‘But wouldn’t he … wouldn’t he have told me?’
Felix laughed again, a cynical snort. ‘Guess not.’
Her thoughts spiralled. Felix was right. Now the article made sense! It was a strategic PR exercise designed to profile Hugh before announcing his new role to the market. How long had he known?
‘You know what, Issy?’ Felix added. ‘Maybe you’re better off outside of the business. Working with Spencer is a total nightmare. Why do you think I went out on my own? Some of the shonky shit I saw him do …’
But Issy wasn’t listening. She thought of Heather. Had this come as a shock to her too? ‘I wonder what Mum thinks? Maybe I should talk to her about it.’
‘Go for it,’ Felix said. ‘Not that it’ll make any difference—she’ll just support Dad’s decision. She always does.’
Chapter 41
Meg opened the door of her apartment, bracing herself for the sound of Jay’s presence.
‘Hello?’
Silence. She could smell him though. The stale smell from his room now permeated the hallway where the almost-dead peace lily had dropped leaves onto the floor.
It had been so late the night before, when Meg had finally arrived back at the flat, that she’d crept inside in the dark. She’d slipped out again this morning without seeing either of her flatmates, nor the true state of the place. She knew she’d need to face Jay soon, but right now, a confrontation was more than she could handle.
She hurried past his closed bedroom door, then past Gav’s open one, towards her own room, when she stopped suddenly and retraced her steps. Gav’s room was empty. Completely empty. There was no bed. No desk. No bike. Nothing at all, except some dust balls in the corners.
She fumbled for her phone.
Gav answered on the second ring. ‘Meg, I was just about to call you—’
‘What the hell, Gav?’
‘A room came up at a mate’s place—’
‘Were you planning on letting me know?’
‘It happened really fast—’
‘A phone call, Gav! You couldn’t find the time to make a phone call!’
‘I was going to call you this arvo. I just moved out this morning. I’ll pay you a month’s rent, Meg. I just had to take it. I can’t live with Jay anymore.’
She couldn’t speak. Fury pulsed through her. Her head felt hot. ‘Meg? I’m sorry,
Meg. I’m really sorry.’
She took a steadying breath. ‘Bloody Jay,’ she muttered. It wasn’t Gav she was angry at. It was Jay. And herself. She’d let this situation go on for far too long. What the hell was wrong with her? She exhaled loudly. ‘What am I going to do, Gav? I need to kick him out, but he owes me a ton of rent.’
‘I reckon he’s got a stash of cash in his room somewhere. There’s been constant randoms coming to the flat. I’m pretty sure he’s been selling pot.’
It took Meg less than ten minutes to find a Quality Street chocolate tin on a high shelf in Jay’s wardrobe. She counted the notes. Eighteen hundred and fifty bucks. It was less than he owed her, but she’d call it even. She would email the agent that afternoon to terminate the lease and sort out her own living situation later. She felt relieved at the thought.
She rolled the notes up and put them in her pocket, then she put the tin back on the top shelf and started back down the hall. A ripple of delight ran through her as she imagined the moment he discovered the tin was empty.
She barely dared to breathe until she reached Pete’s place.
‘Hunter, where the hell have you been?’ Pete asked when he opened the door, relief in his voice.
She hadn’t spoken to him since before she’d visited the factory. She’d sent him a long, garbled voice memo while she drove to Rosedale after getting the call from Michelle, explaining her theory. Since then, she’d been so busy she hadn’t returned his calls.
‘The Ashworths sent someone to visit Mum.’
