Silent Victim(37)

‘Emma? What the fuck are you doing here?’ Luke said, craning his neck from left and right before dragging me inside.

‘Steady.’ I emitted a nervous giggle at the strength of his grip. ‘You’re keen.’ But as he slammed the door behind me, Luke’s face relayed he was anything but. From a side room I could hear the sounds of the television and I wondered if we were alone. He was wearing a tracksuit, the zip half undone, revealing his toned chest. The same chest I had run my fingers over just a couple of nights before. Tearing my eyes away, I was taken aback to see the spike of annoyance in his gaze.

‘I’ll repeat the question, will I? What are you doing, turning up at my house?’

My smile fell as I absorbed the frosty reception. ‘I . . . I heard you were sick. I thought I’d bring you some flowers to cheer you up.’

‘How did you find out where I lived?’ he said. ‘What if my mother had answered the door? You’re lucky she’s out, or there would be hell to pay.’

My fingers twisted into the bindings tying the bouquet. ‘You weren’t answering my texts. I was worried.’

‘Worried about what?’ he said, running his fingers through his hair. ‘And you haven’t answered my question. How did you find out where I live?’

I responded with a half shrug, my throat dry. I couldn’t allow myself to cry. I was an adult now. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I thought you’d be pleased to see me.’ I held out the flowers, but Luke just laughed in my face.

‘What did I say when we met? I’m not a kid, Emma, and this won’t do. I don’t want you coming here again. So you can take your sunflowers and go home.’

‘But I haven’t got any bus fare left,’ I said. Naively, I had hoped he would give me a lift.

Rooting around in his pocket, he produced three pounds and shoved it into my hand. His lip arched in a sneer. ‘Here, get yourself a few sweets out of the change.’

‘Why are you being so nasty to me?’ I said, hurt inflaming my words. ‘I don’t understand.’

Luke sighed, as if he were speaking to an errant child. ‘Look. What we had was fun, but it’s over now. Best you accept that and move on.’

The tears I had been valiantly holding back forced themselves to the surface. ‘I don’t understand.’

Patting me on the back, Luke steered me towards the door. ‘Best not to dwell on it. Off you go, and remember, not a word to anyone.’

Paralysed with disbelief, I stood frozen on the step as the door slammed behind me. The flowers fell from my grasp, my limbs barely able to make it up the gravel path. What had he meant, ‘Best not to dwell on it’? What had I done wrong?





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

LUKE





2002


‘Here, you look like you need it,’ Lorraine said, shoving a freshly made coffee under my nose.

‘Cheers,’ I said, gratefully accepting it from her grasp. Sitting in the staffroom, I had chosen my moment carefully, wearing enough of a hangdog expression so she would ask me what was wrong. She was known as a caring soul, a busybody in my opinion, always ready to stick her nose into other people’s business. But on this occasion I wanted to turn it to my advantage; feed the rumour mill before it turned on me. Lorraine smoothed her long black skirt, her beaded necklace jangling as she sat. She had had her blonde hair cut short recently, giving her a pixie look.

I thought about Emma, wondering if she had taken off her sunflower necklace and noticed the ‘Made in China’ stamp on the back. I hung my head, hiding my smile. How I would have loved to have seen her expression as she realised she had been played. At least I’d managed to dump her before Christmas and spared myself the expense of another piece of tat.

‘All right, mate? Students been running you ragged?’ Sean Talbot’s heavy paw clamped down on to my shoulder, spilling my coffee on to my hand. I shook my fingers to disperse the droplets, shaking my head in mock protest. Now the second of my fellow teachers was here, the stage was set. I had deliberately robbed myself of sleep, and would put the dark circles under my eyes to good use. A few years older than me, Sean was a giant of a man. He was dark haired, often unshaven, but very popular with staff. I had made it my business to befriend him from the onset: donating spare concert tickets, buying him an extra round in the pub. It had been worth the cost of my generosity to keep my name clear.

‘Have you got five minutes to spare?’ I said, knowing their classes didn’t begin for another twenty.

‘Of course, luvvie,’ Lorraine said, wearing a concerned smile.

I got up and closed the staffroom door before sitting back down. ‘Only this is a delicate matter,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure how to handle it.’

‘Go on then, spill the beans,’ Sean said, loudly slurping his coffee.

‘It’s one of my students, she’s developed a bit of a crush on me.’ I exhaled, like a kettle too long on the boil, tensing my body for effect.

‘Let me guess, Vanessa Baker? The one that wears her skirt up to her backside?’ Sean said. ‘I think she fancies all her teachers, that one. You just have to be careful not to say anything that might be taken the wrong way.’

‘That’s just it,’ I said. ‘It’s not Vanessa. It’s Emma Hetherington, the last person you could accuse of being a flirt.’