by LK Chapman
‘Nat, it’s–’ Rob’s shoulders shook, and she got up and went around to his side of the table, placing her arm around him. ‘Look, I’m not angry any more,’ she said, taken aback by his display of emotion. ‘I wish you’d told me earlier, but we can’t change that now.’
‘It’s … it’s Verity,’ he said.
‘What about Verity?’
‘She’s gone. She’s taken the children.’
‘What?’
‘And it’s my fault.’ He buried his face in his hands. ‘All of this – it’s all my fault.’
60
Natalie sat back down opposite him as Rob started to speak. ‘I slept with someone else,’ he said flatly.
‘When?’
‘A couple of years ago. But Verity didn’t find out straight away. It all came out not long before you went to that school reunion.’
‘Rob … how could you do that?’ Natalie asked, her voice low.
‘I don’t know what I was thinking,’ he said miserably. ‘It was a huge, huge mistake. I regret it more than I can even say.’
‘How did Verity find out?’
‘I told her. The guilt was eating me up, I couldn’t bear lying to her. One night I just crumbled. I thought it was the right thing to do – she could tell there was something bothering me.’
‘Being honest is the right thing to do, surely,’ she said.
‘I don’t know. I’m beginning to wonder.’
Natalie’s head was pounding, and while Rob collected his thoughts she got up and filled two glasses with water. He gulped some down, while she sipped hers slowly, her mind reeling as she tried to take everything in.
‘She took it really hard,’ Rob said.
‘Can you blame her?’
‘No, of course not. I know this mess is all my fault. Verity has always been a bit insecure–’
‘Seriously?’ Natalie said incredulously. The vivacious, optimistic Verity she knew had never seemed insecure.
‘About her appearance,’ Rob said. ‘She hides it well, but she said she’s always been that way, so hearing about what I did really wrecked her confidence. She could hold it together at work and put on a brave face, but when she was alone with me she was very hurt and angry. She didn’t want us to separate because of the girls, and of course I didn’t want to – I still love her, that’s never changed. But ever since then life has just been unbearable. She never lets me forget it. Every day she wants me to see how much I’ve hurt her, and I’ve apologised so many times the words don’t mean anything any more. They’re just useless sounds.’
‘Oh, Rob,’ Natalie said. She couldn’t think what else to say.
‘She threw herself into the business, she started spending a lot of time working in the evenings. I thought she did it because she just didn’t want to be around me, and I guess I couldn’t really blame her. She stopped letting me help her with the business accounts–’
‘Why?’ Natalie asked. Verity had made no secret of how much she hated doing the business accounts and how glad she was to have an accountant husband.
‘I thought she was just doing it out of spite. I said it was ridiculous, she was clearly cutting off her nose to spite her face, but I just let her get on with it.’
‘She spent a lot of money around then on advertising and refurbishing the shop,’ Natalie said. ‘I thought it was a bit risky.’
‘Well, after she let you go, it kept bugging me. She said there wasn’t enough work and she couldn’t afford to pay you, but she’s been snowed under. And she seemed really negative about you and Josh. I mean, I thought she was justifiably worried to begin with, and when it seemed like he was behind what was happening to you online–’
‘Toby was behind that,’ Natalie insisted. ‘And Rob, I really do want to support you with this, but I’m so worried about Josh, I can barely think about anything else right now–’
‘You don’t understand!’ Rob insisted. ‘Verity was behind it! Toby had nothing to do with it. It was Verity who said all that stuff to you.’
Natalie stared at him, floored by yet another mental blow. But this one couldn’t be right. It made no sense. ‘That can’t be true,’ she said. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘It is true. Earlier today I decided to look at her accounts. I was really worried about the business, and I wanted to help her, even if she made it clear she didn’t want anything from me.’ Rob paused for a second. ‘When I looked at the accounts, I saw that she had every reason to be anxious. She’d clearly spent a lot of money on advertising and things like that, but there were other chunks of money coming out of the business that didn’t make a lot of sense.’
‘So what was happening to it?’
‘That’s what I wondered,’ Rob said. ‘I decided to try and work it out, and that’s when I stumbled across all her other social media accounts. The ones she was using to terrorise you.’
61
Tears stung Natalie’s eyes, and she got up from the table, walking aimlessly around the kitchen. ‘She hates me,’ she said, resting her elbows on the worktop, head buried in her hands. ‘She must actually hate me.’
‘I confronted her about it earlier this evening,’ Rob said. ‘I could barely believe it. I still hoped there was some other explanation.’
‘What did she say?’ Natalie asked, her voice virtually a whisper.
‘She went completely berserk. She was screaming that I always take anyone’s side but hers, that it wasn’t fair you were in some fairy-tale relationship when you’re – and this was her word not mine – disfigured, while she was married to a man who cheated on her. She was so angry that you have all these followers online who love you, and that you have the confidence to do your vlogging at all. She said that she had tried to help you after the accident, giving you a job, and that you’d repaid her by taking over – that her clients would come to the shop and ask for you instead of her. She said your life had ended up better than hers, that you were just a parasite feeding off of her kindness. I was so angry and disgusted with her, and that just made her worse. She was so full of spite and hate … and she framed Josh. She said she visited you at your flat that day, and she had a brief chance to use Josh’s laptop to set him up.’ Rob gulped down the rest of his water, avoiding Natalie’s eyes. ‘She said she was taking money from the business to try and save up to have cosmetic surgery, and that it was my fault for making her feel so bad about herself that she needed to do that. Then … well, then she said she was leaving and she walked out with the girls. I don’t even know where she went.’
‘My God,’ Natalie said. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Rob paused for a moment, as if to try to stop himself breaking down again. ‘The thing is, that’s when it hit me. She knew that I knew Mikayla. And she knew that I went to the lake that morning. She’s pretty much the only person who does know that. I confided in her about it not that long after we got together. When we started getting serious.’
‘Rob–’
‘So she wasn’t just saying stuff about Mikayla online to hurt Josh and you, she was doing it to hurt me, too. That “stranger at the lake” stuff that came up, that was her. I couldn’t understand where you had got that from, when you told me you’d heard about it. Nobody – almost nobody,’ he said, stressing the word in a way that made her frown, ‘knew I was there. But when you first started getting trolled it wouldn’t have crossed my mind to suspect Verity. I thought it really was some silly rumour, nothing to do with me at all.’
‘You mean someone apart from Verity does know about it?’ Natalie said. ‘You said almost nobody knew you were there …’ She paused, and then light dawned. ‘Toby! He overheard the call between you and Mikayla. Did he see you when you drove there?’
Rob looked startled. ‘Toby? No. He didn’t see me. At least, I didn’t see him.’
‘Then who?’
‘Natalie, I’ve never told anyone this. Not Verity, not the police when they questioned me. Nobody.’
‘Rob, you’re f
rightening me,’ she said, as cold goosebumps broke out over her skin. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘There really was a stranger there. A woman. And she was acting sort of … odd.’
Natalie listened closely as he explained to her about the woman he’d seen at Chedford Lake, her mind searching for anything that could help – any clues to her identity.
‘You’re sure?’ she said. ‘Messy light brown hair, and a bright cardigan with flowers on it?’
‘Yes,’ Rob said. ‘I never forgot what she looked like. I’ve never been able to forget her at all. Nor the way she burst out of the trees, almost running straight in front of my car. I had to slam on the brakes and I got out to check she was okay.’
‘And she said, “that poor girl,”’ Natalie asked, repeating what Rob had told her.
‘That’s right. I was going to ask if she needed a lift somewhere – not that I really wanted her in the car with me – but it seemed wrong to just leave her. But she dashed off again. After that I didn’t want to be there any more. I turned the car around and drove back home.’
His eyes had a faraway look as the memories played out. ‘She … she frightened me, Natalie. She really frightened me.’
***
Up in her room, Natalie paced about restlessly. Verity had been the one trolling her. And Rob had known Mikayla. There had been a stranger at the lake. As the thoughts whirled, she stopped for a moment to sit on her bed, only to stand up and pace, then sit again as she tried to process it. Admittedly, there had been some odd moments in the shop from time to time with Verity – the way she’d tried to suggest a venue far bigger and flashier than Natalie and Josh had wanted for their wedding, and with a price tag to match. The look that had flashed across her face when one of their brides, Carmel, had been in tears and looked to Natalie rather than Verity for help. Not to mention how Verity and Rob had ambushed her about Josh, which had clearly been her idea.
But the way she wrote about me. About my scars. About Josh. It was twisted. It was evil. Anger flushed Natalie’s cheeks. Verity had made her life a living hell! She’d made all this happen! And she’d driven Josh to breaking point with her callous, selfish words. No matter how much pain she was in herself, how dare she do this to make herself feel better? And to pretend to be concerned and sympathetic – all the while gloating at the misery she’d caused?
And Rob. He’d lied too. He could have told her months ago that he knew Mikayla. But he hadn’t bothered. He’d been more concerned about saving himself a little bit of discomfort, without considering that Natalie or Josh might have liked to know the truth.
Nobody gives a shit about Josh! The only person who gave a damn was Gareth. The only person who had been honest was Gareth – though he hadn’t exactly covered himself in glory by keeping Toby and Mikayla’s break-up hidden so long. But at least he’d done it out of compassion for his friend rather than any selfish reason.
In a fit of anger she pulled her suitcase out from under the bed and started stuffing in her clothes. She couldn’t stay here a moment longer. Rob and Verity’s house wasn’t a safe place for her any more – it was as poisonous and untrustworthy as everything else in her life. She’d suffocate if she spent one more night in this room. She packed her clothes so badly that she couldn’t do up the zip on her suitcase and she yelled in frustration, whacking it several times until her hand hurt. What was she going to do? She might have all this new information, but what good was any of it? She’d been looking in all the wrong places – making a fool of herself and letting everyone else take her for a fool as well. No wonder Toby thought she was crazy when she started saying he’d been trolling her. But he had gone mad at her in the house when he realised what she was up to. He’d terrified her. He might be innocent of the trolling, but he was behind Mikayla’s death, she was sure of it.
And there was a stranger at the lake that day. There were things going on that weekend that the police don’t know about.
Oh, Josh, I wish you were here. She checked her phone, but there was nothing – no news about him. He’s going to go down for this. She pushed down as hard as she could on the suitcase and managed to force the zip closed. There was nothing left for her now. She’d find somewhere to stay for the night, and then she’d go to the police station and see Josh in the morning, if they’d let her. Perhaps if he was lucky they would release him before then, though what sort of man he would be after this ordeal, who knew. He still wouldn’t have got any closure.
But the police still don’t know about the break-up between Mikayla and Toby. Sure, Josh might have told them, but it wouldn’t be as powerful coming from him – it was just hearsay. They needed to hear about it from the person who witnessed it. It might not prove anything on its own, but maybe, just maybe, it would be enough to get Josh released, and once they started investigating Toby again, Mikayla would finally get the justice she deserved.
***
‘Gareth, I need you to help me,’ she said urgently. She spoke quickly, the phone pressed against her ear, as she dragged her suitcase out onto the landing.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘What’s happened?’
She took a deep breath and put her case down at the top of the stairs before plonking herself on top of it. It would be hard work to explain it all again, but she had to do it. She had to stay strong. ‘I need you to tell the police about the argument you overheard between Toby and Mikayla, and the break-up,’ she told Gareth. ‘It’s the only way we can help Josh. I’ve been on his side all along. I’ve been trying to find evidence it was Toby–’
‘What?’ he said, ‘you’ve been doing what?’
She hurriedly tried to outline her plan and her reasoning behind it, while Gareth listened in silence. ‘I didn’t find anything at his house,’ she said finally, ‘but it was him, I know it was. If we can at least give the police some reason to doubt Josh’s confession and to start looking at Toby–’
‘Your break-up with Josh was all pretend,’ Gareth said, softly. ‘You never lost faith in him.’
‘Of course I didn’t. I love him.’
Natalie dragged her hand through her hair. Adrenaline was pounding through her again. All that mattered now was getting Josh home safe, and giving some meaning to the hell she’d been through.
‘I can’t believe you did all this for him,’ Gareth said. ‘I’m so sorry for the things I’ve said to you. I’ve given you such a hard time.’
‘It doesn’t matter now. Gareth, I’ve burned so many bridges. And I thought … for a few moments I thought I wouldn’t get out of Toby’s house alive after he found me with all the old photos. We have to get the police to see it was him, even if I didn’t manage to find any evidence.’
‘Natalie, without any evidence, what can you really tell them?’
‘Well, you can tell them what you overheard at the lake that morning. And I’ve found out something else, too. There was someone else there. A woman. Nobody knew that. She said “that poor girl” so she must have seen what happened!’
The image flickered before her eyes, and suddenly she gasped. The woman standing in the doorway of the hoarded house in Toby’s photo. Gareth’s house! Gareth’s mum, in that bright, jazzy cardigan.
Messy light brown hair, and a bright cardigan with flowers on it. That’s what Rob had told her about the woman he saw at the lake. It must have been her. But how did she come to be there? Why? But it didn’t matter any more. She was certain.
‘Who told you there was a woman?’ Gareth asked.
‘My – my brother.’ She did her best to outline what Rob had told her, and after a pause she said, ‘The woman, was that… was it your mum, Gareth?’
Gareth was silent for a moment and she tried to calm down and get control of her racing thoughts. Had she gone too far? Was she adding two and two and coming up with five again? But Rob had been absolutely clear about his description and it matched the photo so precisely. The police wouldn’t be able to speak to the woman, of course, she’d been
dead for many years, but maybe she’d confided in Gareth about what she’d witnessed that day.
‘Have you heard anything from Josh?’ she asked, trying to backtrack a little when Gareth still didn’t reply. His mum was a tricky subject. ‘Anything at all?’
‘Nothing. And his phone is off.’
‘Gareth … please, you will help me, won’t you? We need – you need to tell the police what you know. I’ll come with you to support you. Once they see that it is down to Toby–’
‘Yes,’ he said at length. ‘Okay. In fact, I might have something that can help, but we should meet in person. I can’t tell you over the phone. And you can tell me more about this woman. What exactly did she say to Rob?’ He paused. ‘Hold on a second, I’ve got another call. It might be Josh–’
‘Then go!’ she said, ‘answer it!’
‘I’ll text you my address,’ he said quickly, ‘come round later, and we’ll make a plan.’
Josh
62
‘Josh?’ Gareth’s voice was filled with relief as he answered the call. ‘What’s happened? Are you okay? Have they let you go?’
Josh sighed. ‘They let me go hours ago. They never took me seriously; they just tried to encourage me to get help.’
‘They let you out hours ago? And you only just thought to tell me? I’ve been worried sick!’
Josh sat down heavily on a bench at the side of the road. He’d been wandering aimlessly in the dark for hours. What had he been doing? What had he been thinking about all that time? He could hardly remember. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I was so embarrassed.’ He realised as he spoke that he’d wandered near to his childhood home. In fact, there was the railway bridge Toby had dangled his head over once. He shuddered. Maybe it would have been better if Toby had let me go. After all, he’d done nothing with his life other than fuck it up. Even worse, he’d hurt Natalie.