I know how unstable Alison was, even all those years ago, so can’t imagine what state she’s in now, but if there’s any chance I can help her, and free myself at the same time, then I’ve got to grab it.
At the bottom of the page is a link to an interview with Josie Carpenter’s mother. Anger burns inside me as I read how ‘distraught’ Liv Carpenter has not only lost her beloved daughter, but now she’s had to let her son, ten-year-old Kieren, live with his father in Spain. According to Liv, she has fallen apart so much that she feels it best to let Kieren’s father bring him up, even though she will visit him as much as she can. ‘For his sake,’ she says, apparently with tears rolling down her cheeks.
But I know the truth of it will be very different from this. Liv will have reached her breaking point with Kieren, probably because she just wants to be alone with Richard, and will have been only too happy to get rid of him.
Despite seething with rage at her actions, I’m glad he is free of her. Glad that he will never have to go through what I did. I only hope his father is doing right by him. Whoever he is, I doubt he is anywhere close to the monster she is. I wonder how she tracked him down, and how she convinced him to take Kieren.
From across the beach, Pepper runs back to me, kicking up a spray of sand as she goes and dropping the ball in front of me. I throw it back out. ‘Last time,’ I say. ‘We have to get going in a minute.’
I gather up my things and place them back in my bag. I feel lighter than I ever have, as if this is the first day of the rest of my life.
Perhaps I always knew that Josie would have to be resurrected one day. But I’m ready. I need to help Alison; I cannot let her take the blame for something she had nothing to do with. She was never a bad person, she just got lost in her life, and I know how easily that can happen. I will finally get to apologise to her. And I don’t know how or why Zach’s wife is tied up in this, but I will make sure the whole truth is finally set free.
Standing, I scoop up my bag and whistle to Pepper, who comes flying towards me with her ball in her mouth. ‘Come on, girl,’ I say. ‘We need to go home and pack. Then we’re going on a trip to London.’
THE END