Audrey brightens. ‘Ooh, shallwego for dinner there? I’m starving.’
‘I’m a pescatarian,’ Teddy comments, shaking her head.
Audrey pouts. ‘I’m an Aquarius, what’s your point?’
‘I don’t believe in horoscopes,’ Paula adds helpfully.
‘For the love of—’ Teddy begins but stops when she sees Ivy’s expression. She’s pale and trembling.
‘What is it?’ Teddy asks urgently.
‘Gemma,’ Ivy whispers softly, her voice trembling. ‘I remember Gemma saying she works at a steakhouse one night a week.
‘Shit,’ Teddy says in a low voice. ‘What do we do?’
‘We wait,’ Audrey says firmly. ‘If we have to step in, we step in. But we shouldn’t blow our cover unless we have to. Let’s watch and wait.’
Paula can hardly breathe as she watches him watching the restaurant entrance. After a few minutes, a woman emerges. It’s Gemma. Paula recognises her from the social media photos Ivy’s shown them. She’s laughing with a colleague – a man – and they turn together to lock the door behind them. Paula’s eyes flick to Dominic a few feet away, waiting by his lamppost. Even from this distance, she can see his breath is getting faster, his chest rising and falling. He’s furious.
He steps forward, into the light, blocking their path, and Gemma’s entire expression and body language change. The terror on her face is obvious.
Beside Paula, Ivy reaches for her hand, and they squeeze each other hard, fighting an urge to run towards the woman.
Dominic starts shouting immediately. She’s a slut, she’s a cheat, a bad mother for leaving the kids at home. The male friend steps in front of Gemma protectively. There is more shouting, more horrible, cruel insults thrown. Dominic tells Gemma he’s going to take the children. She won’t get custody. She’ll never see them again. She shakes her head, fighting her instincts. It’s clear she’s in survival mode, hunched in on herself as she waits for this to be over. The man with her says he will call the police and Dominic laughs at this. Eventually, he turns to leave, calling his wife a whore as he goes. Gemma and her friend – as well as the four women hiding in the shadows across the road – all watch him go, holding their collective breath.
No one says anything for a while. Not even as Gemma and her friend hurry away in the opposite direction.
Ivy is the first to speak, and she does so quietly. ‘I don’t think letting this man peacefully die in his sleep from gas poisoning is enough,’ she says.
‘Agreed,’ Teddy replies quickly.
‘What do you want to do to him, Ivy? What would youliketo do to him?’ Audrey asks and Ivy narrows her eyes, considering this.
‘Pushing my husband down the stairs felt pretty good,’ she answers solemnly, fine lines appearing around her eyes.
‘Let’s do that again then,’ Audrey says with delight, and Teddy nods with determination.
‘We’ll follow him home from the pub one night – make sure he’s really drunk and everyone’s seen him staggering about. Then we’ll break into his house and push him down the stairs. Everyone will assume the drunken fool fell.’
They all look at one another and nod.
When Paula gets home an hour later, her phone beeps with a message in the group WhatsApp from Ivy.
I messaged Gemma. She’s going away on Friday for a whole week. She’ll be in Cumbria staying with her parents. We should do it while she’s there with a decent alibi.
The replies come thick and fast.
Sounds like a plan.
Next week it is.
Paula is the last to respond.
I’m ready. Let’s get that Evil Bastard.
22
‘Whoops!’
