Lauren wanted to push harder, but Olivia and Izzy were ready to move on; Fiona went with the flow, though Lauren could tell she was willing to say more. But that was fine, enough for that evening. She had her target. Fiona was going to tell her everything she needed to know.

As they discussed the book, Lauren thought about what Fiona had said.

Just ask her last–

Her last what? Her last husband? Her last victim?

Whatever it was, Lauren would find out.

She wouldn’t waste this chance.

18

SCOTT

“I can’t believe it,” Gary said, for what seemed like the fifteenth time.

They were sitting in the pub, in their usual spot. Scott’s hand throbbed when he picked up his pint to take a sip. He had to make sure not to drink too much; Casey had sternly warned him not to be drunk when he came home. He placed the glass down carefully. Scott could’ve used his other hand, the unbandaged one, but in a sick way he savoured the pain.

“Scott?”

“Neither can I,” he said after a pause.

“You had no idea she was gay?”

Scott shook his head. “I thought we were happy. I thought we were in love. I didn’t know she had a second life.”

Gary sat back. “Have you thought about the obvious yet?”

“Yeah. Casey and Natalie were together. Casey got angry when Natalie killed herself. She blamed me. And here we are. It’s possible, isn’t it?”

“It is. You think Lauren will come through with the book club?”

Scott shrugged. “I was shocked she even offered. I feel like I don’t know a bloody thing anymore.”

“Are things that bad?”

Scott moved his finger around the rim of his glass, his mind flashing alight with Casey’s face as she tortured him. There had been more games since she’d forced him to walk naked to the garden gate; he hated thinking about them and had no desire to relive them. “Yeah. I had to beg for permission to come here. I think she knows something’s going on, but she’s too arrogant to care. She knows she’s got me by the balls.”

“Jesus.”

“She searches me at random times too. Just in case I try to record her. If I ever do try–”

“She releases the videos.”

I will make you bleed, you little bitch.

“Exactly,” Scott said, hating the voice. The memory.

“Christ.”

They drank quietly for a time. A family was laughing a few tables over, the daughter’s giggle ringing out above it all. Scott found himself wondering when Natalie had known she liked women. Had she been older than that girl? She must’ve been so scared of her parents, listening to them talk about how evil it was, how hotly the sinners would burn.

So that was that, then: no religion for Scott. He’d passed several churches on the way to the pub, entertained – briefly – the notion of going inside one of them.

“She let the timer run down to a minute last night. On the draft. She was grinning at me in that freaky way, holding her finger over the edit draft button. She loves watching me squirm. Maybe I should just let her release it.”