original messages that the others mentioned. Her old friend had been meticulously planning her revenge for a long time. Who was the other victim? She was still alive and Lucy had only mentioned Alex and Penny. Who was the third?
‘You’re thinking hard and your maths is right. Three people and it will soon be five, if I count myself and you.’ Lucy paused and wiped her tears away. ‘I can see your pea brain whirring around. Who’s my other victim? I wanted to kill the other two that were with you on that fateful night but you know something, I never knew who was behind those last two masks.’ Lucy let out a huge laugh as more tears spilled out. ‘Seeing as you didn’t ask, the other one was my own father. The reasons are no concern of yours but let’s just say this, he turned out to be a big disappointment. All I can say is that people who stand by and do nothing are as guilty as those committing the crime.’ She shrugged. ‘What is a concern of yours is, if I can kill my own father, I will have no problem killing you. When I look at you, Cherie, all I feel is hate and fear and anger. Time may tick by but a person never forgets how you made them feel, which is why we are going together, now. I’m looking forward to it. You can embrace it too.’
Cherie felt the tug at her wrist, gulped and closed her eyes.
Chapter Seventy-One
‘Lucy, you don’t have to do this.’ Gina took one tiny step towards the woman in the long black coat as she was about to let go of the railing, which Cherie also gripped with one hand, her eyes still closed. ‘Can I come a little closer, so that we can talk?’ She held her palm up to Jacob to keep him right back. One wrong move and both women would be dead.
A flood of tears streamed down Lucy’s face. ‘I like you, a lot, I always did. This piece of shit doesn’t deserve anything. I’ve left you something in the van. Everything is in the notebook. I wanted you to have it. I knew you’d understand. It had to be you, Gina. Only you would understand.’ Her lower lip trembled as she held back another sob.
‘Please, Lucy, just let me go.’ Cherie tried to loop her elbow under the rail to get a better grip, but the gap was too small to feed her arm through.
‘Tell her what you did. It’s confession time.’ Lucy stared down at the road.
‘I can’t.’
‘Tell her!’
‘What do you need to tell me?’ Gina took another half-step forward but she was still too far away to make a grab for anyone if the two women were going down. Cherie shivered in what looked like soaking wet leggings. Lucy’s coat was open and reaching out in front of her as if it was beckoning her to follow it over the edge.
Cherie screamed as Lucy teased her by leaning forward a little. ‘Okay, years ago I hurt Lucy, I hurt her badly.’
‘Tell her how.’
A tear streamed down Cherie’s face. Gina took another step.
‘Get back.’ Lucy’s wide eyes stared at Gina. This woman knew so much about her, she knew about Terry, and Gina needed to understand how much she knew and how, if Lucy took Cherie over that edge, she’d never have her answer.
‘Years ago, my friends and I locked Lucy in a coffin at Halloween. It was meant to be a prank and it went too far. I was jealous because I saw Isaac and her kissing at the party. When I recognised her at the café, I kept going back to apologise, but every time I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to, but you didn’t recognise me and you looked so happy, Lucy. I didn’t want to bring up the past and make you sad again.’
‘You mean you were a coward. Tell the lovely detective what happened after you dug me up from that horrible box. She wants the details from your mouth.’
‘Please, Lucy. You’ve written it all down. I can’t—’
Lucy tugged again and Cherie screamed out. ‘I guess I’m in control here and I’m giving you no choice in the matter, just like you gave me no choice back then when you buried me in a box with only three matches for company.’
‘I hurt Lucy.’ Cherie sobbed and almost choked as she continued to blurt out her darkest secret.