Paparazzi by Jo Fenton (best free e reader .txt) 📕

friends are, and block those who didn’t meet that standard.”

“Ouch. That’s a bit harsh, love. Were they okay? And who are we referring to here?”

“I don’t think you know them, Mum. It’s just a couple of girls I chat to in Chemistry. They’re my lab partners. They’re nice. I called them afterwards to explain a bit more, cos I realised that message sounded a bit horrible.”

“Okay, good. You’re not aiming to alienate your real friends here.” I get the vegetables out of the fridge. I’d quite like to have eaten and washed up by the time Wendy arrives. “Where’s your dad?”

“He’s in the study on his laptop. He had a call from someone earlier and disappeared in there. That was about two hours ago. He’s not emerged since.”

“Can you check on him, please?”

She nods and leaves me to ponder on Matt’s mysterious call. I wonder if it’s the elusive Roger Taylor.

I’m frying mince and onions by the time Cheryl returns with Matt.

“Everything okay?” I glance round. Cheryl’s white, and Matt looks stressed. He’s not supposed to get stressed. He’s still recuperating.

“Hey, what happened?”

“I was talking to Roger on the phone. There’s been a bit of an issue. We’ve been back and forth for the last couple of hours. Chezz overheard me.”

“What did you hear, love?” I add tinned tomatoes to the pan, but watch discreetly as she rubs tears from her cheeks.

“Dad said something about dealers and terrorists, and that ‘all hell was going to break loose if this gets out’.” She turns to Matt. “What’s going on? You’re a pharmacist, and you’re off sick.”

There’s a moment’s silence. A pregnant pause, as it’s sometimes called, and I know why. It’s as if we’re all awaiting the birth of something earth-shattering.

“It’s nothing for anyone to worry about. Just forget you heard it please, Cheryl.”

The contractions dissipate. Birth is postponed.

“How can I forget that, Dad? What are you involved in?”

“I sometimes do some work for a government organisation, particularly related to drug delivery logistics. Sometimes controlled drugs go astray and get into the wrong hands. I just give some advice from time to time.”

Okay, so the baby popped out after all. I suppose it was important for Cheryl to know, and Matt’s explanation makes it sound quite innocent really.

“Are we all safe here? Is Ali safe?” Cheryl goes over to her dad, and he puts his arms around her and gives a hug.

“I would never do anything to endanger you, or your sister, or your mum. I just need you to keep shtum about this though. Don’t discuss it with your friends, or with Wendy when she gets here. Government bodies don’t always talk to each other, so a senior police officer wouldn’t know about this, and it’s not appropriate to tell her, okay?”

Cheryl agrees, and I send her to wash her face and hands before dinner. I wait until she’s gone from the room.

“Did Roger say anything about me?”

“Not today, but we’ve already discussed you. He’ll want your help when he’s ready. And you’ll know soon enough when that is.”

“You know I went to that gig last night?”

“Yes. I meant to ask, how did it go?”

“It was okay.” No need to go into details just now. “But that lead singer of the top band from last night got home to find his wife dead.”

“Oh my God. How awful. Was she ill?”

I take a minute to connect the dots.

“No. Bloody hell, no. She’d been murdered. That’s why I’ve been out all day. Joanna and I seem to have got ourselves involved. We’re meeting with Finn after eight, when he’s finished work.”

He glances at the clock. “In that case you’d better get dishing up, if we’ve got to eat before Wendy gets here.”

***

Wendy arrives on the dot of seven, just as I’ve finished loading the dishwasher. I open the door to her, and we hug. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen her. She’s been my friend and mentor since I was eighteen, and seeing her now reminds me how much I’ve missed her these last few months.

“Come on, Missus,” she says, stepping back. “You and I will catch up properly next week over a bottle or two of wine. How does that sound?”

“Fantastic.” I smile at her. “For now, though, Cheryl’s in the lounge. Why don’t you go and find her, and I’ll get the kettle on?”

By the time I join them, armed with tea and Jaffa Cakes, Wendy’s scrolling through Cheryl’s phone and frowning.

“Everything okay?” Watching her look through the photos half-triggers a thought, but it drifts away before I can catch it.

“These girls seem to be more tech-savvy than I’d like. What they’ve done with these images looks quite professional. I had to look closely to see the signs that the photo was fake.” Wendy takes a mug of tea and puts it on the coffee table. “Thanks. Would you ladies mind if I contacted your school head? I won’t mention any names. I can just say that it’s been brought to my attention through a police investigation that illegal activities have occurred in the realm of cyber-bullying. Would that be okay?”

Cheryl nods. “I think so, as long as they can’t pin anything on me. I don’t want them to have any excuse to target me.”

“I just want to come into the school for an assembly or something and talk about cyber-bullying, how it can be traced to the perpetrators, and the lengthy penalties attached. A very general warning, with a request that all bullying activities must stop immediately, otherwise further investigations will ensue, and the guilty parties will find themselves with a criminal record, and possibly imprisonment in a juvenile detention centre.”

“Do you think that would help, Cheryl?” I ask.

“I’m sure it would be a start. Those stupid bitches might think twice if they think it could affect their careers. Do you think you could persuade the head to send a letter home to all the parents about the penalties related to cyber-bullying? It would horrify a