Page 35 of High Season
She tried to keep her voice light. Tried to keep the edge out of it, but somehow, it remained. She knew Hannah could hear it by the way she tossed her hair back, the way she said, “Are you jealous or something?”
Josie snorted.
“Me?” she said. “Jealous of you snogging Blake Drayton? Give over.”
“Anyway, what happened to you? You disappeared on me.”
Josie shrugged.
“You must have been off with Blake,” she said. “I didn’t go anywhere.”
“But you did,” Hannah persisted. “I looked everywhere for you. How did you even get home?”
“One of Tamara’s friends gave me a lift.”
“Tamara’sfriends? You don’t know any of Tamara’s friends.”
“Funny how quickly you get to know people when you get ditched at a house party in the middle of nowhere, though, right?”
Hannah fell silent. Josie couldn’t quite look at her. She flexed her feet against the sand, her gaze fixed on the sea.
“You’re not telling me something,” said Hannah at last.
“There’s nothing to tell, Jesus,” said Josie. “I got bored. I found somepeople who were heading back the same way as me, and I hitchhiked the last bit. I’m not the one sneaking off with Blake bloody Drayton.”
“Josie.” Nina looked aghast. “You said a bad word.”
Hannah stood.
“I should go,” she said. “I told Mum I’d be home for lunch. And I have to work on my Oxford application this afternoon.”
“Oxford application? That’s not code for meeting up with Blake, is it?”
“And what if I was?”
“I’m only looking out for you, Hannah.”
“The deadline is September and I’ve barely even—”
“Sure. Fine. Whatever. I’ll see you later on then, I guess.”
“You’re really not going to tell me where you went?”
For a moment, Josie was still. She watched as wave after wave crashed down on the beach.
“Fine,” Hannah said at last. “I’ll see you later on.”
Josie did not turn to see her go. She just watched the waves. The never-ending in-out rush of the sea.
@TRUECRIMEFANGIRL_2002
POSTED FIVE WEEKS AGO
Hey, true crime girlies, and welcome back to my series on the Tamara Drayton case. Now, if you’re new here—and, like, where the eff have you been if you are?—then this case has it all. Rich kids behaving badly, secrets, lies, love affairs, betrayal, and, of course, murder. Or was it? That’s what we’re here to figure out. So strap in, because we are getting in. To.It.
First of all, I want to give a big, juicy, true crime thank-you to everyone who watched, liked, and shared my first video about the case. It’s my most-liked video ever. Wow. Appreciate you guys.
So today I thought I’d do a special little feature on some of the people the police overlooked in the Tamara Drayton case. Because I have seen your comments, and I get it. If it wasn’t Josie Jackson who killed Tamara Drayton, then who was it? Well, guys, a few people who used to know the Draytons, or who were in the Côte d’Azur that summer have been in touch. And oh my god, the stories I’ve been told. That place was just a hotbed of secrets and lies and intrigue. In fact, I might have to do a whole separate series on who was at the birthday party that night and all the crazy shit that’s come out about them since, because, wow, there is a LOT.
