Guilty by Ruby Speechley

Author:Ruby Speechley [Speechley, Ruby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Martyn was the father of Cathy’s baby.

29

‘What? That can’t be true!’ I cup my hands around my mouth and stare as Dan nods sadly. As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I’m thinking how easily it could be true. At the time it was strange how Martyn became so invested in making sure Cathy went to the clinic to ‘get rid’ of this problem. And she didn’t object either. I was happy to stay with Dan because I supported him in wanting to keep the baby, but normally for something so personal and sensitive, it would have been me going with Cathy, and Martyn would have stayed with his best friend.

Fresh tears spill from Dan’s eyes. I snatch the mobile from him and try to find out who sent the message, but again the phone says No Caller ID. More than likely a burner phone used to send this one message, like throwing a grenade at someone’s life, then running away.

‘Whoever sent it knew how explosive this would be.’

‘Cowards!’ Dan screams.

Martyn comes rushing over. When he sees our faces, he stops abruptly. Tom and the boys look over, but I flick my hand at them to carry on with what they’re doing.

‘What is it, what’s happened?’ Martyn asks, his hands out in front of him.

‘You and Cathy, that’s what happened. You were never going to tell us, were you?’ Dan screams and hits out with his fist but misses Martyn’s face and staggers into a chair.

‘What are you talking about?’ Martyn asks, then his eyes flicker over to me. I’m stone still, arms crossed, waiting for a denial.

‘Dan’s had another text,’ I say flatly. ‘About you and Cathy. The baby was yours, wasn’t it?’

He groans and looks down at the ground, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his hand. ‘Of course it wasn’t mine. Don’t you see, whoever is sending these texts is trying to turn us against each other? And just look at us, they’re succeeding.’

‘How can we believe you?’ Dan says. ‘Was Cathy about to tell me about it? Is that why you killed her?’

‘Don’t be daft. I didn’t kill her. I wouldn’t do that. We were friends.’

‘Was she carrying your baby and neither of you wanted it? That’s why you insisted on taking her to the clinic, isn’t it?’

‘I offered to go and support her because you weren’t man enough to go yourself,’ Martyn yells, prodding a finger at Dan.

‘I didn’t go because I wanted her to keep it. I stupidly thought it was mine.’

‘Why weren’t you thinking about what she wanted?’ Martyn sneers.

‘Shut up! Shut up!’ Dan runs from the room, his hands to his head and I have the feeling we won’t see him until the morning. He never did like any kind of confrontation.

‘You believe me, don’t you?’ Martyn asks.

‘I don’t know what to think. If you’re saying it’s not true, then I suppose I have to believe you’ve not been lying to me. But remember, one day you’ll have to make peace with your ghosts too, like I’m having to.

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