It’s her. Is it her? Yes. Of course it’s her. No, wait. It can’t be her.
‘You would do that? Go to the police? Have Hollyprosecuted?’ I say that last word in barely a whisper.
She shrugs, like this is very much a possibility. ‘Like I said, I need money, Kate.’
‘But it’s all lies! You didn’t want to go to the police, or the hospital. You said nobody needed to know.’
She scratches her eyebrow. ‘Did I? I don’t remember that. Anyway, my point remains. I’m short of cash, you have money, and I think under the circumstances, you should give it to me.’
‘And if I say no?’
‘It’s your word against mine.’
My heart is thumping. ‘How much?’
‘Twenty-five thousand pounds.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘You heard me. Twenty-five thousand pounds. Cash, please.’
I laugh because, for a moment, I think it’s a joke. But it’s not. ‘You’re out of your mind. I don’t have that kind of money and even if I did, why should I give it to you? There’s no evidence; there were no witnesses to the accident. You said so yourself. I’ll just say you’re lying.’
She tilts her head. ‘And you think they’ll believe you instead of me?’
I don’t like the way she says that. ‘Yes, why wouldn’t they?’
She pulls out her phone, flicks through it and shows me the screen.
I feel lightheaded. It’s a video recording. I recognise the road where the accident took place.
And Holly is right smack in the frame.
25
My heart sinks. Holly is looking right at the camera, so she knows she’s being recorded. Why didn’t she tell me any of this?
She looks white with shock, her eyes red, her face wet with tears. She wipes her cheek with her sleeve.
‘Are you all right?’ Teri says off-screen.
‘I want to call Kate,’ Holly says in a small voice.
‘Who’s Kate?’ Teri says. She knows full well whoKateis. What the hell is wrong with her?
‘It’s my stepmum,’ Holly says, shuddering.
‘All right. We’ll call her in a minute. What’s your name, sweetie?’
‘Holly.’
The camera pans over to Scarlett. She, too, is sobbing, wringing her hands together.
‘And what’s your name?’ Teri asks.
‘Scarlett.’
‘Where do you live, Scarlett?’
