Caught in the Act by Gemma Fox Page B

little kitten.’ She mimicked Fiona’s mother with spiteful accuracy for someone whom she hadn’t seen for years.
    â€˜Oh, come on, Fiona has done well for herself,’ said Diana pleasantly.
    â€˜What do you mean well ?’ said Jan. ‘First road kill in Casualty ?’
    â€˜I saw her in an ad on telly for Boots last Christmas,’ said Netty.
    â€˜Third bunny on the Emmerdale Easter special,’ laughed Carol.
    â€˜And first drownee on the Titanic ,’ continued Adrian, topping the lot of them.
    â€˜Oh, I didn’t know that she was in Titanic ,’ said Diana innocently, at which point Netty and Jan keeled over giggling.
    â€˜You pair are bloody horrible,’ growled Diana as the penny dropped, although she did say it with a certain affection, which made them laugh all the harder.
    â€˜So Fiona is definitely coming?’ asked Carol.
    â€˜She said she would, although apparently there was a chance she might be called back for filming, in which case it could make things a bit tight.’
    â€˜Oh, she was just saying that to impress you. Of course she’ll be here,’ said Adrian. ‘Understudy to Mrs Macbeth, Lady Macduff—if there was ever a woman who needed stabbing…’ He hesitated and then said to Carol, ‘You want to watch yourself on these steep stairs, you know. I don’t think she ever forgave you for stealing the lead out from under her retroussé nose. She’s probably still out for blood.’
    Carol smiled grimly. ‘She was always out for blood.’
    Netty nodded. ‘She was re ally pissed off with you, you know—you getting the leading role and the leading man.’
    â€˜Come off it, it’s a long time ago now. Let’s go. I could murder a drink,’ said Carol uncomfortably.
    â€˜Poor choice of words,’ said Jan. ‘I remember she was livid when the reviews came out; didn’t get so much as a word.’
    Carol laughed. ‘That’s only because you three stole the show. Madam here,’ she waved towards Diana, ‘and her magic wart.’
    â€˜Anyway, Fiona said she might be delayed,’ finished Diana, determined to bring the conversation round to something a little less anarchic.
    â€˜So that’s her and Gareth,’ said Adie archly. ‘Right, well, let’s go and find this pub then.’
    The gang moseyed out with Adrian in the lead.
    As they fell into step Carol let thoughts surface that hadn’t come to the fore since she left school: why was it Gareth hadn’t been interested in Fiona instead of her? Perhaps it was that he couldn’t stand the idea of sharing the limelight. Two egos that big would probably have sent the place up in smoke.
    â€˜And Gareth said he had a few things to sort out before he left,’ said Diana to their backs.
    â€˜And what did you say?’ asked Carol, turning back but trying hard not to sound too eager.
    â€˜Nothing much—God, you have got it bad, haven’t you?’
    Carol shook her head, reluctant to commit herself. ‘Not re ally, I just wondered…’
    Diana grinned. ‘You don’t fool me. You’d better head off and catch up. We can talk later.’
    Carol nodded, while somewhere deep in her heart she felt a sharp little stab of betrayal for Raf.
    Meanwhile in a large semi-detached town house in an unfashionable suburb of Hemel Hempstead, Gareth Howard was pulling on his jacket.
    â€˜About these…’ Leonora began, as she and Gareth arrived together at the front door. She held a sheaf of bills in her hand.
    Gareth leaned forward and kissed her hard on the lips and then each cheek. ‘I’ll miss you, sweetie,’ he purred.
    â€˜What about th—’ she began again, but wasn’t anywhere near fast enough.
    â€˜My God is that the time?’ he said, lookingdown at his watch. ‘I re ally need to be gone, darling.’ As he stepped through