‘I know, I was wrong. It wasn’t Dad.’
Heather paused, surprised by the admission. ‘Yes. You were. I’m glad to see you’re finally seeing sense—’
‘It was Spencer.’
Heather glared at her, ice in her blue eyes. ‘What?’
‘It was Spencer who fathered Anna’s child.’
Heather’s face twitched and her jaw tensed. She swallowed, visibly, then put her hand on Issy’s forearm, holding it tight. She leaned in so her face was just inches from her daughter’s. Issy could smell coffee on her breath. ‘Never. Ever. Say that again. Do you understand me?’
‘You covered it up,’ Issy whispered.
‘You know what I covered up?’
‘What?’
‘Your positive blood alcohol test.’
The accident again. Issy frowned. ‘I didn’t do a blood alcohol test—’
Heather let out a mean, cynical laugh. ‘Your blood alcohol was taken when you were in hospital, Isobel. You crashed your car into a wall, critically injuring your passenger. Do you think they justforgotto test you? That you justhappenedto get off scot-free? The blood alcohol limit is zero for P-platers.’ Heather narrowed her eyes. ‘Yours was 0.08. That’s mid-range if you’re on a full licence.’
Issy felt her chest tighten, her breath shallow. ‘But—’
‘But nothing!’ Heather hissed. She shook her head, as though Issy was a stupid joke. ‘That poor friend of yours had half her face sliced open! Have you ever wondered why they moved away after the accident? It cost us a fortune, avoiding that lawsuit, but we did it to spare you the public humiliation. And you barely gave the whole escapade a second thought. Too busy thinking about Isobel Ashworth. Flitting from one party to another in your beautiful, charmed life, which you owe entirely,entirely, to your father and me.’
Chapter 57
‘Georgie!’ Meg yelled, rattling the heavy door. ‘Can you hear me, Georgie?’
She stopped, straining to hear something from inside the building, but there was nothing. ‘Georgie!’
She shook the door again, but it was stuck. She froze at the sound of voices in the distance.
Heart pounding, she raced back to her hiding spot under the stairs and fumbled with her phone as she dialled triple zero.
‘Police,’ she said, breathless, when the operator answered.
When she was put through, she spoke steadily, quietly. ‘I’m at the Highland Dairy factory in Hartwell. A man has locked my cousin in a building. She’s—’
There were footsteps now.
‘Someone’s coming. I can’t stay on the phone. They might hear me. Please. You need to hurry!’
She hung up and squinted through the gap as the footsteps grew louder. Then Hugh Thorburn came into sight.
‘I think she’s in here,’ he said. Who was he talking to? Was Dean back?
‘Who’sin here?’ a second voice said.
Meg moved her head from side to side, up and down, trying to see who it was. Hugh didn’t answer.
‘You’ve dragged me here, now tell me what the hell’s going on!’
‘Dean locked some chick in a cupboard and took off.’
‘What the fuck? Jesus Christ. We need to get the hell out of here!’
