So…maybe she could come over this weekend?’
‘This weekend?’ I frown. This will be my second attempt to get rid of Max, and this time it should work.
Maybe it’s better if Holly isn’t in the house.
In case anything happens. In case…I get caught.
Then at least we could say Holly knew nothing about her dead father in the freezer. ‘Will your parents be there?’
‘They’re going away this weekend.’
‘Without you?’
She shrugs and wipes her nose. ‘They like their adult time. That’s what Mum says.’
Clearly, I think. I look at her outfit. Her tartan miniskirt is so short it’s bordering on being a belt. Her boots are scruffy, but I guess that’s part of the look. Her makeup is smudged. I have a sudden urge to give her a hug and tell her that she does matter.
‘Anyway,’ she says, a little calmer now, ‘I just wanted to say I’m sorry for everything I did.’
‘I know you are. And it isn’t just your fault. Holly bears equal responsibility.’ I start the car and drive around the corner to Scarlett’s house. Again, this road is dead quiet. Scarlett’s silver Mini Cooper is parked on the drive. The porch light comes on outside.
‘Did you want to come inside, Mrs Price?’
‘There’s no need, but thank you for asking.’
I get out and stand by Scarlett’s car, taking another look at the front now that I have some light. It’s spotless. Good as new.
I get on my haunches and examine it from all angles, running my hands over the front bumper, carefully studying the edges. Nothing. Not even a scratch.
‘Have you been out for a driving lesson since?’ I ask her.
‘Yeah, a couple of times. With my dad.’
‘Did he notice anything?’
‘No. I mean, he wouldn’t. There’s nothing to notice. Like I said, we didn’t hit her that hard. We hadn’t even started the car.’
I look up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We only, like, released the brake, and we were letting the car roll forward. That’s all, I swear to God.
I drove it around the corner, and we stopped, and we were going to take it back.
I just wanted Holly to try it, to get the feel of it, but she was never going to actually drive.
And I saw her on the side of the road, your friend—’
‘Please don’t call her that.’
‘She was standing behind the tree. I think I noticed her because she wasn’t moving and she was looking at us.
I was about to tell Holly to stop, to press the brake, Mrs Price, truly, but the lady stepped right in front of the car.
It was so weird – like she was waiting for it.
Like she stepped off the kerb on purpose.
Holly applied the brake right away, and I didn’t even think we’d hit her, but then she was on the ground, screaming. It was really weird, Mrs Price.’
It takes me a moment to absorb all this.
‘Okay,’ I say, brushing my hands on my skirt. ‘This is what’s going to happen. We’re going to stick to our story, which is that nothing ever happened. If anyone asks you, or asks Holly, about Teri being hit by a car that you or Holly were driving, you have no idea what they’re talking about.’
She nods.
‘However. If the police ever ask—’
‘But why would they? Who would tell them? She’s fine, isn’t she?’
‘Exactly. She’s completely fine. I’m just saying, if it ever came to that, if the police ever asked—’
‘But you said—’
I raise a hand. ‘If ever the police were to ask, you would tell the truth, wouldn’t you?’
‘I don’t understand why they would ask if we never tell them!’
‘Except that she might want to make trouble – Teri. So I’m looking out for you both.
I promise you that I’ll take full responsibility if anything happens.
But in the worst-case scenario, would you tell them what you just told me?
That the car wasn’t even on? That you saw Teri behind the tree, and she saw you, and she did it on purpose? ’
‘My parents will kill me.’
‘I think that’s unlikely.’
‘You don’t know them,’ she mumbles.
Which is true enough.
‘But don’t worry,’ I say. ‘Nothing will happen. Everything will be fine.’