Page 100 of All Mine
‘Lucky we’re not attracted to them,’ agreed Rosie.
Isabella laughed and it hiccupped over all the tears she’d cried.
‘I honestly thought there was something there,’ Isabella said. ‘How wrong could I be?’
‘It’s his loss, honey,’ said Amber. ‘You remember that.’
Isabella forced a smile and wished it felt like that.
‘On to happier things,’ Wren encouraged. ‘The launch.’
‘And Gabi coming,’ Rosie added.
‘And meatballs to make. . .’
Isabella checked her watch and blew her nose again. The women were right. It was time to get her show on the road. Hopefully she wouldn’t be seeing Etienne Martin again in a very long time.
Mia Famiglia WhatsApp group
Mamma: Everything okay, darling?
Isabella: All fine, Mamma. Just busy.
Mamma: Just thought you’d been a bit quiet.
Isabella: One of those weeks. Don’t worry.
Mamma: You’re not too disappointed we won’t make opening day?
Isabella: No, Mamma. It’s not that.
Mamma: Okay. Only checking. You know we love you.
Isabella: I love you too, Mamma.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Etienne
Etienne’s phone rang and he wished it could be Isabella, even knowing how impossible that was. But instead it was Walker and his voice was slightly out of breath. He was walking and talking at the same time.
‘Etienne. I’ve come out of the police briefing to tell you they’ve found a link between all the victims of the arson attacks,’ he said, the sound of his boots echoing on the pavement. Etienne moved away from where Fred was watching the evening news on an overly loud television and made his way over to the window.
‘Go on,’ he said.
‘Everyone who has been targeted has got into money troubles. They’ve borrowed money that they couldn’t pay back. Susie Malone took out pay day loans after her husband left them high and dry. The hire company took out loans to buy the hire equipment in the first place and when the business didn’t take off they couldn’t pay it back. The man in Shalford borrowed money for a new car. Another family owed money for a holiday. Fred Barrow, we think, ran up some debts through betting. . .’
‘On the horses. . .’ Etienne finished, glancing across at Fred, who’d had the racing on the television all afternoon and his feet, in his new slippers, on the footstool in front of his armchair.
‘Exactly,’ Walker said. ‘So, all of these people owed money and all of these people got burned for not paying it back quick enough. And I think your problem just got much, much worse.’ Etienne heard him take a deep breath the other end of the line.
‘They all owed money to the Dougalls.’
Etienne felt his blood slow in his veins. Life paused for a single second as the impact of it struck home.
‘How much did they owe? Do you know?’
‘All of them less than fifty thousand pounds. So, all of them less than Alex.’
