The Perfect Mother - Caroline Mitchell Page 0,123

regret. Roz was snoring softly now, finally at peace.

Reaching out, John touched Dympna’s arm. ‘You have every right to be angry with me, but go easy on Roz. She’s been to hell and back, by all accounts.’

‘I can’t believe I have a sister,’ Dympna said. She hovered over her cot, feeling an instant bond. She owed Seamus a huge apology.

‘She’s a determined little thing, all right,’ John chuckled. ‘All hell breaking loose around her, and she decides to come into the world.’

Dympna peeked at Ashling, her heart melting as she watched her sleep.

‘You’re safe now,’ she whispered. ‘Your big sis is looking out for you.’

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

SHERIDAN

‘I’ve dug people out of some holes during the course of my career, but nothing like this.’

The gravelly voice belonged to her lawyer, Elizabeth Ross. At almost sixty years of age, she made her living from repairing celebrity reputations and was the ballsiest woman Sheridan knew.

‘Have you had some kind of breakdown?’ she continued. ‘Is that it?’

Sheridan was in no mood to be lectured. Sitting in the police interview room, she was well aware of the trouble she was in. ‘How’s Daniel? I need to talk to him.’

Elizabeth glared down her thick spectacles, which were attached to her neck by a gold chain. ‘You can’t. And even if you could, I wouldn’t let you. He’s laying all of this at your door.’

‘No!’ Sheridan’s hands curled into fists as she rested them on the table. ‘He can’t be.’

‘He said it was all your idea. He thought Roz was there by consent.’ She glanced around the ceiling before rummaging in her jacket pocket and slipping out a vaporiser. ‘I paid five hundred bucks for this vape, so it better not set the smoke alarms off.’ Elizabeth was a chain-smoker, had been since her teens. The evidence of her habit was set in the deep lines around her mouth. She took a sneaky puff and exhaled a stream of vapour towards the floor.

‘We were in it together,’ said Sheridan. ‘He told me to deal with it.’ She crossed her legs beneath her chair, her calves aching from wearing flat shoes. Daniel’s betrayal cut as deep as if she had taken a blade to her skin.

‘Yet he wasn’t there when Mike was around.’ Elizabeth’s mouth twisted as she spoke, her scepticism painfully evident. ‘He’s denying everything, and Roz backs his story up.’ She paused as Sheridan’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Oh yes,’ she continued. ‘I’ve read her statement. She said every time she was with him, he was nothing but kind. He made her meals, took her out, and get this . . . he even gave her his keys so she could leave. On more than one occasion, he told her she was free to go!’

‘But Kelly . . .’

‘Kelly nothing. Never once did he demonstrate any knowledge of her death. Even when Roz asked questions, he played dumb. Wanna know what else?’

‘No . . . yes,’ Sheridan breathed through her open fingers as she buried her head in her hands.

‘He claims you were having an affair. He had you followed. A private detective has photos of you and Mike in some very compromising positions. How could you be so dumb?’

‘He slept with her – with Roz. They had sex!’ Sheridan screamed the words, but she knew it wasn’t true.

‘Not according to Roz. She got close to it but he turned her down. Said it wasn’t right, even though she was tugging on his pants at the time. Quite the gentleman, by all accounts. Unlike you, getting it on with an ex-convict in some cheap motel room.’

Sheridan’s hands touched her throat as panic rose in her chest. ‘I don’t believe you,’ she said. ‘It’s not true!’

‘It gets better,’ Elizabeth continued, her words peppered with vapour as she exhaled. ‘Your mom’s next-door neighbour saw the report on TV. She’s identified Mike as the man she saw leaving Dorothy’s address. Now I’m betting your pal Mike is gonna squeal like the pig he is. What else have you been up to, Sheridan? Who else have you tried to bump off?’

Elizabeth was ready with an answer. ‘He said he was in love with Kelly. That he was going to leave you for her, but then she disappeared. He’s got some lovey-dovey footage of the two of them together. He’s got all the evidence he needs. Can you see how much trouble you’re in?’

The bastard, Sheridan thought, biting her bottom lip. There was no time for tears now. Despite it all, Leo needed

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