The Jade Garden (The Barrington Patch Book 2) Emmy Ellis (top books of all time .TXT) đ
- Author: Emmy Ellis
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âNo.â Mam appeared sad, probably still upset Dad had kept things from her, but she had to see he couldnât tell her every little thing. âWho was the fella, by the way?â
Doreen flapped a hand. âThat ruddy Martin Barnett.â
âOh, fuck me.â Mamâs eyes closed for a moment. âSharonâs husband?â
âHmm.â Doreen scratched her cheek. âTheyâd split when I went out with him, Sharon didnât want him back, and she never knew I went on that date. All these years she just thought heâd pissed off and didnât pay her any child support, but he was actually dead.â
âSharon was well shot of him by the sounds of it,â Cassie said. âNo wonder she kicked him out.â
Doreen shook her head. âPoor cow. Thatâs another reason I donât want her lumped in with Karen over this lark weâre dealing with now. Sharonâs all right, just led by Karen. She doesnât mean any harm. Karenâs like the school bully. You go along with her, smile and nod, agree with everything so you donât get punched. But Sharon stood up to her this time, said she didnât want to kill you, so thatâs something, isnât it?â
Mam sighed. âHow many years has Martin been gone?â
Doreen appeared to count back in her head. âMy Richie was only little, but it was after Jess went missing and before I started seeing Felix, I know that. Iâm sure Richie was about five when Felix was around.â
âWeâll send her a wedge of money in the post, anonymously,â Mam said. âMake up for all the cash she should have got from him. Slip a typed note in there saying heâs sorry he didnât pay up sooner. Saying that, he wasnât the sort to have an epiphany and feel bad years down the line, so it might look off.â
âSay heâs been nicked, was in prison, and found God,â Cassie said. âWhatever works.â She chuckled, a wry rasp. âI never thought weâd be paying the likes of Sharon Barnett this amount of cash.â
âIâm annoyed your father didnât think of itâthereâs nowt in the books about him paying her.â Mam sniffed in disdain. âHonestly, you think you know someoneâŠâ
âMamâŠâ
Cassieâs work burner bleeped with a message, preventing her from giving her mother a talking to, so she got up to look at itâDoreen sat too close. Brendaâs name and the word ânewsâ sat on the home screen. Bloody hell. âI need to make a phone call, wonât be long.â
She left the kitchen and entered the office, closing the door, and phoned Brenda. âWhatâs the matter?â
âJasonâs just left here.â
Cassie gritted her teeth, one of her molars squeaking. âWhat did he want?â
âApparently, because he told me he wanted to take over that time, he thinks Iâm his fucking sounding board. I didnât get to record himâmy phone was in the living room, and he went straight into the kitchen.â
Damn it. âWhat did he have to say for himself?â
âHe told me everything heâs done and what heâs planning. Oh, and he skimmed the money from Nathan Abbott. The most disturbing thing? Drugging you and your mam. Getting you both hooked on anti-depressants, reliant on him so he can run the place. He blabbed to me about the fridge in the Jadeâand no, I wonât be telling anyone where the drugs are stored, I like living. And to top it all, I still havenât got round to Sidâs yet. Today is just one thing after another.â
I killed Nathan for no reason. Jesus Christ. âWhat advice did you give him?â
Brenda gave the information. âAnd I said I wouldnât be telling youâthought it best he thinks he can still come to me. We can find out more that way. Heâs a prat, but a dangerous one. To have it all worked out like that⊠Heâs been thinking about this for a long while, he must have done, probably planned to drug Lenny, too, take over from him, but then Lenny died.â
âAnd he thinks Iâm an easier target to get rid of so heâs rushed things along. Little bastard.â
âExactly my feelings. Iâm sorry I didnât get to record it.â
âDoesnât matter, I believe you. Iâve got someone else dealing with him and his confessions later anyroad.â
âI donât want to know.â
âBest you donât. Get yourself round to Sidâs else youâll never make it at this rate.â
Brenda let out a rush of breath. âIâm fair worn out. I hope the randy old sod doesnât want a bit.â
Cassie shut that visual down. âToo much info, love. Tarra.â She ended the call and grabbed a ledger, one from around the time Dad would have taken Martin Barnett to Marlene. She flipped it open until she found his name. There it was, in black and white, all Martinâs information, and: DISAPPEARED.
When she had a moment, sheâd read all of them again, back to back.
She wanted to work out what else Dad hadnât told her mam.
Chapter Nineteen
Cassie and Jason sat in a booth at The Donny, the one closest to the door. The rest of the day up until now had seen Cassie, Mam, and Doreen hashing out the finer points of what theyâd named The Reckoning, making contingency plans if things went wrong. Around dinnertime, Cassie had phoned Jason to arrange that âdateâ they hadnât managed yesterday. Theyâd met an hour or so ago, Cassie sending him to the booth so she could order the drinks without him knowing what she hadâlemonade, but he happened to think there was vodka in it.
Time had passed with him offering small talk, banal bullshit she had no interest in but pretended she did, bored out of her bloody mind. He sipped his
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