She swallowed as she thought of Rachel, the girl who had no idea who her father really was. She glanced at the photo of her in-laws that was hung on the wall. Rachel definitely had Alan’s mother’s eyes, she was certain of that. As Natalie hit the table, her phone bounced. There was so much she wanted to scream at Alan right now but that opportunity had never been an option. Her suspicions had been there but only in death had they been confirmed.
She grimaced as she drank her tea, the bitterness and strength almost drying her tongue out. All she could think of were Mary’s pleas for forgiveness. Maybe it would be better to drop everything. Drop Kate, drop Rachel and the truth. Drop it all and concentrate on the future.
Glancing out of the window she saw Cody sitting at the back of his boat, drinking from his flask as rain trickled down his face. Natalie wondered if he had been up all night too, similar things churning through his mind. It’s hard to sleep when you’re lying to everyone.
Hurrying to her bedroom, Natalie put on the same jumper that she’d worn yesterday and a pair of old jeans. She needed to speak to Cody again. Once upon a time, she’d have done what she could to protect the man and Archie, but not now. She owed them nothing now that Alan had died. Grabbing her coat, she almost slipped on the threadbare hall carpet as she hastily left out the side door. She jogged over to Cody.
‘You bleddy liar!’ She knew that he’d had something going on with Mary and that they were all in this together.
‘Go back to bed, Natalie. Go and sleep whatever it is off.’ Cody put his cup down and stepped off his boat.
Natalie hurried down the concrete steps and pushed Cody.
The man stepped back and placed a hand on his chin, his brows furrowed. ‘What the hell? I know you’re grieving, Nat, but you’re acting like a crazy.’
She’d give him crazy. ‘Are you sleeping with Mary? Is that why she’s protecting you?’
Natalie tried to picture Cody and Mary in the cabin. Her legs wrapped around him as she screamed with ecstasy and the thought turned her stomach. All of a sudden she saw Alan instead. A shiver ran down her spine. Everything about her life felt cheap now. Her memories erased and replaced with the truth of Alan and Mary. She felt like a pound shop bargain that had still ended up in the reduced pile. Had they laughed about her when they were together? Humiliation burned her cheeks.
Pacing back and forth, Natalie roared and leaned against the wall. ‘Answer me.’
Cody stared at her, not saying a word.
‘You probably need to stay on her good side so she doesn’t blab about your dad. Is that why you’d risk everything?’
Before Natalie could take a deep breath to continue, Cody darted over towards her and slammed her against the wall. ‘You leave my dad out of this. I am not sleeping with Mary. Never have done, never will. You go about spreading those rumours, I’ll spread your remains on the seabed and not lose a single night’s sleep. You will not upset my wife or daughter. Do you hear me?’
She didn’t believe a word that came out of the man’s mouth. If he could keep the secret of his father for that long, what else was he keeping in that head of his?
‘What happened, Cody?’ She had to push him harder. Speckles of saliva hit her cheek as the man seethed, breathing in and out through the thin gaps between his teeth.
‘Nothing. Absolutely nothing.’ Cody let go of Natalie and stepped back.
‘Dad.’ Daisy stepped down, a cool box gripped between her fingers. ‘Is everything okay? What’s going on?’
‘Nothing, my love. We were just saying how dull it looks today, weren’t we?’
The last thing Natalie wanted was to upset Daisy. The girl had nothing to do with any of this. ‘Yes, awful-looking day.’
‘Natalie, are you okay? You look as pale as a sheet.’ She knew Daisy could sense all was not right.
‘Just a hangover, love.’
‘Natalie was just saying that she has a lot on so she was just leaving.’
‘Yes, got to go.’ Natalie exhaled as she tried to hide her shaking hands but the tremor in her voice was harder to disguise.
‘By the way, Dad, I can only help you out this morning. I’m meeting Bethany and Rachel for brunch. Making the most of half-term. So, you taking me out fishing or are we staying here talking all day?’ Daisy stepped onto the boat, placing the cool box on the back seat. She slipped her hood off as she reached the cabin and allowed her long caramel-brown hair to fall over her shoulders.
‘Yes. We best get going.’ As Daisy headed deeper into the cabin, Cody moved close to Natalie until their noses nearly touched.
‘I’m going to find out exactly what it is that you’re covering up.’ Natalie stepped back not wanting to ingest any more of Cody’s coffee breath.
‘I won’t repeat myself. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep out of it and mind your own business.’ Cody turned away and got onto his boat.
That was the second threat she’d received after having Mary say almost the same thing. Cody was definitely sleeping with Mary and they were both hiding what Archie did together. God knows why. It’s not like Archie was even in a position to be questioned by the police given how ill he was. She watched as Daisy passed a sandwich to her father and took one for herself.
When the truth came out, it was going to rip through the town like a tornado, leaving destruction in its wake.
