The First Mistake(97)

‘So when you came out of prison, you assumed Tom’s name and date of birth?’ Even as she’s saying it, it sounds too absurd to be true.

‘Well, I couldn’t exactly use my real name,’ he says, half-laughing. ‘As a convicted fraudster I was going to find it hard going. Tom, or Thomas as my parents used to call him, was, apparently, a good upstanding citizen, and as I knew more about him than anyone else, he seemed the obvious choice.’

Beth looks at Alice, wide-eyed, as his admission takes hold.

‘So, you planned all this from the outset,’ says Beth, her voice shaking. ‘You were always looking to defraud me. It wasn’t just an opportunistic one-off.’

Nathan laughs heartily. ‘What? You think I fell in love with you first, and robbed you second?’

‘But, I—’ starts Beth.

‘I also knew who you were before I met you. Those dating sites are an invaluable source of vulnerable, needy women, looking for a knight in shining armour. I didn’t need to read too hard between the lines of your profile to find out who you were. By the time we met, I knew your full name, what you did for a living, who your father was and where your mother lived. All I had to do then was wait for you to get greedy – and boy, did you get greedy.’

Beth turns and raises her free hand, striking him on the face. He pulls her hair, yanking her head back, and she screams.

‘Beth!’ Alice calls out as she struggles to get up.

Beth is writhing, frantically trying to get a grip on him as he stands behind her with his hand furled in her hair, pulling on her scalp.

Alice runs unsteadily to where they’re standing, perilously close to the edge. ‘Get away from her,’ she screams, raising her arms. But just before she gets there, Beth kicks up with her foot, her heeled boot landing square in Nathan’s crotch. He momentarily lets go of her as he doubles over in pain and in that instant she pushes him with all her might.

He stumbles backwards as if in slow motion, and Alice tries to grab him, but instead of taking her hand, he reaches for Beth’s. Beth squeezes her eyes shut as she’s pulled towards the sheer drop, and in that split second Alice has to decide who she’s going to save. She lunges at Beth with everything she’s got, tackling her side-on. The force sends both Beth and Nathan upwards, seemingly flying through the air, their arms flailing. Alice reaches out and feels a hand grip onto hers. She closes her fingers around it as tightly as she can and pulls back with every shred of strength she can muster.

It’s only then, as the body falls heavily on top of her, that Alice is aware of the choice she’s made.

It was the right one.





EPILOGUE


I clamped my eyes shut as the floor fell away beneath my feet. The air whipped through my hair and I steeled myself for the cold, hard ground that was coming up to meet me.

I forgot to breathe – it seems that when you think it’s going to be the last breath you take, you want to hold onto it for just that little bit longer.

Alice could only save one of us, and after everything I’ve put her through, it didn’t deserve to be me. But it seems that a true friend will always be there, to catch you when you fall.