He hung up, and I stared at my phone, more confused than ever. If Dixon was behind the catfishing, then why had Margie tried to run me over? It didn’t make any sense, nor did it make sense that Dixon would do something like this. He seemed like such a decent guy, and he also seemed to really like Jace and the rest of the band. He’d been a part of their team when they’d toured for months on end, almost like family.
I guessed he was just really good at faking being a decent person. The thought chilled me to the bone, pushing me off my centre. In the space of a few short hours, everything I thought I knew had shifted.
I started to look back on all my interactions with Dixon in a new light. I’d always thought he didn’t like to talk about his time in the military because maybe something bad had happened to him, but that wasn’t it. He didn’t like to talk about it because his background was fake, and if he’d had to provide details, someone might’ve realised he was lying. I recalled the day when Jace and Zara had been late home from school because she’d been playing football with some of the other kids. Dixon had failed to inform me, and I’d worried over their lateness. When I’d gone outside to ask him about it, he’d pretended like he’d gotten distracted and forgot, but now I wondered if maybe he’d done it on purpose just for kicks. It definitely seemed to amuse him to inform me how the mothers at the school were always vying for Jace’s attention.
My pulse was racing like I’d just stepped off a rollercoaster. I went to search my cupboard for some camomile tea, foolishly believing it could possibly help to calm my nerves. Finding the box, I set it on the counter, then went to put the kettle on. It hadjust finished boiling when my doorbell rang. Okay, if this was Viola come to finish her tirade, I really didn’t care to listen.
Remembering what Jace had said about staying inside, I pulled up the app on my phone that connected to the security feed. My heart stilled when I saw Margie standing at my door. Mascara ran down her cheeks like she’d been crying.
Then Isla appeared behind her, asking a question. Margie motioned to the door, saying something, but I couldn’t read her lips. I needed to go deal with this.
Opening the door, I found Margie and Isla in a standoff. Jace had clearly given Isla a full rundown of our discovery over the phone because she was eyeing Margie with no small amount of suspicion. I also noticed a familiar car parked outside Viola’s house next door, the very same car that had almost run me down. Seeing it again had a chill running down my spine. So it really had been her. I felt sick to my stomach.
Margie gazed at me with pleading eyes. “Shannon, I know you’ve discovered things about me, but I just want a chance to explain. I value our friendship more than you know, and I hate that I lied to you.”
“You did more than that,” I said, stepping forward, my voice cold. “You tried to run me over.”
Her face went even paler than it already was. Isla swore under her breath as she turned to Margie, aghast. “That wasyou?”
Margie’s lip quivered. “How did you find out?”
“Aside from the fact that you just drove here in the same car? My neighbour saw you. Turns out, it can pay to have a nosy, overbearing meddler like Viola living next door when your best friend wants to make an attempt on your life.”
“Please, Shannon, I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I swear. Just let me in so we can talk. I’ll explain everything.”
“Fat chance, darling,” Isla scoffed. “The only place you’re going is jail.”
A part of me agreed, but another part saw the desperation in Margie’s eyes, and my soft heart gave a sharp pang. Whatever her reasons, she obviously wasn’t in her right mind, and especially since she was still driving around in a stolen car. I needed to know why she’d done it, why she’d been lying to me all this time, and I needed to hear it directly from her.
“Fine,” I allowed, and Isla looked at me like I was crazy. “You can come in and say your piece, but Isla stays. Whatever you want to say, you’ll have to say with her there, too.”
“Yes, yes, of course, I understand,” Margie nodded her head, her pupils blown wide like she’d taken something. Oh, God, what had she taken?
We went into my kitchen. I stood by the counter while Margie took a seat, and Isla stood in the middle between us, arms folded and eyes zeroed in on Margie’s every move.
“Are you on something?”
“Just a few anti-anxiety pills. When Samuel told me Jace had discovered everything and that I should maybe leave town, I had a bad panic attack. I needed to take something to calm myself down.”
“Samuel?” I questioned, suspicious. Who the hell was Samuel?
Margie swallowed thickly. “It’s Dixon’s real name. He … he and I … we know each other. Well, more than know. We were involved for a while before everything got out of hand.”
Hold up,what?Now, I was even more confused. “But that day at the café, you acted like it was your first time seeing him. You asked if he was single.”
“I know, I just panicked seeing him there. I wanted to make it look like we were strangers.”
“How exactly do you know him?” Isla interjected, her shoulders tensing. It was clearly difficult for her to hear about her colleague. They’d been a team for years, and now, somehow, Jace’s dad had discovered he was behind the catfishing scam. But he and Margie were involved? Did that mean they were in on it together? My stomach twisted over on itself just thinking about it.
“I met him a little over two years ago. It was after an Astro concert in London. I’d gone there to hurt Jace,” she confessed, shame etching her features.
My blood ran cold. “Hurt him how?”
Another chill tiptoed down my spine when Margie just stared at me, not answering for a long moment before she said, “It was wrong. I know that now, but I was so full of hate at the time and—”
“So, you really are Cai’s sister?” I stated.
She shook her head. “No, I’m his … he was my …” A tear fell down her cheek. “Remember the baby I told you about? He didn’t die as an infant. I was so young, only fifteen, and my parents took him from me, raised him as their own. My Cai,” she wept, and more tears fell. “I loved him so much, but I couldn’t live with the lie any longer. It was eating me up inside. So, I left with a man I was seeing at the time. He was moving to Canada, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to start a new life and forget the past. I was doing okay over there, got my college degree, and had a decent job in IT. I’d broken up with my boyfriend, but my life was good. I always kept an eye on Cai, watched his social media to see what he was up to. When I saw he died, all the old hurt came back. I fell into a depression, couldn’t keep a routine, got let go from my job, and did some things I’m not proud of.”
