Kimberley Chambers 3-Book Collection: The Schemer, The Trap, Payback. Kimberley Chambers

      CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

      Ever since they were young, Stephanie and Tammy had always enjoyed spending time alone together. As kids they would sit in one another’s bedrooms and learn the words to their favourite pop songs from the magazine, Smash Hits. Then at Sunday teatime, they would sing along and dance while listening to the top-forty countdown. When they reached their teenage years, standing on a street corner, or dossing about over the park with a bottle of cider and a packet of cigarettes was their preferred way of whiling away their time together. When they were old enough to get served in pubs, that’s what they did, but just recently, they loved nothing more than going out for a nice meal. Whatever they did together, Stephanie and Tammy had always had fun, but tonight was an exception. When Stephanie had first been told that Tammy was leaving England for sunnier climes, obviously she had been heartbroken at the thought of losing her best friend. However, with Wayne vanishing off the face of the earth, having to cancel her wedding, money worries, and the disappointment of not being able to open her own beauty salon, Tammy’s departure was now the least of Stephanie’s problems. In fact, she rather liked Richard and genuinely wished Tammy well in her new life, which is why Steph couldn’t understand her friend’s bolshy attitude since her boyfriend had left the restaurant earlier.

      As Tammy yet again interrupted her reminiscing about old times to start banging on about how positive she was that Barry Franklin had murdered Wayne, Stephanie started to get rather annoyed. This was her first night out since Wayne had disappeared, her last night out with Tammy for the foreseeable future, and with no kids to worry about until tomorrow afternoon at least, all Stephanie had wanted to do was let her hair down and forget about her troubles, even if it was only for one evening. She turned to Tammy. ‘Can you stop going on about Barry murdering Wayne, please? I’ve come out to enjoy myself tonight for a change, Tam. The Old Bill came round earlier asking loads more questions and I’m sick to death of talking about it. What is it with you and Barry Franklin? You used to like him when we were at school, so why do you hate him so much now?’

      Tammy took another big slurp of wine. She had been drinking like a fish ever since Richard had left earlier. ‘I’m sorry, Steph, but Wayne hasn’t just miraculously vanished into thin air, has he? Don’t you think it’s strange that your ex-boyfriend returns from Spain and a couple of weeks later the bloke you left him for goes missing?’

      ‘Well yeah, if I was an outsider looking in, I suppose it might sound suspect, but the police have spoken to Barry numerous times and they don’t think he had anything to do with Wayne’s disappearance. Neither do I, neither does my mum. Since Wayne went missing, I’ve barely seen you, Tam. I know you’ve been busy wrapping up your job and stuff, but that ain’t the point. Apart from my family, Barry has been the only person who has supported me through all this. There isn’t a day goes by when he doesn’t ring or pop round. He’s helped me with the kids; in fact he’s helped me with everything, and that certainly ain’t no behaviour of a guilty man, if you ask me.’

      With a snarl on her face, Tammy shrugged her shoulders. ‘If you wanna bury your head in the sand then that’s your prerogative. Wayne’s your fiancé, not mine, and if you think being pals with his murderer is the right thing to do, then carry on doing what you’re doing, Steph.’

      Stephanie was furious. How dare Tammy accuse her of betraying the man she loved and was about to marry. On the point of tearing into her best friend, Stephanie took a deep breath and somehow managed to restrain herself. ‘Look Tam, I don’t wanna fall out with you, so can we just please talk about something else? I haven’t told you about Angie yet, have I?’

      Tammy sighed. ‘I’m sorry, mate. It’s just that I’m going away, and I hate to think of Barry sniffing around you when I’m not there to protect you any more. You do know I only warn you of these things because I care so much about you, don’t ya?’

      Stephanie nodded. Part of her wanted to remind Tammy that she hadn’t been there protecting her recently while she still lived in England, but she decided to say nothing. ‘I know you care. I love you and you love me. Now, let’s change the subject.’

      Tammy grinned. ‘Tell me about Angie, then.’

      When Stephanie began telling the story of Angela moving to Greece, Tammy gesticulated to the waiter to bring over another bottle of wine. ‘What a terrible fucking mother that sister of yours is. People like her should have their fannies sewn up,’ she said, giggling.

      Relieved that Tammy had now stopped going on about Barry, Steph began to knock the wine back as quickly as her friend was. ‘So are you and Tricky Dicky gonna have kids? Have you spoken about it yet?’ she asked.

      ‘Yeah, I’d like one straight away, but Richard wants us to wait a bit. I think he want us to settle in Spain properly first and be together for a bit longer before we take the plunge of including children in our lives.’

      ‘You never know, he might even propose soon,’ Steph replied. Even though her own wedding had been so cruelly snatched away from her, she would still be happy for her friend if she was to get engaged to Richard.

      ‘So, whereabouts in Greece is Angie going to work?’ Tammy asked, changing the subject.

      ‘My mum don’t know, Ange never told her. I know we’re laughing about it, Tam, but it ain’t funny really. Say something bad was to happen to Aidan while she was away. I mean, he could fall ill or have a bad accident, and we wouldn’t even be able to contact Angie and tell her. I know Ange is a crappy person and an awful mother, but my mum did hear her tell Aidan she loves him. He adores her, that little boy, he’s such a little sweetie, so I really hope for his sake that she rings up and writes to him from time to time.’

      ‘Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that she’s all of a sudden darting off to a foreign country without giving an address?’ Tammy asked.

      ‘Not really. Angie has always been a selfish bitch, hasn’t she?’

      ‘Look, please don’t have a go at me for saying this, but you don’t think she’s running away to be with Wayne or something, do you? I mean, the police did say that she left the club that night the same time as him, didn’t they?’

      Stephanie nearly choked on her drink, and for the second time that evening was absolutely livid at her friend’s stupid comments. Did Tammy think that Wayne didn’t love her or something? Did she honestly think that he would opt out of their forthcoming marriage and abandon his own two children to run off with her airhead of a sister? ‘I can’t believe you just said that. What sort of fucking mate are you, eh Tam?’

      ‘What do you mean? I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, but Wayne and Ange did have a thing going years ago, didn’t they? She lost her virginity to him, didn’t she? Or have I got the wrong bloke?’ Tammy asked sarcastically.

      Stephanie looked at her pal in total disbelief. She knew Tammy was drunk, but even so, that was no excuse for what she had just said. Steph stood up, rooted through her handbag and threw thirty quid on the table.

      ‘What’s that for? What you doing?’ Tammy asked.

      ‘That’s to pay for my meal and drinks. I’m going home.’

      Tammy grabbed Steph by the arm. ‘Please don’t go. At least let’s finish our drinks first.’

      Aware that people were staring at them, Stephanie moved her face closer to Tammy’s. ‘Let go of me,’ she hissed.

      Tammy