Page 27 of Her Deadly Promise

‘She was in debt, not because she was extravagant. She bought most of her clothes from charity shops and I know she used the food bank. That debt was merely for survival.’

‘So, you argued about debt?’

‘No, it was more about how she solved her debt problems.’

‘And how was that.’

Nadia scratched the back of her head and began to fidget uncomfortably in the chair. ‘She was a sex worker. Men came to her house, and I stopped allowing William to go over and play with Kayden.’

‘Is that what the argument was about?’

‘No, she understood my concerns. Kayden came here to play instead. She had a go at me because I let her down. She told me what she was doing, and I should have kept it to myself. I didn’t mean to talk about her, it just came out and…’ Tears streamed down her face. ‘If only I’d kept my mouth shut, she’d still be alive, I know it.’

‘Why do you think that?’

‘Because everyone at the school knows. Gossip travels fast and some people didn’t like Billie. They hated that she was so popular and likeable, they’d enjoy seeing her brought down a peg or two. You know how jealous people can get? I mean, Billie could have written a book on the laws of attraction. She was just that kind of person. Anyway, she could see that they were gossiping about her from the way they peered behind their hands while whispering in friends’ ears. She also knew then that it was me who told. She’d only told me. How could anyone else have known if it didn’t come from me?’

Gina held back that it was Nathan Merry who had told her and if Billie had told two people, who’s to say there wasn’t more people she’d confided in.

‘I tried to help her. She could have borrowed whatever she needed from me, but she said she was sick of people offering to help and that she had to find her own way out of her debt. She kept saying that it was okay borrowing, but she wouldn’t be able to pay it back. Her mother was apparently trying to get her to move back home but Billie didn’t want to go back there, saying that she needed her space and that her sister was due back from uni soon.’

‘Did Billie get on with her sister?’ Gina felt the sun beating down through the glass doors and shuffled a little further back out of the rays.

‘She said they got on okay but weren’t that close. She felt that her parents favoured Serena a little as she was the clever one. They always boasted about the daughter that was going to be a dentist one day and Billie felt she wasn’t good enough sometimes. Her mother went on at her to get a job in an office, but Billie said she could never stick a job that didn’t allow her to be creative. She was a bit of a luvvie, bursting with hand gestures and funny faces. She’d put on silly voices that made the children scream with laughter. They all loved her.’

‘Was Billie in a relationship?’

‘She mentioned someone she’d dated but she didn’t tell me his name. She said he was a gardener.’

‘Was she happy with him?’

Shrugging, Nadia pulled a ball of tissue from the pocket of her leggings and dabbed her eyes. ‘She didn’t say much but she said she liked him and was taking it slowly. I don’t think it would have lasted long as Billie normally ended relationships after the honeymoon period. She was a happy singleton really.’

‘Did she mention any of her clients?’

‘No. I told her I was worried about her safety. I said she didn’t know these men, but she seemed adamant that they weren’t dangerous.’

‘Do you know where she found them?’

‘Some website, but she never told me the name of it.’

‘Did she have a tablet or a laptop?’

Nadia nodded. ‘Yes, she had a tablet but no laptop. She had two phones which was weird.’

‘Two phones?’ Jacob made a note.

‘Yes, a smartphone and an old-looking thing that she bought from a pawnshop. One that just does calls and texts.’

Gina now knew they were looking for two phones and a tablet.

‘Do you know her phone numbers?’

‘Only the one for her smartphone. She said that her other phone was for work, but I know the phone number on her Facebook page is the number we all have. By work, she meant her clients.’

‘How did she seem?’

Nadia scrunched her brow. ‘She went from my lovely happy friend to someone who looked washed out and tired within a few weeks. What she was doing took its toll. She wouldn’t admit it, but it was killing her inside. It was like she was slowly turning to stone. She stopped coming out with us and always said she had a bad head or felt sick. I betrayed her and I begged her to forgive me.’

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