Page 156 of Don't Believe A Word

She was about to go and sit with David when a text arrived on her phone. Presuming it was from Matthew now that he’d apparently finished talking to Aiden she clicked on, wishing she could just ignore him, while not quite having the heart to.

She saw right away that it was from a No Caller ID and as she read the message she started to turn cold. It couldn’t be. This was a new phone, almost no one had the number yet, and hadn’tthey traced and stopped the stalker? It seemed not, because here he was saying,Hi Cristy, did you miss me? It’s lovely to see you again. Are you having a nice evening at Connor’s?

‘What is it?’ David asked, clearly sensing something was wrong.

She looked up, and seeing his concern quickly smiled. Now wasn’t the time to get into this. She’d forward it to Jacks in the morning. ‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Just more unfinished business. The story of my life these days,’ she added with a pointed look at Aiden. He wasn’t listening.

Putting her phone aside she arched an eyebrow as she said to David, ‘Much more important right now, is there availability at the Amanjena?’

‘Looks like the earliest is for a fortnight from next Thursday,’ Aiden informed them.

They turned to look at him.

‘I’ve got it here,’ he explained, gesturing to his laptop. ‘This gaff is the business, Mum. Totally out there. They’ve only got suites –pavilions –with their own private pools – and, listen to this, one of them hastwobedrooms with—’

‘And guess what,’ Cristy broke in quickly, knowing exactly where this was going, ‘you, my darling, won’t be in one of them.’

‘I’m not sure we will be either,’ David said, reading the message that had just come into his phone. He looked up. ‘It’s from my contact at police HQ. Apparently Sadie’s just been charged, so my guess is you guys will be busy doing other things next week.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

TWO MONTHS LATER

BONUS EPISODE

‘OK, recording,’ Connor announced. ‘Over to you.’

CRISTY: ‘Hi, it’s Cristy.’

CONNOR: ‘It’s Connor, and welcome to this bonus episode ofWho’s That Girl.’

CRISTY: ‘A lot has happened since the series officially ended, but I’m afraid we haven’t been in a position to share anything with you until now.’

CONNOR: ‘Legal reasons, you understand.’

CRISTY: ‘All will soon come clear, but for now, we’re going to start with something we don’t normally do.’

CONNOR: ‘It’s very popular on other pods and because we’ve had so many requests to do the same, we’ve decided, for this episode only, to share an update on what’s been happening to us since Sadie Winters was charged with murder. Should you not be up for hearing our personal chitchat, and no one can blame you for that, please feel free to fast forward now. If you are, here goes: Cristy, you’re much more interesting than I am, so why don’t you take it away?’

CRISTY: ‘Ha! Not true that I’m more interesting, but one ofus has to set the ball rolling. So, what can I tell you that you haven’t already read about in the press?’

CONNOR: ‘For those who somehow managed to miss the blitz of tabloid fascination with Cristy’s love life a couple of months ago, she is now happily involved with the extremely eligible and disgustingly photogenic David Gaudion. You might remember him from our seriesNothing to See Herein which he was proved not to have committed a triple murder. Great guy, who’s helped us quite a bit withWho’s That Girl.’

CRISTY: ‘I have to admit it was much easier, and even more enjoyable, being the focus of a new romance than it was being the pitied victim of a broken marriage, as I was for so long.’

CONNOR: ‘Speaking of Matthew Jennings, which we kind of were – FYI he’s Cristy’s ex, also known as husband of actress Marley Dukes and anchor of TV news – I guess most of you are aware that he became a father again at the beginning of the year.’

CRISTY: ‘It was a boy, his name’s Bear, and he’s currently in the UK bonding with his dad and half-brother, Aiden.’

CONNOR: ‘Have you seen much of the baby yourself, Cristy?’

CRISTY: ‘Now and again. He’s very sweet – aren’t all babies. In fact we took him to Guernsey a couple of weeks ago where we all – Matthew, our daughter Hayley and Aiden – spent some time with David and his family.’

CONNOR: ‘Amazing. So everyone’s good friends and the past is in the past where it belongs?’

CRISTY: ‘Something like that. Actually we had some extremely welcome news while we were on the island – Aiden, who is sixteen, is NOT about to become a father. Anyparent who’s been through similar angst with a teenager will know what a relief it was to find that out.

‘You know, Con, I’m really uncomfortable with that, so let’s edit it out. No one needs an update on Aiden’s careless attitude to sex.’