Page 119 of The Dead Ex

48

Helen

I’m about to knock when I hear footsteps coming towards the door from the inside. It wasn’t meant to be this way round. I’m the one who’s meant to be calling the shots by summoning her, rather than Vicki Goudman discovering me on her doorstep. Of course, it doesn’t matter – not really – but it throws me. So I run back down the path and over the road. There’s a stone wall. I sit on it,pretending to fiddle with the laces on my ankle boots. When I look up, I see her making her way towards the promenade. I follow at a discreet distance. There are others between us, so it doesn’t look obvious.

Vicki seems a bit unstable. Twice she stops to grip the railings as if she’s trying to get a hold on herself. On each occasion, I have to stop too and hang back. The waves are angrier thanthey were when I walked past a few minutes ago, as if they can sense the tension.

My fists tighten into a ball. I could easily kill this woman.

Then she stops again to hang on to the railings. Once more I do the same, but someone behind bumps into me. It’s a woman with a small white dog. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she says even though it’s my fault for halting so abruptly.

‘It’s fine,’ I say in a lowvoice. But the dog begins to yapas if in protest at having its walk interrupted. Vicki Goudman hears the commotion and looks back. Her eyes lock with mine.

She can’t know who I am. Yet I sense her wondering if she’s seen me before. I watch her take in my face. There’s a flicker of recognition.

I try to speak but my words freeze in my mouth.

Then she falls to the ground. Her arms and legs beginto writhe as though she is trying to swim on dry land. Froth is coming out of her mouth. What is going on?

‘Dear Lord,’ says the woman, whose dog is tugging her towards the body. ‘The poor thing is having a seizure. Quick. Ring for an ambulance.’

But if I do that, the police could trace me. I haven’t done anything wrong. Yet. But even so I’d rather not be around when the cops come.

‘Sorry,’I lie. ‘I’m out of battery.’

‘Sit.’

For a minute, I think she’s speaking to me but it’s to the dog. She gets out her own phone. ‘Ambulance. On the seafront. By the Lido.’

I take a quick glance at Vicki Goudman writhing on the ground underneath a bench. Part of me feels this is no more than she deserves. The other part feels sorry for her. And then I run.

49

Vicki

11 July 2018

‘Legal for Vicki Goudman,’ comes the announcement.

‘Again? Has your solicitor got the hots for you?’ snorts my cellmate.

‘She’s preparing my case,’ I reply. ‘My trial starts tomorrow.’

‘Mine doesn’t seem to care. Reckon she thinks I’m guilty.’

Penny is already waiting in the legal visits room. She has a man with her. ‘This is Giles Romer,’ she says with a vibrant expressionon her face. ‘He’s going to be your barrister.’

‘Your solicitor has told me about your attack, Vicki.’ He speaks as though he already knows me. ‘I’m very sorry for your loss.’

I look away. This isn’t something I can discuss with a stranger. It was hard enough talking to Penny.

‘We need to know more, Vicki,’ she says gently.

‘I’ve had enough.’

‘You’re not helping your case. Your baby mightbe the thing that throws your case into a whole new light.’

Patrick …