The Jade Garden (The Barrington Patch Book 2) by Emmy Ellis (reading diary txt) 📗

the time it’d boiled. Karen had yet to chase up Clive the Clown and see if he wanted his usual pitch at the Fayre, then there was that bint who read fortunes, the one with the mad grey hair, and there were the last few stalls she needed to rent out, too.

Doreen settled at the table, and Karen sighed.

“Suppose you want a brew, do you?” Karen took cups off the drainer and frowned at Doreen. “Have you done something to your hair? It doesn’t look so yellow.”

“Had it dyed, cut, and styled at Cheryl’s. Look, I may as well come out with it. I heard what you and Sharon were talking about earlier.”

Karen’s stomach rolled over, cramps setting in. She’d need the loo if she wasn’t careful. This was the last person she needed knowing her business. As Doreen was a new recruit of Cassie’s, she’d be eager to scuttle off and tell her the ins and outs. Or had she already done that, which was shy she’d looked like she was shitting bricks out the front when she’d arrived, worrying Cassie had followed her and the game would be up?

“What exactly do you think you heard?” Karen dumped teabags in the cups, hating the fact her hand shook. She blamed it on age tremors to feel better.

“I don’t think owt, I know, and if Sharon won’t do it with you, I will.”

Karen laughed with relief, the sound tinged with her shock. Doreen, killing? This had to be some kind of joke. And why would she want to help her? They’d never really got on since Doreen had stolen her man. Doreen reckoned she’d done no such thing, but Karen knew she had. Well, she’d had a feeling about it anyroad, and feelings shouldn’t be ignored.

“What the fuck would you want to get rid of her for?” The kettle had boiled, seeing as it only had a bit of water in it, and Karen poured it over the teabags, steam rising to bathe her face that had frozen from the cold weather.

“She pisses me off, frankly. Bit of a bossy sort, up her own arse. These young people today, they act so entitled.” Doreen appeared sad, then her face changed to show off her hatred. “I thought she was such a nice kid when she was growing up, then Lenny got ill and she did the work for him, and things weren’t the same. Once he died and she took over for good, well, she’s off her rocker, isn’t she, upsetting the balance. I agree with you—you’d do a better job on the patch. I don’t want to work for that little madam. Do you know, she sent me here to spy on you because she thought you were up to something?”

Karen squeezed the teabags to stop her trembling hands being so obvious. Who’d told Cassie something was up? Sharon? It had to be. Brenda had been fine with her earlier, and anyroad, she’d never grass Karen up—not that she’d known what Karen was up to until half an hour ago. No, the only person was Sharon fucking Barnett.

The treachery stung.

“I see.” Karen sorted milk and sugar, dropping a spoonful of the latter, granules scattering on the worktop. “Fucking clumsy cow. Did you tell Cassie what you heard?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

Karen wouldn’t answer that one. Her opinions on Doreen’s IQ wouldn’t go down well, and she couldn’t afford to antagonise her. “I’m not just talking about what you heard today either.”

Doreen huffed. “I told her you two never spoke about owt in front of me, plus if she thought you were up to something, it was all in her head.”

That was ballsy, but then Doreen always had opened her mouth without thinking. She’d done it so much at school she’d continually had to write lines: I must not speak out of turn.

“How did she take that?” Karen handed over Doreen’s cup and sat with hers at the table, glad to park her arse. Her legs ached from rushing around delivering The Life.

“She told me not to talk to her that way, being cheeky and whatever. That just got my back up even more. I mean, she’s in her twenties, and I’ve lived a damn sight longer than her and deserve a bit of respect. You said about impaling her on The Beast. It’s a great idea, everyone will see her there. I’ll come with you later and help you lift her.”

Karen didn’t quite trust her yet. “I’m going to stab her, loads of times so I make a big hole in her belly for the tail to go through. I won’t believe you’re on the level unless you stab her an’ all. If you’re in, it’s all the way, not just standing there while I do it.”

Doreen smiled. “I’ll bring my own blade. Harry only sharpened my kitchen ones the other day. Got a great gadget for it off Amazon. It sticks to the worktop and everything. There’s a little clip you press down to keep it still.”

“Fuck your gadget.”

Doreen sniffed. “Sorry, but it’s that good. Want me to set up a meeting? I reckon two in the morning is a better option. No time like the present either. We should do it as soon as, as in, later. I can’t be doing with living on a knife edge, excuse the pun, wondering if I’ll mess up, get a warning, then be killed if I do something else she doesn’t like. Loopy cow. Who does she think she is?”

Doreen’s face screwed up with so much revulsion, Karen believed she had a new partner in crime. Doreen really did hate Cassie, and together, they’d get rid of her.

“It’s not just Cassie we have to worry about,” Karen warned her.

“What do you mean?”

“The patch will go to Francis with Cassie dead.” It felt good to