Page 58 of Joker in the Pack

“Everyone did, honey. All he ever talked about was golf and stock options. Nobody liked him.”

Oh my goodness. They’d all hated him, and I’d had no idea. Of course, I’d known Edward had disliked my old friends because he told me at every possible opportunity, but I didn’t realise the feeling was mutual.

“She’s got a new man now,” Maddie piped up. “Edward mark two.”

“He’s not more Edward. I swear. Tate’s, uh… His hair’s different.”

“Bring him next time, and we can all check him out. Is he another wa…banker?”

I was still reeling from the fact that everyone disliked Edward. “No, he’s a lawyer.”

“We’ll forgive him for that if he treats you right,” Rachel said. “How is life in the country, anyway?”

Apart from Tate, it was awful, wasn’t it? I’d drunk too much to try and sugarcoat it.

“It’s all right apart from the two break-ins, the brick through my window, and everyone in the village hating me. Oh, and someone slashed my bike tyres.”

Their mouths dropped open.

“What?” Maddie gasped. “You didn’t tell me any of that.”

“I didn’t want to worry you. You were having problems with that nasty woman at work.”

“I can deal with work. Liv, you’re being terrorised!”

At Maddie’s urging, I explained the problems I’d been having. “But nobody’s tried to physically hurt me. They seem to want me to leave, but what they don’t understand is that I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

“What are the police doing?”

I shrugged. “Nothing much. The local policeman doesn’t seem too keen on actual police work. I think he probably wishes I’d leave as well; then he could go back to sleeping on shift.”

“You should put in a complaint.”

“Rock the boat even further? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“What about Tate? I take it he’s not being a prick towards you?”

“He and Warren are the only people still being nice to me.”

“Do they know about this campaign against you?”

“Some of it. Tate helped me clear up after the first burglary, and Warren stopped by to check I was okay. Oh, and Tate had the tyres on my bike replaced. I didn’t tell him about the latest break-in, though. I’d been drinking when I got home, and it seemed like the best idea to check the house myself, then go to bed.” Maddie’s mouth dropped open, her eyes wide. “I know, I know, it was stupid. You don’t need to tell me.”

She grabbed the remainder of my drink out of my hand and slammed the glass down on the coffee table. “You were right earlier. You’re not drinking again, ever. Not if it causes you to risk your life like that.”

“I think you’re exaggerating just a little bit.”

“You don’t know that. Now, we need to get your problem sorted. I’ll research the police complaints procedure in the morning, and if Tate and Warren are on your side, you need to tell them everything that’s been happening. They can help keep you safe.”

“What about a private detective?” Rachel asked. “I mean, if the police aren’t doing their job…”

“I can’t afford a private detective. I can barely even afford food.” Especially because work kept getting interrupted by clean-up duty. Every time I had to deal with the aftermath of a break-in, it wasted time that I should have been spending on eBay.

Another old friend stopped behind us. Sophie and I used to sit next to each other in biology class and keep each other awake by writing stories. She’d write six words, I’d write another six, and so on until we’d filled the page. Hours of fun, apart from the time the teacher caught us writing a tale about him arriving from outer space on the back of a giant snail and gave us both a detention.

“Did someone mention a private detective?” she asked.

“Liv needs one, but she hasn’t got the cash,” Rachel told her. “Someone’s trying to kill her.”

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