I cast my mind back. We’d sunk a lot of booze in Corfu, but the only time I’d been really drunk was the night of the barbecue. The night Niamh was raped.
As I stared at Bill, I was filled with dread. ‘It was you who raped Niamh. Not some random lad she met at the beach party. You.’
His gaze slid to the floor, and I knew I was right. And then the truth hit me.
‘Christ, you’re Immy’s father.’
‘So she said, but how do I know the little whore didn’t shag someone else that night?’ he said belligerently.
‘Oh my God.’ I dropped my head in my hands and tried to take it all in. Niamh had been blackmailing Bill because he raped her. Bill was a rapist. He’s a mean drunk. He was also Immy’s dad. Oh, my God.
‘It wasn’t my fault. She threw herself at me -’
‘She was eighteen!’ I cried.
‘ - parading around in tiny bikinis and crop tops. She wanted it as much as I did.’
‘Bill!’ I leapt to my feet and faced him, my hands on my hips. ‘No one wants to be raped. How could you?’ I stared at him in disgust. Bill had raped Niamh. ‘She was a virgin. You knew that, right?’
He blinked.
‘Christ, no wonder she ended up on heroin. And you,’ I prodded him in the chest, ‘you could have gone to prison if Niamh hadn’t kept your nasty little secret all these years.’ I paused. ‘Does Melanie know?’
He shook his head, an abject drunk once more.
‘Stuart?’
Another shake of the head.
I stared at the rafters, trying to take it all in. ‘When did Niamh contact you?’
‘About a month ago. I thought it was a wind up at first. She said she was going to tell the police I raped her unless I gave her fifteen grand.’
‘Why now?’
‘She said she was going home to Ireland and needed the money. Said I owed her.’
She was probably right.
‘I told her I needed a bit of time. I couldn’t take it out of our savings because Mel would’ve noticed. I had to find another way.’
‘You borrowed it?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘So how the hell did you lay your hands on fifteen thousand pounds without Mel knowing?’
‘Sheila sorted it.’
‘Sheila?’
‘I went to her for help. You know she’d do anything for me.’
‘You told her Niamh was blackmailing you?’
‘Yes,’ he muttered.
‘You told her why?’
He nodded. ‘She knew it wasn’t my fault.’
I gawped at him. ‘Not your fault?’
‘I told you, Niamh threw herself at me,’ he said petulantly. ‘Sheila believed me.’
I was speechless. It was true Sheila worshipped the ground Bill walked on. He gave her a job after Emily, our first secretary, left to start a family. I was recovering from my hysterectomy and hadn’t been well enough to attend the interviews. Sheila would never have been my first choice. I wanted someone young and dynamic, someone with a flair for digital marketing who could help me develop the FoodWrapped brand on social media. Sheila was prim and humourless and probably thought TikTok was a brand of mint, but I couldn’t deny that she was efficient and dedicated.
I’d never really understood why she idolised Bill. He was charismatic and charming, for sure. He was also selfish and capricious, but she seemed blind to that. And, thanks to her infatuation, she worked slavishly for the company. Which suited me.
‘ - she’d do anything to have even a little bit of me,’ Bill was saying. ‘She promised she wouldn’t tell.’
I tried to marshal my thoughts. Bill had raped Niamh. Sheila knew, but had promised not to tell. Now Immy was missing and Niamh was dead. And Bill was the common denominator.
‘Sheila lent you the money, did she?’ I asked.
His eyes darted to mine, and he gave a tiny shake of his head. ‘She said you wouldn’t notice if we… if we created a new supplier.’
Things were clicking into place. ‘Oh, my God. The pair of you invented Blackberry Organics!’
Bill was silent.
‘You utter bastard. Stealing money from our company to pay off a girl you raped. Christ, I’d be impressed by your audacity if it wasn’t so fucking sick.’
‘It was the only way, Cleo. And it’s not like the company can’t spare the cash. Call it extra dividends.’
‘What if we were audited? Jesus, Bill, how could you sink so low?’ I shook my head, and a thought occurred to me. ‘According to the accounts we’ve paid Blackberry Organics eighteen thousand. Where’s the rest?’
He licked his lips. ‘I said Sheila could have the other three grand as long as she kept quiet.’
I buried my head in my hands. I was always so in control, yet I hadn’t seen what was happening right under my nose. I thought back to the day I’d asked Sheila about Blackberry Organics. Had she been evasive? Not that I remembered. I was losing my grip.
And now what? If Bill and Sheila had committed fraud, I should call the police, because if I didn’t, I could be complicit. And there was no way I was paying for their duplicity. I’d lost enough already.
But their scam was insignificant compared to Immy’s disappearance and Niamh’s rape and murder. Bill’s betrayal stung, but I couldn’t care less about the money.
He didn’t need to know that, though.
‘You’ll have to pay it back,’ I told him, trying to retain a vestige of authority. ‘You need to put things right.’
He laughed and took another slug of vodka. ‘I think it’s a bit late for that, don’t you?’
Chapter Thirty-Nine
‘What do you mean?’ I said.
Bill sighed. ‘It’s too late. I can’t turn back the clock. I can’t put things right. Niamh’s dead and it’s my fault. Sheila said…’
‘What did Sheila say?’ I said sharply.
He belched, and I recoiled at the blast of rancid breath that came my way. ‘Bill?’ I pressed.
‘Nothing. Doesn’t matter now, anyway.’
He offered me the vodka bottle, and I pushed it away. ‘Do you know where Immy
