Page 55 of The Summer That Changed Us

‘I’m going to take that as a compliment,’ Katie said, hiding a smile.

‘Oh totally,’ said Amber innocently. ‘You’re quite cool.’

‘For an old person?’ Katie added.

‘You’re not that old.’

Such a wise and confident head on young shoulders, thought Katie as they made their way to the Merle Bay supermarket. She wondered what Amber would make of her naked photos and the mystery sender’s plan to discredit her. She’d be furious at the injustice of it, no doubt. Not that Katie would dream of discussing it with a child; no, this was a matter for the Sea Glass Sisterhood.

Chapter Twenty-One

The atmosphere crackled with anticipation as Grace, Robyn and Katie stared at the newly delivered envelope on the table in front of them. They’d met on the beach as planned but Grace had persuaded them both up to her terrace to sit in comfort and out of the cool sea breeze with a gin and tonic and a bowl of pistachio nuts. She did feel for Katie; it was obvious the poor girl was terrified about what fresh hell the latest envelope might contain.

Katie’s hands were shaking. ‘I feel sick; I don’t think I can open it.’

‘You do look pale.’ Grace glanced around for a suitable receptacle, just in case. The bucket Robyn had given her for collecting sea glass was at the top of the steps. If needs be, Grace could tip out the glass and hand it to her in a flash. ‘Take your time,’ she said, ‘and remember you’re not in this by yourself.’

‘Deep breaths,’ said Robyn, reaching a hand across the table to squeeze Katie’s arm. She looked almost as pale as Katie, Grace noticed. There were dark smudges under her eyes and her face had a pinched look.

Katie inhaled and exhaled a couple of times and picked up the envelope. ‘OK, here goes.’

She peeled back the flap carefully and took out two sheets of paper. ‘A letter and then some sort of map.’

‘What does it say?’ Robyn leaned forward.

Katie cleared her throat and read the short note out loud and then put it down so the other two could read it themselves.

This is what we want you to do. Five thousand pounds cash to be put in a holdall and left in a waste bin near the bandstand in Jubilee Park (see page two for directions) and you’ll never hear from us again. Don’t waste your time going to the police, the minute we suspect that you’re not playing ball, the pictures will be sent to the press. Do as you’re told, and this will soon be over.

The second page showed a map of Jubilee Park with a spot circled in red marker pen beside the bandstand. Scribbled at the edge of the page, also in red pen, was the time and date for the drop-off. It was two weeks from today.

‘Five thousand pounds!’ Robyn gasped.

‘Who’s doing this?’ Katie said, picking absently at a discarded pistachio shell. ‘Who’d want to blackmail me?’

‘Whoever it is has had access to the pictures of you,’ Grace said. ‘Apart from the photographer and the assistant, can you think of anyone else?’

Katie shook her head. ‘I can’t think of anyone. Dad picked me up from school that day and took me home. Mum made me show her, but I begged her not to let Dad see them. We kept them in the envelope for a while. Dad was adamant that we should keep them as evidence. But one day when they were out, I burned them.’

‘What if the photographer passed away and whoever has gone through his stuff found all his old photos and has decided to exploit the models again?’ said Robyn.

Katie’s eyes widened. ‘You mean it might not just be me who’s being targeted? I never thought of that. But why now? Ten years on?’

‘Maybe exactly for that reason,’ said Grace. ‘Ten years on, lives will have changed. The models will be women now whose reputations could be ruined by these pictures coming out now.’

‘Like me,’ Katie said in a small voice. ‘It’s like something out of a bad film.’

The three of them went quiet, sipping at their gin.

Grace helped herself to a handful of pistachios and read the note again. Katie was right; it was exactly like the plot of a bad film. She could give Katie five thousand pounds right now; it would scarcely make a dent in her bank balance. It would be worth it to see the anxiety disappear from the poor girl’s face. But in films the blackmailer usually got greedy and came back for more. She thought about Julia and Austin and Olivia. All three of them clamouring for a bigger slice of pie. They made her sick. And Julia … she was the worst. Threatening her with exposing Myles’s affair – alleged affair, she corrected herself – purely for monetary gain, regardless of the emotional cost to his widow. Julia’s behaviour was as bad as that of Katie’s blackmailer.

‘It’s the greed I don’t understand,’ Grace said bitterly. ‘Screwing innocent, hardworking people for money they don’t deserve. It’s beyond me how people can be so callous for their own wicked ends.’

She had found absolutely nothing to suggest that Julia was telling the truth. She’d spent the entire day going back meticulously through his computerised diary looking for unusual entries, through his online banking for unusual spending. She’d discovered nothing except disgust at her own treacherous mind. The only thing she couldn’t do was go through his clothes to see if he had incriminating receipts in his pockets, or stray lipstick marks on his shirts or the smell of perfume lingering on his jumpers. All his clothes still hung in their wardrobe at home. She could go back and look, but there was no point; if there’d been anything to find, she’d have found it by now. There was just one last thing to do before consigning this whole unsavoury episode to the bin and that was to speak to Ned. Grace knew he’d been at that funeral; all she needed was for him to say Myles had never mentioned anything about an affair to him and then as far as she was concerned, the subject was closed. She’d phoned him that afternoon, but he hadn’t picked up, so she’d called his office to be told that he was travelling long haul. She’d left a message but had been told it might take a while for him to get back to her. So, until then, all she could do was wait.

‘Grace?’ Robyn waved a hand in front of her face. ‘Are you still with us?’

She shifted in her seat and blinked. ‘Sorry, what did you say?’