Page 142 of Don't Believe A Word

With no small irony, he said, ‘Except in this instance the last one standing gets a cigar and brandy instead of a bullet.’

As Aiden guffawed she cried, ‘It’s not funny, for God’s sake. In fact it’s so far from funny that I have to wonder at what point you two are going to see the seriousness of it all.’

‘I do,’ Matthew told her, ‘and so does Aiden, but right now we’re as incapable as you are of doing anything about it.’

‘Which you don’t seem to mind, whereas I’m not ready to give up just like that. We –he, our son –must have some rights, for God’s sake.’

‘Then name them. It’s too late for a termination, even if she was willing, and if we start pressuring her for a DNA test it could be seen as intimidation of a pregnant girl and that’s not a route we want to go down.’

‘What about the other boys’ parents? Maybe we should speak to them, see if we can act together in some way?’

‘Intimidation,’ he reminded her.

‘And they haven’t all fessed up yet,’ Aiden added, ‘so you have to back off for now, Mum. I know it’s against your nature …’

‘Oh shut up,’ she snapped at him.

Doing just that, he helped himself to a few morepatatasand brazenly checked his phone for messages.

‘We need to meet the girl and her parents,’ Cristy said to Matthew. ‘No more emails. For all you know she’s sending them herself and … Aiden, are you listening?’

‘Sure,’ he answered, ‘it’s just there’s a text here from David saying he can’t get hold of you.’

Remembering she was supposed to have let him know her temporary number, while not wanting Matthew and Aiden to ask why she had one, she said, ‘Tell him I’m out of battery and I’ll call as soon as I get home.’

After sending the message, Aiden looked up as Cristy said, ‘Where do her parents live?’

‘I’m not sure. Siston, I think. Or out that way somewhere. Butdo you know what, Mum? I seriously think you should chill for a bit. I know you’re in shock and it’s kind of not ideal, but it is what it is …’

Wanting to throttle him, she looked at Matthew as he said, ‘We should still let the girl know we’d like to meet her. With any luck it might frighten her into …’

Cristy waited.

‘Something,’ he said lamely.

‘Like a miscarriage?’ Aiden suggested, with an anxious glance at his mother.

‘Well, I wasn’t exactly thinking that,’ Matthew responded, ‘but …’ Catching Cristy’s eye he quickly recalibrated and said instead, ‘It might persuade her to see how lucky she’d be if you are the father, to have us as grandparents, and your genes …’

Cristy gaped at him in disbelief, until, realizing he’d got himself all mixed up with trying to put a positive spin on things, she started to laugh. ‘I’m not sure you’re for real,’ she told him, as relief and confusion nudged him into laughter too.

‘But you know that came out wrong,’ he said, ‘and that’s what’s so wonderful about us. We always end up on the same page … Son, this isn’t a good time to be answering your phone.’

‘It’s David,’ Aiden told him and looked at Cristy as he clicked on. ‘Sure, I’m good thanks. Yeah, she’s right here, I’ll pass you over.’

Taking the phone and turning away from the others, she said quietly, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’

‘Say hi from me,’ Matthew called out.

‘I’ve just heard from Evie,’ David said gravely. ‘Something’s going on at the villa, so I’m heading over there.’

‘What do you mean? What’s happened?’

‘I don’t have any details yet. I just thought I should let you know. I’ll call again as soon as I have more news.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CRISTY: ‘It’s almost midnight on Thursday and I’m with Connor at his home recording this. We’re hoping for news from Guernsey after receiving a call a couple of hours ago telling us that something was going on at the Villa des Roches. We still have no idea what it is, or if the incident – I guess that’s what we should call it for now – is over yet. We just thought we’d share the wait with you guys so you’ll get an idea of the build-up to whatever is coming down the track.’