After work, she decided to head back to the dingy coffee shop, which was open to 6 p.m. even though customers seemed to be scarce. That gave her just under an hour to get as much information from the mobile as possible before she got rid of the thing once and for all. She bought another dubious-looking coffee and settled down at her window seat with some much needed privacy.
Kat sipped at the sludge they passed off as coffee. She had plugged Rachel’s phone into the charger she had picked up from the newsagents next door; she didn’t want to be in the middle of reading some juicy messages when the blasted battery died. She then took out a pen and notepad in case she felt the need to jot anything down and got to work. Already she had uncovered an affair between Rachel and her boss and a possible instance of domestic abuse at the hands of Jason. What else awaited her?
Kat needed to work fast as the cafe was closing soon and she really had to get rid of the phone. If she was found with it in her possession, everything would have been for nothing and the whole sorry mess would come crashing down. She just hoped that no one would be actively looking for, or tracking, the phone yet.
The messages from Tony were damning. There was no way it wasn’t exactly what it looked like. They had been at it for a good while. The first message on the phone from him was from months ago and you could see them escalating. Tony had arranged the job for Rachel in the first place. She wondered if there was even the need for a job interview. Then she shuddered at how an interview between the pair of them might have played out.
Some of the photos were truly disgusting, but Kat couldn’t help but look. Tony was obviously very proud of certain parts of his anatomy. She had seen more than enough of him. She wondered how she would look him in the eye from now on or how she would manage to keep a straight face when she saw him next in work. Then Kat wondered how she could use this new-found information to her advantage. Kat had never had such devious thoughts before in her life.
The next person in the message list was someone called Ste.
Kat thumbed her way into the messages. Oh my God, Rachel was seeing this Ste guy as well. The texts made it clear. It wasn’t just the pair of them being flirty – they were talking about things that had actually happened between them and looking forward to further encounters.
So she was seeing Tony, Ste and she had Jason, her fiancé. What a little slut she was. Who else was she with?
There were no photos in this message thread, which surprisingly disappointed Kat. She was actually beginning to enjoy herself. The messages and photos had her transfixed.
Kat read further…
Then spilled her coffee everywhere.
30
Kat stared at the phone. Somehow her mug hadn’t smashed but coffee now covered the grimy floor. Thankfully, the cafe owner seemed to be too busy cleaning up through the back, judging by the noisy clanging of pots and pans, to take any notice of his only customer and the mess she had made. Kat looked in disbelief at the message sent by Ste.
We don’t want your mother finding out. You’re my stepdaughter, after all – it would be frowned upon! x
Ste was Rachel’s stepfather! What the hell had she stumbled upon? Rachel and her stepdad? Kat scrolled further and read on with horror.
There was no doubt about it. Rachel was having an affair with her stepdad. What age was Ste? What did it matter? It was wrong on so many different levels. Kat was engrossed in the phone – this was better than any soap opera her mother loved watching. This was real life in all its messed-up, sordid glory.
Kat couldn’t take her eyes from the messages. The two of them didn’t care one bit about Rachel’s mother/Ste’s wife. They were actually laughing at her, saying she had no clue what was happening and that she was too daft to ever catch them. They were making fun of her. Maybe Mrs Strang should be told exactly what had been going on right under her nose? Maybe she should be told, in detail, what her no-good scumbag of a husband and her lovely daughter had been up to.
The phone buzzed in her hand. Kat nearly jumped out of her skin. Jason, the fiancé, was phoning. She let the phone ring out. There was no way she could possibly answer it, after all. She set the phone aside until the buzzing ended and grabbed some napkins to try to clean up the coffee on the floor. When she returned her attention to the mobile, a small icon had appeared indicating that Jason had left a voice message. Kat thumbed her way through and listened to it.
‘What’s going on, Rach? Why you not answering or phoning me back? Getting worried here. At least send me a text, let me know you’re alright. I know I shouldn’t have hit you but… just phone me back, eh?’
The voicemail confirmed Kat’s suspicions that Jason had hit Rachel. So much for their supposed idyllic life together. What a nasty little temper Jason had. Maybe he should be told what his fiancée was up to? His beloved wife-to-be was having two affairs, one of which was with her bloody stepfather. How would he react to that bombshell?
Kat stopped and stared at the phone. Maybe everyone involved in this mess should be told exactly what was going on. An idea was forming in her head and she allowed herself a little smile. Was she really that devious?
Every few minutes or so, Rachel’s phone either received a message or a phone call. It was eating into Kat’s time looking at the thing. Kat was lucky if her own phone went once a day, and it was normally a nuisance call trying to talk about the accident she had never been involved in. She rarely received any messages from her friends anymore. The volume of calls and texts on Rachel’s phone reinforced to Kat that she absolutely had to get rid of it and quickly. No excuses. It was only a matter of time before she was reported missing and the phone might be tracked.
She decided to try to stop the phone being traced, although she wasn’t sure it would work. She put the device into airplane mode which disabled Wi-Fi and the network, and would stop any incoming calls, which were drastically reducing her time reading Rachel’s messages. She also disabled the GPS – or at least she hoped that she had. It was still too risky to turn the phone on at home though, she thought. If she looked at the phone in work or in Glasgow city centre then it wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary and it wouldn’t flag up that Rachel’s phone had been in Kat’s flat for an extended period of time. Kat thought it must really have been a hell of a lot easier to get away with crimes in years gone by without smartphones tracking your every step, CCTV watching your every move and forensic scientists examining every tiny fibre and hair and God knows what else on your body.
31
Kat couldn’t get in the door quick enough. She needed peace and quiet to dissect what she had read on Rachel’s phone and time was of the essence. Kat had no car so she was later home than usual, which was annoying but couldn’t be helped. She still noticed that the rude young guy with the expensive suit and even more expensive Mercedes had stolen her space yet again. But Kat couldn’t worry about that just now – she had higher priorities. Much higher priorities.
Kat really didn’t need to see Mrs Paterson tonight, but there she was hanging around as usual, eagerly awaiting her arrival home from work.
‘Kat, where’s that car of yours?’ she asked as soon as Kat was within earshot.
‘Hi, Mrs Paterson. It’s getting fixed at the garage again. No luck with it at the moment!’ Kat wanted rid of Mrs Paterson as quickly as possible; she didn’t want to answer any more questions, and telling her the car had been stolen would have elicited further interrogation. Telling her what had really happened to the car would have resulted in an ambulance being called.
‘How are you feeling? You want to come in for your tea? I’ve made beef stew with dumplings.’ Mrs Paterson had taken to cooking for Kat since Kiddles had died.
‘I’m fine. Thanks for the offer but I’m okay tonight – maybe another time though.’ Kat backed away from her neighbour and into the flat.
‘I’ll hold you to that!’ Mrs Paterson shouted.
Kat stepped inside the sanctuary of her flat and closed the door. Made do
ubly sure it was locked.
Mrs Paterson meant well, but she was an irritation Kat could well do without at the moment. Things were stressful enough without having to deal with nosy neighbours. Even if they were cooking her dinner.
*
Kat turned over in her head what she had seen on Rachel’s phone. An affair with her manager at the bank was bad enough, but now she had uncovered an affair between Rachel and her stepfather. Plus, she had found out more about Rachel and Jason’s volatile and sometimes violent relationship. She had spent the whole night trying to digest the sordid contents and it was now the small hours. Kat had also resolved to get rid of the phone tomorrow, although as yet she hadn’t come up with a reasonable plan to dispose of it.
She had to stop and get at least some sleep. She hadn’t even stopped for dinner.
One good thing might come out of all this heartache and stress however – she might lose a bit of weight. Kat laughed then made her way to bed, though she knew sleep would be hard to come by. She had to try though; her alarm would sound in less than four hours.
32
Kat woke with a start. She must have dozed off after all. She had hardly slept a wink since the fateful incident. The unexpected vibration of her phone as it buzzed on her bedside table drew Kat sharply from sleep. For a horrible moment, she thought it might have been Rachel’s phone buzzing, but then she remembered she had made doubly sure it was turned off. Kat’s phone hardly ever received calls or texts, especially now that Rachel wouldn’t be sending her any more abusive messages.
Kat sat up and looked at the message which had come through. It was from the dating site Rachel had signed her up to confirming that her account was now closed and giving her a link to reactivate her profile if she should so wish. Not bloody likely.
Kat jumped in for a shower and got ready quickly. She was going to leave for work early. This was one of her last opportunities to have a look at Rachel’s phone before she got rid of it once and for all tonight. It was frustrating not being able to peruse it at her leisure at home, but there was no way she was going to risk alerting the police to her involvement.
She entered the cafe, of which she was now becoming a regular customer. The same guy had served her every time she had been in, but he looked completely disinterested and didn’t want to strike up a conversation. Kat decided against a coffee and opted for a small carton of orange juice. She sat down at her favourite spot and took out Rachel’s phone. Within thirty seconds of turning it on, it was buzzing with messages and missed-call alerts. There were loads of them. Kat realised this couldn’t go on much longer. She needed to get rid of the phone. She was bound to slip up if she sent any more messages trying to pretend they were from Rachel. There were fourteen missed-call alerts. Fourteen! Six from Jason, four from her mum, two from Kirsty and two from unknown numbers. Kat knew it was foolish holding on to the phone. It would end up getting her caught.
Kat thumbed her way into the messages. The latest one was from her manager and secret lover Tony.
What’s going on? You coming into work today? How come no text or meet last night? Missed ya xx
Tony really was smitten with her. She composed a reply to Tony and hoped it would buy her some more time. Tony wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box so it shouldn’t be too hard. She told him she would be back at work tomorrow and to cover for her again, and promised she would make it up to him.
The problem with the phone was that there was just too much information on it and Kat felt she had barely scratched the surface. So far, she had uncovered two affairs, one of which was with Rachel’s stepfather, so who knew what else she would find?
She just didn’t have the time to look through everything on it and taking a few days off work at this point might raise suspicion further down the line. She promised herself she would deal with the phone tonight; she’d dispose of it.
Kat was just about to switch the phone off and make her way out into the street to walk to work when it buzzed again. It was another text message.
The sender was Kirsty.
Listen, get back to work TODAY. You killed her cat – it’s no big deal. We’ll sort it. Okay, I shouldn’t have made you do it. Happy now?
Kat stared at the message. She felt the anger rise up within her.
Kirsty had made Rachel do it. Kirsty had made Rachel enter her flat and kill her poor cat.
Kirsty was the orchestrator.
33
I shouldn’t have made you do it.
It was Kirsty. All along, it was her.
Kat had thought Rachel was the ringleader. Mistakenly thought Rachel was the ringleader. She seemed to instigate every instance of bullying. Now, Kat had discovered she was being manipulated and ordered around by Kirsty.
Rachel had started the verbal abuse in work, but it was always Kirsty who was the most vocal cheerleader, and on occasion Kirsty had started the abuse herself.
Kat couldn’t suppress her anger about this revelation. She was glad Rachel was no longer going to be an issue, but surely she didn’t deserve to die? It had been an accident, self-defence even, but it would have taken a hell of a lot of explaining away. Rachel had tormented her for months and she had entered her home and killed her cat. There was no getting away from that. Yet, did she deserve her fate? Did she deserve to be left in woods covered in bleach, white spirit and petrol and then set alight? Did anyone deserve such a fate? Was she forced to do all of this by Kirsty? How much hold over someone could you have that they could force you to do such a horrible thing?
Kat stared at the message on the handset. Her grip hardened on the phone as her anger rose. She wished Kirsty had ended up the same way as Rachel, if she was being honest. Kat surprised herself with this thinking – she had never thought like this before. The bullying and death of her cat seemed to have triggered these dark thoughts.
Kirsty had to be dealt with. She couldn’t be allowed to get away scot-free for destroying Kat’s life. Kat wasn’t going to kill her. The first time had been a fluke; the second time would be a disaster and premeditated. Anyway, who was Kat kidding? She was no killer.
Kirsty wouldn’t be as strong without her little minion Rachel to protect her and back her up, and there was no way Kat was going to allow the bullying to continue after what had happened. She had been through too much for it all to be for nothing.
Kat looked at the messages on the phone between Kirsty and Rachel. The two of them were working in tandem to ruin Kat’s life but why? What reason could they possibly have for choosing her and not someone else in the office? Was Kat just the unlucky one who had been picked out at random or had she done something to upset the pair? The language they used in the messages about her was vile. Why did they hate her so much?
Kat didn’t have enough time to continue reading the conversations; she was already going to be late. She needed to get into the office, although she wasn’t sure Tony would notice if she was there or not. The message from Kirsty had thrown her completely off course. She had to be smart and stay calm. She needed to cobble together some sort of plan to deal with this.
She needed to stop Kirsty once and for all.
34
One good thing about Tony’s complete inability to perform the duties of a manager was that he didn’t notice Kat disappearing for prolonged periods of time throughout the day to check Rachel’s phone. This was her only chance to look at the phone as she had to dump it tonight before it led to her capture and arrest. She’d already held on to it for far too long.
Kat had been in work for a couple of hours, but her mind had been elsewhere. She couldn’t stop thinking about the message from Kirsty and was going over all possible scenarios in her head. One thing was for sure – Kat couldn’t allow the bullying to continue. Not after everything that had happened. There was no way all of this was going to be for nothing.
Kat knew Kirsty wouldn’t be the same without her sidekick Rachel around, and Kat was the only person in the world who knew with absolute certainty t
hat Rachel would never be back.
She hadn’t taken her eyes off Kirsty for most of the morning so far, and Kirsty hadn’t looked her usual assured self. Maybe she knew something had happened to her horrible friend?
Kirsty walked by Kat’s desk, heading for the toilets.
Kat dropped what she was doing and followed.
She entered the ladies’ toilet and waited at the sinks. Kirsty was in one of the cubicles. Was it the same one Kat had been locked in? She couldn’t remember. After a couple of minutes, the cubicle door opened and out came Kat’s tormentor. The person who had somehow made Rachel come to her flat and kill her cat. Kat pretended to wash her hands.
Kat realised she had no idea what the hell she was doing in the toilet. She had bunched her fists in anticipation of seeing Kirsty, but there was no way she was going to do anything. For one thing, if there was some sort of fight or confrontation, then it would come out when the police investigated Rachel’s disappearance. It wouldn’t look good. Kat had to play it cool, even if she was boiling inside. Being so close to the girl who had made her life a living hell for the past six months and not being able to do anything was hugely frustrating, yet Kat had to keep her head.
‘Hi, Kirsty. How are you?’ Kat said with a smile and a new-found confidence.
Kirsty was taken aback; Kat had never initiated a conversation between the two of them before.
‘Eh, I’m fine,’ Kirsty replied warily. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m good, thanks,’ Kat said before leaving a stunned Kirsty standing in the toilet.
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