It felt like a long time that Liv stood there with everyone staring at her. She could feel herself sweating and the kitchen wasn’t even that hot. This was why she shied away from confrontation. It was horrible.
‘Can’t you see we’re busy?’ said Fraser.
‘Er yes but I have some things I want to say before I leave.’ She held her chin high and ignored the wobble in her voice.
‘Please don’t,’ said Effie, looking pleadingly at her.
Liv glanced around. Donald looked embarrassed; Winnie was agog. There was no benefit in doing this in front of everyone. The important thing was that she told Fraser what she thought of him; she wasn’t like Lizzie and out for revenge. ‘Can we talk in the hallway?’ she asked, reversing out of the kitchen.
Fraser slammed down the knife, which she was grateful for. No point in toying with an angry man wielding a weapon. He followed her out of the kitchen, as did Effie.
She looked at the two of them. She’d only known them five days but it felt like so much longer. Then she corrected herself. It was longer with Fraser but she’d really got to know the real him since she’d been in Scotland, both the good and the bad. And this was the end.
‘Firstly,’ said Liv, ‘Effie, there’s no shame in being the victim of a con man. These people are professionals.’ Effie was shaking her head. Liv handed her her mobile. ‘These are pictures of John. But here he is also known as Rick.’ She flicked to the next exact same photograph as the one Effie had shown her. ‘And Paul, Kyle, Christopher, Rocco and TJ.’ All the pictures were identical.
‘How have they got John’s photograph?’ Effie sounded bewildered.
‘I’m sorry, Effie. His real name is Zach Rodriguez and his identity has been duplicated multiple times by con men, most notably those undertaking romance scams. John is just a name used by some chancer trying to wheedle money out of women. He’s the worst.’
Tears welled in Effie’s eyes. ‘No, you’re lying.’
‘What are you doing?’ asked Fraser.
‘I’m stopping your cousin from sending money to a confidence trickster who claims to be a US army veteran taking a sabbatical to help people in Burkina Faso.’
At least it raised a derisory snort from Fraser. ‘She’d not fall for a…’ He ran out of words when he saw the look Effie was giving him. ‘Effie, you haven’t—’
‘You’re siding with her without even hearing what I’ve got to say? Or what John might have to say?’ Effie swallowed hard at the end of the sentence. Liv hated to see her hurting.
‘Go on then,’ said Fraser.
‘I met John online. We’ve been messaging. He’s real and he’s genuine and—’
‘But, Effie, John clearly doesn’t exist,’ said Fraser. ‘Liv’s just shown you his real identity.’
Tears slid down Effie’s face and Liv reached to comfort her but she shoved her away. ‘I hate you both,’ she said, pushing past Liv and running up the hall.
They both watched her go. It was horrible to see her so upset. Fraser turned. ‘Right. I suppose I should thank you for sorting that out.’
‘And apologise for blaming me for upsetting Effie.’ Liv folded her arms and stared him down.
Fraser lifted his head as realisation dawned. ‘That’s what you said to her that upset her? I assumed you’d insulted her.’
‘No!’ Liv was wounded. ‘Come on, what do you take me for?’ His eyebrow twitched. ‘Don’t answer that. I might have implied that con men preyed on lonely people but it was me outing John as a no-good crook that upset her.’
‘Then I’m sorry.’ He held her gaze a fraction longer than she was comfortable with.
‘Apology accepted.’ Awkward glances darted between them. ‘What do we do now?’ asked Liv.
Fraser twitched a shoulder. ‘I dunno. I guess there’s no need for you to leave anymore. Service in twenty minutes?’
Fury erupted inside her. The cheek of him! ‘Seriously. You think I’m going to stay and help you after this?’ His expression gave him away. ‘You’re bloody unbelievable.’ Liv was actually grateful for his attitude because it made what she was about to say, so much easier.
‘I thought you were treating Effie how Lizzie had, and I couldn’t let that happen again. But I really don’t have time to grovel and keep apologising.’ He pointed over his shoulder towards the kitchen.
‘Tough,’ said Liv staring him down.
‘What?’ He almost choked on the word.
