Page 61 of Her Deadly Promise

After being served, Serena hurried to the table. The other woman’s baby began to cry. ‘Can we sit outside?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Candice followed Serena out, leaving the rest of her drink on the table. It was bugging her now. Where had she seen Serena before?

‘Sorry, I thought it would be more private and quieter out here.’ Serena slammed her drink down and the liquid sloshed over the top. ‘I know we don’t really know each other but I feel like I’m going insane with my parents right now.’ She paused. ‘Did Billie ever talk about me?’

Straight to the point. There were no cries of how much she was missing her sister or how terrible her murder was. Billie had barely spoken about Serena, but she’d mentioned her in passing. She knew that Billie’s parents saw Serena as the golden child and Billie felt that she didn’t match up. ‘She said you were studying to be a dentist, that’s all. I’m really sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what your family is going through. Billie was a special person and we all thought the world of her.’ Candice fidgeted in the seat. She wanted to go home, to cuddle Poppy and to think about Nadia. There was too much going on in her head to concentrate. She shook her head and stifled a little cry. ‘Sorry, my friend has gone missing, and I need to be at home in case anyone calls.’

‘That’s partly why I wanted to see you, in person. I found out my so-called boyfriend was sleeping with my sister, and I was livid. A part of me needed someone to sound off at. My sister has been murdered and all I feel is angry with her. I’m so angry with Billie and I can’t shake that anger away. I should be distraught but…’ She shook her head. ‘Then I heard that Nadia was missing.’

‘You know Nadia?’ Candice wasn’t aware that the two were friends or acquaintances.

The young woman fiddled with the wooden stick that she’d used to stir her coffee with, twiddling it and pulling shreds of wood away before depositing them on the table in wispy curls. ‘No, but I saw her yesterday and an appeal went out this morning. It was on the news. I was scrolling Facebook and people are gossiping, saying that her husband did it. That he killed Billie and took his own wife.’

Candice went to speak but stopped and cleared her throat. ‘I was at the house yesterday afternoon. They arrested him. Is that what you wanted to know?’

Serena shook her head. ‘They haven’t charged him yet. I know that much. My parents keep calling the station.’ Serena hugged herself. ‘I think I might have been one of the last people to see Nadia alive and I don’t know what to do. What should I do?’ She sniffed back a sob.

Shrugging, Candice leaned forwards and tucked Serena’s hair behind her ear in a motherly fashion. ‘It’ll all be okay. Start at the beginning. You said you saw Nadia yesterday?’

The young woman’s shoulders curled. ‘Yes.’ She paused. ‘I did something stupid. Nathan pushed me to my limits and in my stupid head I began to blame you, Meera and Nadia for their affair. It kept going through my mind that you all knew my sister was shagging my boyfriend, that you were all laughing at me.’

‘Serena, we didn’t know that he was your boyfriend. Billie hadn’t even introduced us to Nathan.’

‘I know that now.’ Serena sipped her coffee. ‘Other people saw me yesterday and I looked upset when I left Nadia because I’d been speaking to her about Billie and Nathan. She didn’t know who I was to start with.’ Swallowing, Serena continued, ‘I booked a personal training session with her and all through it, I couldn’t speak but once I started, I couldn’t stop. This sense of pressure had built up and I know other people were waiting to use the tennis court while we were talking, but I didn’t care that I was keeping them waiting. They saw me throwing my arms in the air, looking upset.’ She paused. ‘I just want people to know, however much I argued with my sister, I’d never hurt her and as for Nadia, I’d have no reason.’

Candice leaned in. ‘What was it that you and Billie argued about?’

Tears streamed down the woman’s cheeks. ‘I lied about not knowing about Billie and Nathan. I came home for a visit; it was a bit of a surprise. Mum and Dad weren’t in, and I heard noises coming from one of the bedrooms. That’s when I saw them, Billie and Nathan. That vision I have of their naked bodies coiled together as they moaned wouldn’t leave my head. I wanted to shout at them, hit them even, but I was dumbstruck. All I managed to do was sneak back down the stairs and out of the house. Instead of saying anything, I got into my car and drove away. It reeled and reeled inside me until I couldn’t hold back. I called Billie up and told her that I hated her. I’m not proud of the names I called her, but I blamed her. I know that Nathan was to blame also but I couldn’t lose him, and it was easier to blame Billie. She said she’d dump him. I thought she’d tell him straight away, but the call never came. I couldn’t talk to him about it, I just couldn’t.’

‘So, Nathan has no idea that you knew he was sleeping with Billie?’

‘No. I’m ashamed to say that I wholly blamed her and now I know it was him too and I hate him. I hate myself for being such an idiot. And… our last words were horrible and now Billie’s dead.’

Candice sighed. She could see why Serena was upset but she needed to get home. Gavin would wonder why she was taking so long. There might be some news about Nadia, and she had to be there. If she told Gavin where she was, he’d probably moan that she was interfering but then again, he was happily lying so what did it matter if she had her secrets too? ‘So, you feel bad about arguing with Billie before she was killed?’

‘No, I wish that was all I felt bad about. I lied to the police, and I don’t know what to do. I needed to speak to someone, and my mum is falling apart. Kayden’s dad took him yesterday and then the man hit my dad. I feel as though my family is falling apart and I don’t have anyone to talk to.’ Sobbing, Serena pulled out a line of crumpled toilet roll from her bag and blew her nose.

Heart pounding, Candice couldn’t hold back. ‘What did you lie about?’

‘I wasn’t at uni when Billie was murdered. I moved into a bedsit in Redditch a couple of weeks ago. I dropped out.’

Candice stared at the woman. ‘And you knew that Billie was sleeping with Nathan?’

Nodding, Serena couldn’t stop crying. ‘I hated her so much. I hated Nadia too. I hated you. I hated you all and I hated the world.’ She rubbed her eyes and stood, almost knocking the light chair onto the floor. She fought with her tangled bag strap before turning to go.

‘Serena, wait.’

‘I’ve got to go.’

That’s when the recognition clicked. ‘Serena, why were you standing outside Nadia’s back fence on the day of Kayden’s birthday party?’ That’s who Candice had seen loitering, watching them all. The woman turned and a look of horror filled her face before she ran down the path.

Candice watched as Serena ran into the distance and turned the corner. Ed was a suspect, now Serena would be too. The man who served them came out for the cup. Candice pulled her diamanté hairgrip out and repositioned it, clipping the one side of her hair back. Gavin had given it to her that morning, saying that he’d bought her a gift. It would take a lot more than a hair clip to make things better. She flung her bag over her shoulder and hurried to the supermarket across the road, head spinning with all that she knew. Should she tell Gavin or call the police? She pulled her phone out and stopped at the bus stop. Serena didn’t seem right and nothing about their conversation felt right either. There’s no way she could keep what she’d heard to herself. It would be wrong. ‘I’d like to speak to DI Harte, please.’

FORTY-SIX

Gina paced in front of the boards, staring at Nadia and Billie’s photos. ‘There are no updates yet on Billie or whoever left that message under her profile. Hi There Horny are being cooperative but they are saying it will take a while to get an IP address for the user that we’re interested in.’ Gina pointed to the screen grab photo. ‘Sluts get what they deserve! By user BenedictCarnY. We have a match on the word used at the scene of Billie’s murder. This message was left the night before the murder and it’s threatening in nature. Who is Benedict?’

Jacob shook his head. ‘We don’t have anyone named Ben, Benedict, Benjamin or anything similar involved in this case. The same with Carny.’

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