Trust No One - Keri Beevis Page 0,1
he was wiping down the bar counter. ‘I have to put up with this for another three weeks.’
‘Oh, pull the other one. You love it!’ Olivia finished clearing the table, expertly balancing dishes and glasses, and taking them through to the kitchen, where her mother was loading the dishwasher.
‘Thanks for helping out tonight, Livvy. I know you had to cancel plans.’
Olivia set the dirty crockery down. ‘It’s no bother. It was only a drink out with work and I wasn’t really looking forward to it.’
That was the truth. She worked in an estate agents and her colleagues weren’t exactly a barrel of laughs. Her boss, Roger, was too tight to shell out for a Christmas meal, so they were supposed to meet for a drink instead. Olivia’s only female colleague had phoned in sick, and she had been dreading spending the evening with just Roger and his smarmy protégé, Jeremy.
Her mother calling to say they had a full house in the family restaurant and asking if she could spare a hand had been a welcome excuse to cancel. Roger and Jeremy would have had more fun without her and at least she hadn’t had to put up with their snide comments and sexual innuendos all night.
‘Is there anything else you want me to help with before I head off?’
Elena Blake shook her head. ‘I have it covered. You’re welcome to stay the night if you want.’ She offered every time, always hoping Olivia would say yes.
‘I have Luna waiting at home.’ (And a new season of Mindhunter she was looking forward to, but she didn’t add that bit. Her mother wouldn’t appreciate coming second to Netflix.)
‘You said Molly’s away. I don’t like you going back to that big empty house alone.’
‘You worry too much, Mum.’ Olivia kissed the top of Elena’s head before slipping on her coat. ‘I’ll be fine.’
She called her goodbyes through to her brother, promised her mum she would message once she was home, then stepped out of the back entrance into the cold wind.
She found the envelope pinned under her wiper blade, flapping in the breeze. She didn’t take much notice of it until she was huddled inside the car. It was bitter out with an arctic chill and her windscreen had already started to ice. Turning on the engine and blasting the heater, swearing because she had forgotten her gloves, she glanced at the envelope. It had her name typed on the front.
A Christmas card? Curious, she opened it and pulled out the sheet of notepaper.
A long, long time ago, you did a bad, bad thing.
Everyone’s past catches up with them eventually, including yours. Soon.
What the hell?
She would have dismissed it immediately as someone’s idea of a joke, but it was addressed to her, so it had been intended for her. Of course that still didn’t mean it wasn’t a joke. Though she couldn’t think who the hell would find it funny.
But if it wasn’t a joke, that meant it was a threat. She didn’t like that idea and couldn’t think of anything bad she had done.
Who had left it on her windscreen? As the car windows began to clear, she glanced around the dark car park warily. No one was around, at least that she could see, and hers was the only vehicle parked there. The envelope could have been left at any point during the evening, but still unease crept up her spine, and she locked the car doors, figuring better safe than sorry.
Maybe I should take Mum up on her offer of a bed for the night. As soon as Olivia considered the idea, she dismissed it. She wouldn’t let herself be spooked by what was obviously a prank. Besides, if she went back inside, her mum would want to know why she had changed her mind, and Olivia wasn’t up for explaining.
Elena would only freak out, worrying about her every time she was home alone, and honestly, after a full day at work then a busy evening serving tables, all Olivia wanted was to have a quick shower and slip into her own bed, watch a bit of TV and, Luna’s mood permitting, snuggle with her cat.
She pulled out of the car park on to the quiet road. The grassy bank opposite that led up from the river was covered with a sprinkling of frost that, along with the string of overhead fairy lights, made it look decidedly festive.
Turning on the radio for company, she sang along to Starship’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna