The phone felt greasy against my cheek, and I could hear my own heartbeat thumping in my ears. “I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate,” I said, but the words sounded hollow, and I knew he could hear the panic in my voice. He sighed on the other end. “I mean, you should have just said.
”
“It’s a long story,” I muttered, glancing over my shoulder at the café window. I’d seen her come in earlier, and then she’d just left it, and now I was standing here like an idiot, trying to work up the nerve to do something I never thought I’d do. “That must have been really hard for you,” he said, softer now, and for a second I wanted to tell him everything. But I couldn’t.
“I just don’t understand why she’s been lying to the police and everyone about where she was that night. Tell me the truth. ”
Silence. Then: “No.
”
My grip tightened on the phone. “Because if the police do know that she’s lying, it’s only a matter of time before she gets arrested. ”
“All right, fella,” he said, and I could hear him trying to brush me off. “You’ve probably got other things to do, haven’t you?
Off to number two, are you? ”
The distraction almost worked. “Oh, uh no. Sorry, I wanted the kids then, yeah?
No, Kirk. ”
“Still, better safe than sorry, am I right? ”
I forced a laugh, but my mind was spinning. “All right, okay.
”
“You’re all right? ”
“Look, I said I’m all right. ”
He didn’t push it, but I could feel him waiting, like he knew there was more I wasn’t saying. And there was.
So much more. I thought about Gary, about how he’d forgotten to pick up our Jake twice in one week, about how he’d been distant and distracted, about how every conversation we had turned into an argument about nothing. I thought about the words I’d thrown at him yesterday, sharp and cruel, and how he’d just stood there and taken it. “Thing is, he’s usually great when he’s helping out with our Jake,” I told Kirk, because I needed someone to understand.
“But then the other week, he forgot he was having him overnight. And then yesterday, he forgets he’s taking him to the cinema. ”
“Well, have you asked Gary if something’s happened? If he’s feeling okay?
”
I almost laughed. “I have no idea. No, I’m not. ”
But the truth was, I’d been so caught up in my own mess that I hadn’t stopped to ask anyone else how they were doing.
And now everything was falling apart, and I didn’t know how to put it back together. I walked back into the café, and the owner was behind the counter, wiping it down with a cloth. “Oh, yeah, have you got any of them long chewy ones, you know, with the stripes down them? ”
He shook his head.
“They’ve discontinued them. ”
“Oh, I hate it when they do that, just discontinue things for no reason. Huh, overrated, in my opinion, but each their own. ”
I ordered a quarter of cola cubes, anything else, and walked out again.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about her. About Summer. About the lie she’d told everyone about where she was that night, and about the secret I was carrying that could destroy us all. “Should I be worried?
” I asked myself, because there was no one else to ask. Then I saw Sarah. She was standing outside the shop, looking at me like she’d been waiting for me. “I saw you come into the cafe earlier, and then you just left it,” she said.
“No, but I’ve got me dad on me back constantly checking to see that I’m all right and that I’m not… ” I trailed off. “Why not? ”
“Because this is heavy duty stuff we’re talking about here.
It’s not that straightforward. ”
She moved closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “So, if you do what I’m asking you to, then it’s going to do me a favor, you a favor, and you’ll still have a job at the end of it. ”
I swallowed hard.
“All right, yes, okay, I’m in. I’ll open those files up with you then. ”
“Is everything all right? ” she asked, and I knew she was testing me.
“Because I can’t risk you messing it up, Sarah. Like you’ve not been yourself for a while now. ”
“It doesn’t make it any easier,” I said, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me. “I do.
But I still need you to take some time off. ”
I shook my head. “And I’m just then going to be sat at home and then twiddling my thumbs and I really want to keep busy. ”
“Not really, no.
”
She sighed. “They’ve got absolutely no evidence against you. Summer, do not do this, right? Please, just come back to the house with me and we’ll talk it through and if you still want to go after that, I will drive you to the airport myself.
”
“I can’t remember exactly. It wasn’t a few days before he died. ”
“Because I hated Theo,” I blurted out. “And then when he was murdered, I was really worried that Carl had something to do with it.
So I lied about where I was because I was scared. ”
Sarah’s face went pale. “Well then running away is only going to make you look more guilty. What do you want me to do?
”
“And what if they don’t? Because they haven’t managed so far, have they? ”
She stepped back, her eyes widening. “You know none of this would have even happened if it wasn’t for you?
You let that psycho come into our lives and still stayed with him and protected him even though you knew what he was really like. Do you know what? ”
She pointed a finger at me. “Okay, if it wasn’t for me, Billy would still be here.
All right, and I think about it every single day and I will never forgive myself. ”
“It’s not your fault,” I whispered, but she wasn’t listening. “I’m just looking out for you, that’s all. You got some work you should be getting on.
Sorry. ”
“Tell him what you just told me,” I demanded. “All right, you. Enough with the sass, please.
”
The door swung open, and a police officer stepped in. “You’re all here. Well, I’m going to come in and clear it with the boss, but I think we’ve enough to bring the men to connect. ”
“Hey, Arnie May,” Sarah said, forcing a smile.
“No can do, I’m afraid. No, I’ve got to get to the station. ”
I felt the room closing in on me. “You know Bryn’s got a black eye, like a proper shiner.
”
“Because there’s things that we need to discuss,” the officer said, turning to face us. “Tell her what she did was wrong,” I heard someone say. “Including you two? Well, you’re not the most discreet at the best of times.
”
Summer looked at me, her eyes begging me to understand. “I was just worried about you, that’s all. If the police find out who actually killed Theo, then I can come home whenever I want. ”
“What if they don’t?
”
“Then why don’t you tell them why you lied? Tell them about Kyle Webster. ”
“No, I can’t take that risk. ”
Sarah stepped forward.
“Have you lost your mind and all? Summer, look after yourself. Anything else I need I can get from the airport. You know you can still change your mind.
”
Summer shook her head. “And look what I said before about this being your fault. He is to blame for all of this, not you. ”
The officer cleared his throat.
“You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. ”
Everyone froze. “All right, go on then,” someone finally said.
“We don’t tell Sam. ”
Later, after the cameras had stopped rolling and the tension had dissolved into exhausted laughter, Gary found me. “He even apologized to me, which is a first, so thanks for that. ”
I was caught off guard.
“No need to thank me. We all are. ”
But he wasn’t finished. “Listen, no one does this to my family and gets away with it.
”
I looked at him, really looked at him for the first time in weeks. “So, what do we call you now then, huh? ”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s all, okay?
I already feel bad enough for Sarah as it is. ”
And I knew, standing there in the middle of everything we’d built and broken and rebuilt again, that the worst was still to come.
