“You gambled with my money. ”
“Well, technically, it wasn’t a gamble. It was a cheat. And I’ve already transferred the five grand I borrowed back into your account.
With interest. ”
That was Idris Nazir, the man I’d just gone into business with. The man who was supposed to be my partner. The man I’d caught running a secret poker game behind my back.
“You lied to me. ”
“Yeah. That’s true. But look, you knew what kind of man I was when we first got together.
”
“A liar? ”
“No. A businessman. A winner.
”
I made him swear it would never happen again. No more secrets, no more schemes. He promised. I told him to make the call, finalize the deal with Alia, and we’d move on.
I thought that was the end of it. But that was the same day my son Sam came home with his GCSE results. He’d scraped a few passes and failed the rest. My first instinct was to tell him he could always do retakes.
That we were proud of him for even sitting the exams after everything he’d been through. “That Megan tried to wreck this family, but she failed,” I said. “Dad’s right. You done good,” his brother added.
“Just the start of the big comeback. ”
Megan. The woman who’d torn us apart. The reason my boys had been through hell.
I still believed her being locked up was the best thing that could have happened to us. Little did I know, trouble was already standing right on my doorstep. I was just leaving work when a woman came in looking for Idris. She asked about a man named Ollie, the new chef.
She said she’d give Idris a call herself. Something about the way she looked around the place made my skin crawl. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I had other things to worry about.
Lucy’s social worker called. We could continue fostering her, at least for now. That was a relief. But then Lucy’s father, Richie, came to see me.
He’d been in prison for killing his wife Rachel, Lucy’s mother. Now he was out, and he wanted to talk. “Tell him you’re busy,” Idris said. “I can’t hide from him forever, can I?
”
Richie found me anyway. He looked terrible. He told me he never meant to hurt Rachel, that she was the violent one, that he was just defending himself. He said she’d abused him for years, and that the cops didn’t believe him because he was a man and she was a woman.
“I just wish I’d never sent you back,” I said. “I told you what she was like. Always picking on me. ”
Then he asked for something I couldn’t give him.
“I need you to tell the police what she was like. Convince them I acted in self-defense. I need to get out of here to look after my daughter. I need you to do this.
”
“I can’t lie. ”
“You’re not lying. You know it’s true. ”
“But that’s only because you told me.
You told me she was a nightmare. ”
“I thought you wanted to help Lucy. ”
“I did. I do.
”
“Then how is me going down for murder going to help her? ”
He had a point. Lucy had already lost one parent. If he went down, she’d lose another.
“You forced me to go back into that house,” he said. “Now look what’s happened. Lucy’s lost one parent, and she’s about to lose another because of you. ”
“I won’t do it.
”
“You have to. ”
I couldn’t. I just couldn’t lie to the police. No matter how desperate he was.
But the guilt stayed with me. Every time I looked at Lucy, I felt sick. She was such a good kid. She’d lost her mum, and now her dad might be taken away too.
I told her he was fine, that he acted in self-defense, that Rachel went for him with a knife. “She would have killed him,” Lucy said. I nodded, but I wasn’t sure I believed it anymore. Meanwhile, my new business partner was causing more trouble.
Nick, an old rival of Idris’s, showed up at the pub with a smirk. “You only got a grade D in maths,” he said to Idris. “Shouldn’t you be checking your change? ”
“And you only got a C in maths,” Idris shot back.
“A C is better than a D. ”
“Do you know what they call the worst doctor in medical school? Doctor. ”
Nick laughed.
“You’re a chancer, Idris. Always have been. ”
“I’m a survivor,” Idris said. “Like my mum always says.
”
Then Nick dropped a bombshell. “Your new chef, Ollie. He’s good. But did you know he used to work for me?
”
Idris went pale. “I know about the poker game,” Nick said. “Thirty grand in one night. You think that money’s yours?
”
“It was a private game. I won fair and square. ”
“Oh, you cheated. And I know it.
My money’s going to be returned, Idris. By you or by someone else. ”
“I don’t owe you anything. ”
“We’ll see about that.
”
Meanwhile, Bobby, my brother-in-law, came home looking rough. He’d been out all night and hadn’t come home. He said he’d met someone and stayed at theirs. “Who?
”
“Just someone. ”
But I knew better. I’d seen the way he looked at that woman at the funeral planning meeting. Celeste.
The woman who’d come into my funeral parlor to plan her own funeral. “She’s got six weeks to live,” I said. “Maybe less. ”
“You’re bloody joking,” Bobby said.
“She wants cowboys, a guard of honor, the works. She’s spending her life’s savings so she can have the best funeral this town’s ever seen. ”
“She’s a force of nature,” I said. “She’s mad,” Bobby said.
But Celeste had a way of getting under your skin. She told me she’d found the man to help her realize her dream funeral. She wanted cowboys in chaps, a guard of honor, black plumes at the front. She said she had a stash of money and she was ready to spend it.
“I’m not the cleverest girl or the prettiest,” she said. “But no one works harder. And this dying thing isn’t easy. It’s a hard road.
But since I met you, I thought, this is the man I want to travel that road with. ”
I was touched. I was also a bit terrified. The next day, I found out about the business deal between Nick and Idris.
“We’re going into business together,” Idris said, smiling like he’d won the lottery. “With Nick? ”
“He’s bought out Alia’s share. He’s going to invest in Barlow Nazir Legal Services.
”
“What service? ”
“Legal services,” Idris said. “But we’re calling it Barlow Nazir Legal Services. Has a nice ring to it.
”
I shook my head. “You can’t be serious. ”
“We’re going to make a fortune, you and me. ”
“I don’t trust him.
”
“You don’t trust anyone. ”
That was true. After everything that had happened with Megan, I couldn’t afford to trust anyone. But I was more worried about Bobby.
He’d been spending too much time with Celeste. He said he was going to text Fraser, her personal assistant, to invite him out for a drink. “Why? ” I asked.
“I don’t know. He seems like a nice bloke. ”
“You’re not going to the funeral, are you? ”
“No.
I mean, it’s just a drink. ”
I knew better. Bobby had a soft heart. And Celeste had a plan to use every last minute of her life to leave a mark.
But when Nick turned up at my funeral parlor, I should have listened to my gut. “I know you’re in on it,” he said. “In on what? ”
“The poker game.
The lost gun. Your brother Billy. He owes me. ”
“Billy doesn’t owe you anything.
”
“You’re covering for him. I know it. ”
“I’m not covering for anyone. ”
“Your family has a lot of blood on their hands,” Nick said.
“And I want my money back. ”
“You’ll get nothing from me. ”
“We’ll see. ”
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
I kept replaying everything in my head. The poker game. The friendship with Celeste. Bobby’s strange behavior.
Lucy’s father. And now Nick, coming after me and my family. I looked at my boys. Sam and Will, asleep in their rooms.
I thought about everything we’d been through. The pain, the heartbreak, the near destruction. I couldn’t let anything happen to them. The next morning, I got a call from the police.
“Mrs. Barlow? ”
“Yes. ”
“We need you to come down to the station.
It’s regarding Rachel’s case. ”
My heart stopped. “Rachel? ”
“Her husband’s case.
Richie. He’s claiming he acted in self-defense. And we’ve spoken to your brother-in-law, Bobby. He’s made some accusations.
”
“Bobby? ”
“He suggested you were involved in her death. ”
I dropped the phone. “What?
” I picked it up again. “That’s ridiculous. ”
“He says you encouraged Richie to go back to the house. That you knew Rachel was dangerous.
That you told him he’d be in danger. ”
“That’s not true. I never…. ”
But he was already gone.
I sat there, shaking. Bobby. My own brother-in-law. He’d told the police I was involved.
I felt sick. Then I remembered the conversation I’d had with Richie in the garden. He’d asked me to lie for him. I’d refused.
And then Bobby had stepped in, all calm and understanding. “We need to help him,” Bobby had said. “For Lucy’s sake. ”
I’d thought he meant well.
Now I wasn’t so sure. I looked at my phone. I had to call Idris. I had to call my boys.
I had to do something. But before I could, the doorbell rang. I opened it. Nick was standing there.
“We need to talk,” he said. “About your brother Billy. And about what I know about your family. ”
“What do you want?
”
“I want my money back. And I want to make sure you don’t stand in my way. ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. ”
“Don’t play dumb with me.
I know about the poker game. I know about the deal with Idris. And I know about Celeste. ”
I froze.
“What about Celeste? ”
“She’s not dying,” Nick said. “She’s got months, not weeks. And she’s been lying to you.
All of you. ”
I stared at him. “She’s got a plan,” Nick said. “And it doesn’t involve cowboys or funerals.
She’s setting you up. ”
“Setting me up for what? ”
“You’re about to find out. ”
My blood ran cold.
I looked at my house. My family. Everything I’d fought for. And I knew, with a sickening certainty, that my world was about to fall apart again.
And this time, I wasn’t sure I could put it back together. But I couldn’t let them see me break. Not again. I had to find out the truth before it destroyed everything.
I just had to figure out where to start. And who I could trust. Because it was becoming painfully clear that the answer might be no one.
