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And I can give Adrienne the win she deserves.
Decision made. I’m in charge now.
Adrienne refuses the money, of course, when I go to visit her in the hospital. She’s recovering well, being given extra fluids and her shoulder has been wrapped and put in a cast. ‘Give it to Nabil’s family,’ she tells me. ‘They lost everything.’
Mariam comes in to join us while I’m sitting next to Adrienne, hobbling in on her crutches. She and Adrienne embrace, and I tell her the news about building the school. She hugs me tight.
Then there’s the matter of Ibiza. With Mariam’s testimony, and Yasmin’s diary, we have more than enough to make sure everyone knows the truth about Coach Glenn. I can finally let go of the guilt I didn’t do more back then.
I can do it now.
58
Stella
Seven years earlier
Yorkshire
Coach Glenn is dead.
It didn’t take much. I had the medication already, taken from my dad’s luggage. Digoxin. Works to manage heart failure. Old-school stuff for an old-school guy. Typical Boones.
It worked to slow Glenn’s too. Stop it, in fact.
It wasn’t hard to administer. Glenn was all too eager to have a coffee with me. Said he loved her. I told him what I’d done – after he’d drunk, of course. He tried to beg for his life – but it was too late.
I made sure to clean up after I was gone.
He wasn’t the only one I was angry at. I was furious with myself. That I’d left Yasmin when she’d begged me to stay. That I’d chosen a man over my sister. If I’d stayed, I could have changed everything.
I could have been there for her.
I could have made sure he didn’t get away with it.
Adrienne might have tried, but she’d only made things worse. Stupid woman.
I was driving too fast. I wanted to yell at her. Scream. Make her sorry for what she did to Yasmin. She’d broughther into his orbit. Her lies drove my dear beautiful sister to take her own life.
But she wasn’t even home. She was out running. Racing! Even after the note I had sent her.STOP RACINGOR SUFFER.I couldn’t believe it. Anger surged through my body, making me feel white hot. My vision was a sea of red.
It was still red when I veered round the corner, losing control. Horrific sounds rang in my ears: the screech of tyres, a high-pitched scream, shouting. A little boy was right in my path. A crunch as the car collides against a stone wall. A man rushing towards the scene. It’s Pete. I can’t let him see me. He’ll recognize me. He’ll know.
Fuck. I reverse and I don’t see a body. That’s enough for me. I speed away without stopping, my heart pounding. The close call clears my mind and my heart rate slows.
I’ve killed once today. That’s enough.
I abandon the car. But when I return to my hotel, Dad is waiting for me. Sitting in the lobby. He probably would have waited there for days. He’s patient like that.
‘What did you do?’ he asks me.
‘What I had to,’ I say.
He nods. He doesn’t ask questions. He’ll be back on a plane to the US in a few hours.
If the police figure it out and come for me, so be it. I’ll accept my fate.
But somehow I don’t think they will.