The Breakdown(81)

She calls over to him and after a quick conversation in French, where everybody around them seems to be nodding in agreement, she turns back to me.

‘ Si,’ she says again. ‘Yes. She push past him and he took it from her bag.’ She looks anxiously at me. ‘If you want, I give it to the man at the bar.’

‘No, it’s fine,’ I say, taking it. ‘Thanks. I’ll make sure she gets it. I hope your friend hasn’t taken anything of mine,’ I say, frowning at her.





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‘No, no,’ she says hurriedly.

‘Well, thank you.’

She goes back to her friends and I turn the phone over in my hand, still not convinced it belongs to Rachel. It has to be one of the most basic pay-as-you-go models on the market. Did John give it to her? It feels as if everything’s crumbling around me and I don’t know who to trust, not even myself. I flip the phone open and go into the list of contacts. There’s only one number registered. I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I’m really going to dial it. I feel like a stalker but I’m not even sure it’s Rachel’s phone and, anyway, I don’t need to say anything, all I need is to listen to the voice at the other end.

Feeling sick with apprehension, I call the number. It’s answered immediately.

‘What the hell are you phoning me for? I thought we agreed only for texting.’

Even if I had wanted to speak I wouldn’t have been

able to. Because suddenly, I find it impossible to breathe.

It’s the noise of the French students getting up to leave that brings me back to reality. I look down at the phone in my hand and realise that, in my shock, I’ve forgotten to hang up. The call has been timed out anyway and, my mind racing, I try to work out if, during those couple of minutes when the line was still open, anything incriminating could have been heard.

But the person on the other end would only have been able to hear the sounds of the voices around me, not The Breakdown





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the frantic beating of my heart. Anyway, maybe he had


hung up long before then, because he must have realised something was wrong.

My coffee arrives and I gulp it down quickly, aware that Matthew will be wondering where I am because in my note I hadn’t mentioned meeting Rachel, I’d

only said that I was going out to buy a phone. I walk quickly to the car and hide Rachel’s phone at the back of the glove compartment. I want to get home as fast as possible but nothing in the world will make me go back via Blackwater Lane so I put my foot down, thinking about what I’m going to say to Rachel when she calls, as she surely will.

‘I know you left me a note but I didn’t expect you to get back this late,’ Matthew grumbles as I walk into the kitchen. He gives me a kiss.

‘Sorry, I met Rachel for a quick drink.’ The room

is cool compared to outside and smells faintly of toast.

‘Ah, that explains it. Did you get yourself a new

mobile?’

‘No, I wasn’t sure which one to buy but I promise I’ll get one tomorrow.’

‘We can look at the different models on the internet, if you like,’ he offers. ‘By the way, Rachel phoned. She asked if you could call her back.’

My heart skips. ‘I’ll do it in a minute. I need a shower first, it’s so hot out there.’

‘It sounded pretty urgent.’

‘I suppose I’d better do it now then.’





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I fetch the phone from the hall and bring it back

through to the kitchen.

‘Wine?’ Matthew asks, as I dial her number. The





bottle is already open so I nod, the phone to my ear.

‘Hello, Cass.’ It’s the first time I’ve heard Rachel sound agitated, although she does her best to hide it.

‘Matthew said you called,’ I say.

‘Yes, look, do you know if anyone found a mobile

after I’d left the pub? I think I might have dropped it somewhere.’

‘You can’t have because I’m phoning you on it,’ I say reasonably.

‘It wasn’t my phone, it was a phone that I was looking after for a friend. It might have fallen out of my bag or something.’

A friend. The word sits heavy on my mind. ‘Have you phoned the Spotted Cow to ask if anyone handed it in?’

‘Yes, they don’t have it.’

‘Wait a minute – was it a little black one?’

‘Yes, that’s it. Do you know where it is?’

‘Probably halfway across the Channel by now. You

know that group of French students who were sitting near us? Well, after you left they were mucking around with this little phone, throwing it to one another and trying to grab it off each other. I didn’t really take much notice because I thought it belonged to one of them.’

There’s an appalled silence. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. They were making fun of it because it was one of those really basic models. That’s why I’m not sure it’s The Breakdown





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the one you were looking after for your friend,’ I add