‘Toxic?’ she repeats, aghast. ‘Icarriedthose talentless idiots for years.’
‘You also have to remember there’s still a lot of negative energy attached to your name after what happened to Nicu’s ex.’
‘That fucking woman made my energy negative!’ shouts Margot. ‘Before her it was positively positive! She’s been rotting in the ground for ten years, so how is she still able to twist the knife? I’ve lost my career and now I’m raising her fucking kids. What more does she want from me?’
The caller tries placating her and I think the conversation is concluding. I pad softly into the kitchen, grab my keys, turn, and have just reached the front door when Margot speaks again.
‘I know where the bodies are buried,’ she says. ‘If they don’t let me back in, then perhaps I’ll start digging.’
‘Margot,’ says Geri slowly. ‘You really need to think about this. I’ve stepped over the line many a time myself, it’s par for the course in my job. But it could reflect badly on you if anything negative ever came out and was traced back to you.’
‘I have nothing to lose. I’m already toxic, remember?’
When I hear her making her way downstairs, I slip outside and shut the door behind me.
Chapter 29
Margot
Girls, we have just had the weirdest morningEver, Liv WhatsApps Anna and me.
I don’t have to guess, I know. But I’ll have to play along. I let Anna answer first.
What?she messages.
Cat Face is back!Liv replies, and uses several cat emojis to emphasise the point. I know what a cat looks like, thank you.
How amazing, I reply.Where has she been?
We have no idea, Liv messages.But she was wandering around the garden this morning as if she’d never been away, original collar and tag still round her neck.
I bet the kids are excited, Anna responds.
They won’t leave her alone. Although there’s something a bit different about her. When she left, she had a small scar above her lip where she once had a scrap with another cat. And now it’s not there.
I let out a huff. How was I supposed to know that? Although Cat Face’s death was more the result of negligence than malice, I felt bad for the children’s loss. Guilt is a funny old thing. Much of the time, it doesn’t trouble me, but when it comes to visit, I have anoverwhelming urge to repair what I’ve broken. Finding an identical ragdoll breed the same sex, size, colour and shape as Cat Face proved almost impossible, but I kept referring to images of it posted by Liv on her Instagram page. I spent days searching just about every cat rehoming site I could find online, until I found someone trying to get rid of theirs in Sheffield. After a four-hour round trip and £700 lighter, I brought Cat Face version 2.0 home with me, hid it from my family in the garage – minus the mice bait – and set my alarm for 5 a.m. to let it free in Liv’s garden. But I didn’t know I needed one with a damn scar.
But that’s not all because this is where things get really strange ...Liv continues.
The dot-dot-dots feel ominous. A minute passes before a photo arrives. It’s of her kids with two identical ragdoll cats.
Look who walked through the cat flap an hour ago!Liv messages.
What the actual fuck?
???writes Anna.
She has no collar but she does have the scar above her lip.
I sit back in my chair. It’s only the original bloody Cat Face. I didn’t kill her after all. I went to all that trouble, felt all that guilt, for nothing. The damn thing has been staying at some bloody Airbnb or something.
What are you going to do with it?I reply.
Looks like we’re a family of six now!writes Liv, and adds a thumbs-up emoji.
I look at the original Cat Face and know just where I’d like to stick that thumb.
Chapter 30
