Angel Kiss - Laura Jane Cassidy [64]
‘Of course! What’s the point in having three guest bedrooms if we never have guests? You can stay as long as you like.’
Anne Mulvey was a tall, thin woman with a spray-tan and a blonde hairstyle that was a bit too long for her age. Her hands were showing the first signs of wrinkles, but her forehead was impeccably smooth, suggesting she got something pumped into it. Her clothes were perfectly fitted and her shoes were the kind any self-respecting fashionista would kill for with her bare hands.
‘Well, it will just be until our house is finished.’
‘It’s terrible what you have to put up with. That man should have been locked up years ago. Honestly, it’s beyond belief.’
‘Where’s Dad gone?’ said Carla from across the table. She was wearing the same outfit she’d worn to Emily’s: a black hoodie with a red cross on the front, a short black tutu-style skirt and black Converse trainers.
‘He’s in the office, darling. He’s closing off a very important deal tomorrow, so he’ll be working late.’
‘Well, could you remind him to leave my allowance here? I’m going to watch TV in my room.’
David sat at the breakfast bar in the middle of the kitchen, watching videos on his laptop. He beckoned me over. I sat on the stool beside him, my toast in my hand.
‘Check this out,’ he said, pointing to the video of a skateboarding dog.
‘Aww, that’s so cute,’ I said.
‘Wait till I tell the guys you’re staying here,’ said David. ‘They’re going to be ragin’. Here, pose for a picture with me.’
David put his arm round me and the computer’s camera clicked.
‘Somebody has a new profile picture!’ he said with a grin.
‘Did you see the picture of Nick kissing that skanky girl?’ I said.
‘What girl?’
I logged into my account and found the picture.
David looked at it closely. ‘That’s not Nick.’
‘Yes, it is,’ I said. ‘That’s his hoodie.’
‘That is definitely not Nick. That guy is drinking cider. Nick never drinks cider. And I don’t think he was wearing that hoodie at the gig. That’s not him, Jacki.’
I couldn’t believe it. This changed everything. So this wasn’t a photo from the night he went to Sligo. I had jumped to the wrong conclusion and now I had no reason to hate Nick. Not that I’d ever really let myself hate him …
‘You’re sure?’ I said.
‘I’m positive,’ said David, closing the window. ‘Ooh, my album is downloaded. Wait … what the hell …’
‘What?’
‘Look at this …’
‘Oh my God …’
‘Mum!’
‘Yes, David?’
‘Look what Carla has been looking up.’
Anne walked over to David, put her hand on his shoulder and peered at the screen. She jumped with shock when she saw the picture.
‘Oh my God …’
‘How to slit your wrists. She must have deleted the search history because it’s empty, but she forgot to delete this picture from the downloads.’
Peter came into the room. ‘Time for a coffee break,’ he announced.
‘Dad come here and see what Carla has been looking at,’ said David, turning the computer towards his father. He maximized the picture of the hand, blood dripping from the slit cut into the wrist and staining the fingers.
Peter took one look at the stomach-turning image and then shouted ‘Carla!’ so loudly that it hurt my ears.
‘What!’ she said, coming back into the kitchen. ‘Do you have to shout like that?’
‘Explain to me what this is,’ fumed Peter, pointing at the computer screen.
Mum and I looked at each other. Both of us felt uncomfortable about being here for such a personal conversation, but felt kind of trapped.
‘Gross. Why are you showing me this?’
‘Your brother found it on the computer,’ Anne interjected sharply. ‘And it’s nothing to do with either of us.’
‘Well, that goes for me too. You know I hate the sight of blood.’
‘Carla,’ said Peter, clearly calming down. ‘If there’s something wrong –’
‘Dad, I swear it wasn’t me. I swear!’ shouted Carla.
‘Well, it wasn’t David, and it certainly wasn’t your mother!’
‘It wasn’t me!’ she said, and stormed off, slamming the kitchen door behind her.
‘Sorry you had to see that,’ said Anne. ‘We’ve been having some problems with Carla lately. Perhaps we should make an appointment