Page 57 of Want to Know a Secret?

“Listen, April.” A deep groove forms between her eyebrows. “I’m not going to turn this matter over to the police, but I expect you to return the money. If you don’t, well, then it will be a police matter.”

“Return the money! But I don’t have any money to return!”

“That’s not my problem.” She holds up her hands. “I’ll give you five business days to give me a check. Then I’m going to the principal, and we’ll be contacting the police. And obviously, you are no longer a part of the PTA. I’ll be disabling all your access.”

I don’t want to cry in front of Julie, but if I don’t get out of here quickly, it’s going to happen. It’s an unstoppable force.

“Julie,” I gulp. “This is a huge mistake. Believe me…”

“I’m sorry.” She gets to her feet. “The only reason I haven’t gone straight to the police is that we’re neighbors and I don’t want a scandal. But I expect to get that money back.”

Then she leaves the room without looking at me again. I’m surprised she left me alone in here. After all, I might steal everything that isn’t nailed down.

I thought I would start crying as soon as she left, but now that she’s gone, the tears aren’t coming. The truth is, I’m not sad. I’m pissed off. Even though Julie denied it, I know Maria is behind this.

And I am going to confront her.

Chapter 27

Helena’s looks busy, and I almost lose my nerve.

It’s the middle of the morning, but apparently, it’s peak shopping hours. At least half a dozen women are inside the small store, browsing the overpriced clothing and handbags. I remember how excited I was when Maria mentioned getting a discount to shop here. Back then, that was the most important thing to me.

I’ve got to get to the bottom of this. Maria has it out for me, and I don’t understand why. Does it have something to do with Sean? Obviously, she doesn’t like me being around her husband. But this seems rather extreme. And I was getting those text messages before I even met Sean Cooper. Did she just see me on my front lawn when she moved in and think to herself, “Hey, I’d like to ruin this woman’s life!”

Or maybe she decided before that. I can’t shake that familiar feeling I got when I first laid eyes on Maria.

And that first day, when I found Bobby in her house. She claimed he had wandered over there, but Bobby said she had invited him. I dismissed it as a lie at the time because she sounded so sincere, but maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe it was all a trick to frighten me. After all, somebody sent me that text.

I take a deep breath and stride into Helena’s. I catch sight of the row of scarves that I had been coveting for months and shake my head in disgust. I don’t want anything from the store anymore. I just want Maria out of my life.

Maria is helping one of the customers. The customer is holding a handbag, and Maria is extolling the handbag’s many virtues. She’s smiling so that you can see her dimples. She looks sweet. Like the sort of person you would want to buy something from. Someone you can trust.

Ha.

I go over to the desk in the back to wait for her. I noticed her purse is hanging off the edge of the chair where she usually sits. That’s when I remember that burner phone I found in her purse the other day. I bet I could find it and prove that she’s the one who’s been torturing me.

I take one last look to confirm she’s distracted by the customer. Then I nudge her purse open, and sift through it with my right hand, all the while keeping my eyes on her. I feel her wallet, a pack of tissues, her regular iPhone, and her house keys. But that’s it. No flip phone.

It’s gone. Damn it. She must’ve hidden it away somewhere.

Fine. Maybe I’m not going to find any evidence but I don’t need it—I can still confront her. I back away from the desk and walk right up to where she’s still chatting up the customer.

I wait a couple of seconds for her to finish up, but I can’t wait any longer than that. Now that I’m here and I’m doing this, I want to get it over with. “Maria,” I say.

She turns her head and the smile immediately drops off her face. “April,” she says. “I’m busy.”

“I need to talk to you.” I shift between my feet. “Please.”

Maria sighs. She smiles politely at the customer. “Can you please excuse me for just a moment?”

Without looking at me, she stomps off to the side so we can have some privacy. I follow her, my stomach full of butterflies. Am I really going to do this? Am I really going to confront this woman?

Maria finally turns to look at me. She folds her arms across her chest. “What do you want, April?”

Somehow, I had expected Maria to be more defensive. I swallow hard. “I want to talk to you about the things you’ve been saying about me. And about the things your son has been saying about Bobby.”

Her expression gives nothing away. “Yes. What is it?”