out of the box but then snippets of her staggering through trees kept coming back. Her soaking wet legs reminded her that she’d slipped into the stagnant pond. The journey from the pond to the bridge were completely missing, that’s all she could remember.
‘Lucy, how did I get here?’ The woman ignored her. ‘Please, you can stop this. I have children that need me. I need them.’ Cherie sobbed as the woman glared wide-eyed at the road below. Blue lights ahead blocked any further traffic from passing through. ‘I’m sorry, I really am. I can make it up to you.’
‘I should have left you to die in that coffin but you know something, Cherie, it wasn’t enough for you. I thought you were my friend. I trusted you back then when you took me to that party.’
‘I know and I hurt you. I’m truly sorry. You weren’t meant to kiss Isaac. I lost it, I’m sorry.’ The road below became blurrier. Maybe it was the vodka she’d consumed earlier, the drug she’d been injected with, or the lack of air in the damn box that the lunatic beside her had trapped her in. ‘I’ll do anything to make it up to you, Lucy. Please, just give me a chance. We don’t have to keep reliving the past. We can move on from it.’
Tears streamed down the woman’s cheeks. ‘What did I ever do to you? I was just the new girl. That was my only crime. You barely knew me, how could you hate me that much? Okay, Isaac kissed me once but that was it.’ She paused and stared at the sky with glassy eyes. ‘Since that day, I’ve had to live with all that baggage while you all carried on with your merry little lives. You’re married, you have children. Bella and Oliver.’
Cherie began to hyperventilate. ‘Please don’t hurt them.’
‘Me, hurt them? I’d be more worried about you hurting them after what you did. I saw a version of you that you probably don’t want the world to know about. Does your husband know the real person behind the mask you wear? If not, he will after this. I’ve left everything written down in a notebook, in the van. Everything you did to me is in that book. I’m finally ready to tell my story even though every word I wrote down felt like a stab to the heart.’ She paused and smirked. ‘It looks like death is a good option for you. You pay for what you did to me and you escape seeing your children look at you in a way you never thought possible. They will hate you but you know something, I bet they’ll go easier on you because you died. Or will they? Whatever, you won’t be there to see how much they all despise you.’ Lucy laughed through her tears, a brown curl falling over her red-rimmed eyes.
The notebook. She had to get Lucy off her and get the notebook before the police arrived. She could push Lucy over the edge, claim it was self-defence or suicide and have everyone feel sorry for her, including her own family. Christian would come back home with the children and he’d be none the wiser. She’d go back to AA to deal with her drinking, start again. Get another job. Whatever it took, she’d do it. She reached for the railings but the world began to spin as she looked back. Get a grip, Cherie. You can do this. As she went to grip the railings, she felt a tug at her wrist. Rope – binding her and Lucy together. Blood pumped around her body, thudding in her head and ears. What next? Think, think. She couldn’t hear the sirens any more. She was going to faint or maybe she was going to be sick. Her stomach rolled as she gripped the railing with the other hand. The metal was getting slippier as the rain got heavier.
‘I knew you’d try to shake me off. I really am prepared for everything. We’re doing this together, Cherie. I’ve killed three people, but you know something, when all this comes out, the world will see what you all did and that you deserved what you all got.’
Mind awhirl, Cherie thought of Alex. It was now obvious that Lucy had killed Penny and used the messages to lure her to the pond. If only it had been Isaac. Everything would now be okay. She knew Lucy had sent the