Page 56 of Don't Believe A Word

Iz practically melted. ‘I love babies,’ she swooned. To Connorshe said, ‘If I’m nice to her, which obviously I will be, do you think you might like me a bit better?’

Cristy had to laugh as Connor, clearly thrown, failed to find words to respond.

‘He will,’ Cristy promised, realizing she was warming to Iz in spite of her being a royal pain in the arse, ‘and we’ll all really love you if you can pop out to get the champagne.’

Iz shot to her feet. ‘On it,’ she declared. ‘Just tell me where to go.’

‘So tempting,’ Jacks muttered under his breath.

Stifling a laugh, Cristy said, ‘Clove will come along to help you carry it.’

‘I will?’ Clove cried.

‘She can’t carry a dozen bottles on her own,’ Cristy pointed out.

‘A dozen!’ Iz exclaimed, as everyone blinked.

‘It’ll save us going out again next week,’ Cristy explained. ‘Actually, let’s put in an order for six bottles to be delivered every Tuesday.’

‘You have a party every week?’ Iz cried in amazement. They all turned to her and she quickly added, ‘Wow! I’ve clearly come to the right place.’ Then, ‘And obvs all drinks will be on me!’

*

It was after nine by the time Cristy arrived home that night, slightly tipsy, very tired, but at the same time quite agitated. She wasn’t entirely sure what was getting to her, maybe it was the relief – and nerves – of a first episode now being out there in the big wide world and all it was likely to bring from hereon in. Perhaps it was the way Lottie’s story was hitting so many wrong notes for her, while still managing to ring with truth – how could that be possible? More likely – at least easier to reach for – was the fact that Matthew had invited himself and Aiden to the party.

‘What the heck are you doing here?’ she’d demanded as they’d breezed in through the door, bringing bottles of wine and beer like they were students on a gatecrash.

‘Great to see you too,’ Aiden had grinned in his impossibly winning way, and of course she was pleased to seehim.

‘We were just passing,’ Matthew explained, lying badly.

‘Have some champagne,’ Meena insisted, filling two glasses and handing them over, while Harry shook Matthew warmly by the hand and Iz just had to tell him what a big fan she was, and how honoured she felt to meet him.

Of course he’d settled in as comfortably as if he came to the drop of every episode – even though he’d never actually been to one before – and of course everyone had been their usual friendly selves, even baby Aurora who’d gazed at him adoringly for a full five minutes.

Quite what this had done to him, given his own recently born child was nearly six thousand miles away with a totally mazed mother, Cristy had no idea. However, she did know that her failure to reply to Marley’s email was starting to weigh on her.

‘She’d like to hear from you,’ Matthew had said quietly, before he and Aiden had left, ‘but you shouldn’t feel as though you have to have a relationship with her. I mean, obviously great if you did, it would make life a lot easier for us all considering how besotted she seems with you, but I understand you have your own life to lead.’ It wasn’t a long pause before he added, ‘Aiden tells me you’re not seeing the Guernsey guy any more.’

‘His name’s David,’ she’d snapped, ‘and if you think that changes anything between us – you and me – then you need to book in for a head-check.’

Quite why the conversation had rattled her so much, she couldn’t say now, although obviously she hadn’t enjoyed being reminded byhimthat her first relationship since their break-up had fallen apart so fast.

And then there was Anna’s call during her walk home.

‘Haven’t listened to the pod yet,’ Anna had confessed, ‘just wanted to let you know that Sadie’s biggest fear at the moment is that she’s going find out she’s the child of a gangster or a rapist and that’s why Janina gave her up. Maybe Janina reached a point where she couldn’t bear to have the awful reminder around her any more.’

Understanding Sadie’s concerns, for how could she not whenthat very scenario, and worse, had occurred to her, Cristy said, ‘Please don’t tell me she wants to pull out …’

‘No, no, that’s not why I’m calling. It’s simply to let you know what’s in her mind because she couldn’t bring herself to say it during the interview earlier. If it turns out she’s right, she’ll deal with it, she’s just glad she’s not going through it alone.’

‘Having you is clearly meaning a great deal to her, especially with her aunt being so difficult, but it’s not easy to support someone through trauma …’

‘I can handle it. And anyway, she’s not only talking about me, she means you and everyone else on your team, and even your listeners – provided they don’t turn on her, I suppose, but I can’t see why they would. She says she’d probably feel like she was disappearing down a rabbit hole otherwise, and I think even Jasper’s a bit overwhelmed by it all.’

Wondering now if they were already down the rabbit hole anyway – it was certainly where she felt she was heading in a personal sense – Cristy slumped down on the sofa and checked her phone. Within an hour of the pod being dropped the feedback had begun, plenty echoing the question Iz had posed earlier: why should they care about a rich kid who hadn’t known a day’s hardship in her life? Others were demanding to know where the crime was, or accusingHindsightof failing to live up to all the publicity. And of course there were those who’d engaged fully with the story and were already hoping Cristy and the team could help Sadie find the answers she deserved.

As usual Clove and Jacks were going through everything carefully in case someone with vital, or even useful, information was in touch. It wasn’t always easy to tell as some trolls and many nutters were extremely clever, and nothing had come through yet to warrant any further action. Still very early days. Many weeks, or even months, could go by before the podcast found its way to the right person.

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