Page 34 of To All the Men I’ve Killed Before

My sister frowns in concentration. ‘We could get some pigs?’

‘And where would we keep them? In the pool? Or maybe our new friends in the guesthouse would like them living with them?’

‘There is no need to be sarcastic,’ Antoinette says with a pout. She thinks for a moment, chewing her lip thoughtfully. ‘How about here?’

I shake my head. ‘I’ve already thought of that. Full of tourists.’

‘In the day, yes. But not at night,’ Antoinette says. ‘We could bring the pieces in backpacks and scatter them in the dark. The coyotes and mountain lions would have cleared them up by the morning.’

I shake my head again. ‘I’m not hiking in the dark.’ I point at my feet. ‘These ankles are too pretty to break.’

‘Okay then.’ Antoinette is thinking again. ‘I read something online recently about how a family discovered another person’s remains in the same grave as like their nana. Turned out it was some snitch that local gangsters had unalived and buried in the cemetery. Doesn’t Hollywood have that super famous graveyard where Judy Garland is buried?’

‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery,’ I say. It’s not actually a terrible idea. ‘Although I don’t think Ron Wilde deserves to be buried alongside Judy Garland. But maybe we could look into somewhere a bit more low key.’

‘What about the big lake?’

‘The Hollywood Reservoir,’ I say but shake my head. ‘Too much CCTV.’

‘Could we just make it look like an accident? A drug overdose?’

I stare at her. ‘Antoinette,’ I say. ‘You sliced his throat and cut his body up into six pieces. I think we’d struggle to pass it off as an overdose.’

Antoinette sighs. ‘Well, I don’t know then. But then I’m just an amateur, aren’t I? What do you suggest, wise one?’

But I just don’t have any ideas.

Other than buying an actual abattoir over here. Actually that’s not a terrible idea. I should check out whatever the US equivalent of Rightmove is.

‘I guess he can just stay in the cellar for now,’ I say. ‘It’s probably safest down there.’

19

Kitty and Antoinette’s Airbnb, West Hollywood, Los Angeles

We get back to the villa and Antoinette disappears to have a shower. I open Instagram, partly from muscle memory. I used to live on there. Back when follower count and brand collabs were the most important things to me. I still get some requests occasionally but the page is mostly dormant now.

There’s a message waiting for me in my DMs. It’s from Niamh, Aidan’s ex-girlfriend. I feel my hands tremble as I open it.

Hi Kitty,

I’m sorry you’re having to contact me in these circumstances and I’m really sorry to hear about your friend. I hope she’s going to make a full recovery. Believe me when I say that the best place Aidan can be is as far away from her as possible. You were right in your message, Aidan and I dated for two years a while back, here in Ireland. There were definitely instances of violence in our relationship. He’d push me or grab me, sometimes enough to leave bruises. It was why we broke up. He left the country after my brothers paid him a visit and I haven’t heard from him since. It’s taken me a long time to heal from that man, as you can imagine. I’m sorry I can’t help you. Please don’t message me again. It was a traumatic time and I’m glad it’s behind me, I don’t want the wound re-opened. I hope you understand.

Love and light,

Niamh x

Antoinette comes back downstairs wearing a dress and cowboy boots. Her hair is still wet and leaving little puddles on the floor. I show her the message and she sucks in a breath as she reads it.

‘I feel awful now,’ I say. ‘That poor woman. I’ve probably opened up a whole can of trauma worms.’

‘At least we know he has a history of shitty behaviour,’ Antoinette says as she hands me back my phone. ‘And of skipping the country. What a fucking coward.’

I can’t stop thinking about Niamh.

I should never have contacted her. What was I thinking? I’ve probably just re-traumatised her. She’ll probably have to start her entire healing journey all over again. I should apologise. I begin to tap out a response.

‘Kits, what are you doing?’ Antoinette says, peering over at my screen.