“Alan said she was on a night swim?”
I nod. “Near the pier.”
“Did you see anything else?”
“No, it was too dark.” I gesture to his screen. “When’s your deadline?”
“Eleven,” he finally answers. He nods at my laptop, eyes narrowing. “What areyouworking on?”
I angle the screen in his direction, displaying it, hatefully.
AFL star Tim Botkin tied the knot with influencer Lucy Graham in an extravagant ceremony at the stunning Three Bees Villa in Tuscany on Monday. The newlyweds gave fans a glimpse inside their lavish celebration on social media.
“Riveting,” Chris mumbles petulantly. “Make sure to use the spellchecker.”
“Piss off.” I flick through the photos of the forty-two-thousand-dollar-a-night villa. “I hope they choke on their wedding cake.”
“We all do.”
I smile gratefully. “Are we mates again?”
For a long moment, he doesn’t answer. Outside, a shutter bangs against a doorframe. I find myself leaning forward, my left knee brushing his. “Or do you think I’m gill-ty of something?”
He rolls his eyes at the pun, but I notice him softening. Relieved, I glance around his Airbnb study in Pine Bay, nodding approvingly at the glass desk and the carpet, soft and salmon pink. “Nice room.”
“I write it off on tax,” he mumbles, before standing up, stretching. “Dinner, too.” Grudgingly, he asks, “You hungry?”
Rachel’s meaty body drifts through my head, floating in a bloody current.
“…Yeah.”
—
I balance a pizza sliceon my knee while proofreading my latest bullshit article,Baby Joy forHome and AwayStar!
I lean back, sighing. I’ve written four articles tonight. Enough for the next few weeks’ rent, food, and emergency fund in case Joy sues me. But I doubt she will be considering the recentDailyarticle.
Morning, Sunshine! host Joy Marriot investigated for scamming cancer charity
In 2019, Logie-winning TV presenter Joy Marriot was praised after publicly vowing to donate 15 percent of her cookbook proceeds to Kids with Cancer. But as of January 2024, there is no record of any payments directly on her behalf.
Chris made a few phone calls, confirmed what I already knew. Then he leaned back in his chair, stunned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How the hell did she get away with it for so long?”
I was thinking of Kangaroo Bay when I answered, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil…”
“Is for good men to do nothing,” he said brightly, nudging me with his elbow. “Well, we did something. Something good.”
We did. How fantastic it was seeing that woman finally exposed. How delightful her guilty eyes looked above the condemning headline,
Joy Marriot pulled from Morning, Sunshine! Host investigated for charity fraud.
I saved the article to my home screen, re-read it constantly. All my life, I’ve watched people break the rules. And now,finally,they’re answering for them.
Sometimes I re-read the texts from my lunch friends, too:
HAHA! Take that Joy, you nasty bitch!
They’re saying you “attacked” her because of her charity fraud. People love you, Mel!
