To Olivia’s relief, Esther was back at work on Tuesday, which meant she didn’t have to endure another day with just Roger and Jeremy for company. She had been dreading facing Jeremy after their uncomfortable encounter, though recent events with Noah had taken her mind off that.
Her fears resurfaced as she walked through the door, wondering if Jeremy would say anything about how he had spooked her the previous night.
But he acted as if nothing had happened. She was pleased about that, but also found it a little unnerving. As the day wore on, she did start to wonder if she had overreacted. The two of them had never gelled and recent events had Olivia more on edge than normal. Perhaps it had just been Jeremy being a dick.
Not in the mood for joining in with any office banter, she kept her head down, willing the work day to pass quickly, her mind replaying the encounter with Dan, or Daniella as she now knew her, and Noah’s reaction to it.
He had acted like it was no big deal. The apology she finally had received seemed more like a token effort to pacify her. Why had he felt the need to mislead her?
Other than a message that she hadn’t bothered to respond to, she had not heard from him all day. He had said he was coming over to hers that night, that they would talk.
Part of her wanted to tell him not to bother, but also she was curious to know what he had to say. He had betrayed her trust, something she didn’t give easily, and he was going to have to work hard to win that back. Plus, although she didn’t want to be a coward, knowing Molly was away was making her dread returning home. Last night’s incident was far too clear in her mind. Okay, so the cameras hadn’t picked anyone up, but Olivia hadn’t imagined what had happened.
Even if there was a rational explanation for the back door being open, and Molly had insisted she had locked it, Olivia didn’t buy Noah’s theory about the faulty Echo. And for it to start playing the same Christmas song that she had heard in the kitchen at Honington Lane? That was a stretch.
What if someone was hanging around the house trying to spook her? It would be dark when she returned home and the thought of being there alone frightened her more than she cared to admit. As the office clock ticked closer to five thirty, her fear escalated.
She glanced at her phone, saw that there were no missed calls or messages from Noah. And okay, she had blanked his last message, but surely he should be grovelling or something? After all, he was the one in the wrong. She toyed with messaging him, asking if he was still coming over, but pride stopped her.
Maybe she should stop by the restaurant, see her mum. She could always stay the night there. But there was Luna to consider. She would have to return home first to feed her, plus get a change of clothes for the morning.
Pondering what to do, she said goodnight to her colleagues and stepped out on to the busy road, fishing in her bag for her car keys. As she began the walk back to her car, she was aware of someone falling in step beside her.
‘Hello, Olivia.’
She glanced up and for a moment thought she was seeing a ghost. Although she hadn’t seen Fern St Clair in over fifteen years, the woman was instantly recognisable, all sharp cheekbones, thin smirky lips and black hooded eyes. There were harsh lines around her mouth, which gave her more of an edge, and her blonde hair had been bleached almost white in colour, but Olivia would have known that hard face anywhere.
‘Fern, what are you doing here?’
‘I came to see you.’
‘What? Why?’ Olivia had stopped walking now and turned to face her former friend, was vaguely aware that the two of them were blocking the pavement, as people bustled around them.
‘I thought we should have a catch-up. Fancy grabbing a glass of wine?’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’
‘Oh, come on. Don’t you think it’s time we buried the past?’
Was she serious? Olivia wanted nothing to do with her. ‘You are my past. And honestly, I’d rather you stay there.’
‘Would it help if I said I was sorry?’
‘Are you?’
That smirk deepened. ‘It was a long time ago. We were just kids.’
‘So the answer’s no.’ Why did that not surprise her? Fern had never been remorseful for anything in her life. ‘Look, I don’t have time for this, so you go your way and I’ll go mine, and let’s just pretend we never had this conversation.’ Olivia started to walk away and was annoyed when Fern followed.
‘Of course I’m sorry, Livvy. There you go, is that what you want to hear?’
The woman couldn’t sound any more insincere if she tried.
Olivia kept walking, cutting off down a side street and picking up her pace, the clatter of Fern’s heels following.
‘What happened to forgive and forget? I thought you would be gracious enough to accept my apology.’
Ignore her. Don’t bite.
‘You’re being pathetic, you know, keeping up a stupid grudge.’
‘I’m not keeping anything up, Fern. I don’t want you in my life, period.’
‘That’s cold. And people say I’m the bitch. Well I’m not. I’m trying to be the bigger person here. I’m the one offering an olive branch and doing the right thing.’
‘The right thing?’ Olivia stopped again, her temper rising. ‘The right thing would be to go away and leave me alone. I have moved on and you should too.’ The car park was just two minutes away and she started to walk away again, knowing that once she reached her car she could lock herself inside and get away from Fern.
‘Have you really moved on, Livvy?’
Ignore her. Olivia turned into the side alley that led to where her car was parked, picked up pace again.
‘Seems to me you are right in the thick of things.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
‘You were there in the house that day with Gary when he died. Bit coincidental, don’t you think?’
Olivia whirled on Fern, anger burning through her. ‘What the fuck are you implying?’
‘Don’t tell me this isn’t connected. You have this stupid grudge about what happened when we were kids. Are you really going to try convincing me that you didn’t play a part in this? That what happened to Gary wasn’t some stupid revenge prank that went wrong?’
What? Olivia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘You think I did that?’
‘I know you’re behind it, Livvy. You might as well own up.’
‘You’re bloody crazy.’ Olivia was reeling with both shock and disbelief. Was this one of Fern’s sick games? ‘Get away from me.’
As she went to walk away, Fern caught hold of her wrist, tightened her grip. ‘A long, long time ago, you did a bad, bad thing.’
Olivia’s heart was thumping, her mouth dry. ‘What did you say?’
‘You recognise those words, don’t you?’
Had Fern sent her the notes? ‘It was you?’ Yanking her wrist free Olivia took a step back. ‘You crazy bitch. Stay the hell away from me!’ She bolted for the car park, trying not to stumble in her heels, freezing when she spotted the figure leaning on the bonnet of her car.
As she tried to plot her next move, aware Fern was still behind her and, not sure which direction contained the most danger, the figure rose, moving towards her and into the light of a lamp post.
Noah.
Relief skittered through her as she ran towards him. He met her halfway across the car park, the bunch of roses in one hand a reminder that she was still mad at him, and she took a step back when he went to pull her into his arms. He didn’t get off that lightly.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I heard yelling. Are you okay?’ he asked, ignoring her question. ‘Who’s that?’
Olivia glanced behind her, dismayed to see that Fern was skulking her way across the car park. ‘She’s no one.’
‘We need to talk, Olivia. Now!’ Fern’s voice was shrill.
Goddammit, the bloody woman just didn’t give up! ‘I told you I have nothing to say to you. Go away.’
‘Who are you?’ Noah demanded.
Fern glared at him before refocusing her attention on Olivia. ‘I suggest you come somewhere quiet where we can talk before I start spilling all your dirty little secrets in front of your friend here.’
‘Go ahead.’ Olivia stuck her chin out defiantly. ‘He already knows everything.’
That made Fern hesitate, though only briefly. ‘So he knows you’ve been harassing your old friends, threatening us?’ she asked, slyly.
‘What? I haven’t threatened you. You just threatened me.’
‘Okay, seriously, who the fuck are you?’
Fern glanced at Noah again. ‘Fern St Clair. I’m a friend of Livvy’s.’
Olivia saw the penny drop. He didn’t look impressed.
‘Was a friend,’ Olivia added. ‘A long time ago. But not anymore. Never again. Not after what you did. Noah, can we go, please? I’ll explain in the car.’
‘What threats?’ he questioned.
There was another hesitation, this time longer. Fern seeming to debate whether she wanted to have this conversation with a stranger. ‘My friends and I have been threatened.’
‘And what has that got to do with Olivia?’
‘She is behind it.’
‘Really? How have you reached that conclusion?’
Fern shifted from foot to foot, for the first time looking uncomfortable. Was she really going to own up to what she had done? ‘Revenge,’ she muttered eventually, looking Noah square in the eye.
‘For what?’ He wasn’t letting her off lightly and a little part of Olivia thawed. After all this time she wanted to hear Fern admit what she had done. Was Noah about to help her get that?
‘It’s not relevant what for. It was a stupid childhood prank and it certainly doesn’t justify her sending us notes, letters, threatening us,’ she answered eventually.
Fern had received notes? Olivia’s blood ran cold. She exchanged a brief glance with Noah.
‘What notes?’ he asked.
‘Maybe you should ask Livvy that! She sent them.’
‘No, I didn’t. I thought you’d been sending them to me.’
For the first time Fern looked a little unsure. ‘No.’
‘Yes, Fern.’ Olivia turned to Noah. ‘She knew what was written on them, so she must have sent them.’
‘No, you silly cow. I know what is written on them because you… okay, some fucker has been sending them to me.’ The fight left Fern, her shoulders sagging. ‘You really didn’t send them?’
‘No! Seriously, I have better things to do than send you stupid notes.’
‘So if you didn’t send them, who the fuck did?’
