The Girls Who Disappeared(61)
‘Mate,’ Tamzin had said, slinging an arm around Olivia’s shoulders, ‘don’t let me drink too much tonight. I have a booty call.’
‘A booty call?’
She’d put her finger to her lips and tried to make a shushing sound, although her hand kept moving away from her face because she was so unsteady on her feet. She gave up and sank onto a bar stool instead.
Who had Tamzin been planning on meeting up with? Olivia shakes her head trying to remember more clearly. Has she remembered this before? She’s never really allowed herself to examine that night in forensic detail because it was too painful and, after months in hospital undergoing multiple operations, she had been woozy with morphine. Is she now imagining that conversation with Tamzin? That’s the problem with memory. Especially after twenty years. How can you be sure of what is true and what your mind has made up? Looking back at that night is like trying to watch an old VHS movie that’s been played too many times so that part of the tape is worn away.
A movement – a flash of clothing – in the field opposite brings her back to the present. She opens the curtains wider, her heart picking up speed. Is it Wesley? But, no, the gait is wrong. This person is tall and wiry. He’s climbing over the stile and steps down onto the pavement, his face illuminated by the streetlight. She stiffens in surprise. It’s Dale. What is he doing by the stones at this time of night? Subconsciously she touches the spot on her thigh where the bruise is forming. Dale had found her but had he been the one to take her there in the first place? Had he drugged her? No: that makes no sense. Why would he do that to her? To punish you for telling Jenna about Tamzin. She pushes away the thought. It’s ridiculous. Dale wouldn’t do that. He had his own reasons for not disclosing to Jenna that he’d been Tamzin’s boyfriend the night she went missing. Unless … Her thoughts begin to run away with her. A booty call. That was what Tamzin had said. Who was she going to meet? Could it have been Dale? Had he lied about being away from Stafferbury? Who would have checked? He hadn’t been a suspect, had he?
The sound of a key in the lock makes her jump off the sofa. Wesley’s back. Had he gone out to meet Dale? She contemplates getting back into bed and pretending to be asleep, but no. She won’t. She’s going to confront him. She stands in the middle of the room in the dark. He doesn’t notice her at first. He’s carrying what looks like a shoebox, which he sets down on the kitchen counter. He does everything quietly, like he’s in a mime show.
She waits, watching him as he places his keys gently on top of the box and slips off his trainers. And then he takes something from the inside of his coat pocket. It lights up in his hand and her heart sinks. It’s a phone. So he does have two. She can’t believe he still hasn’t noticed her standing there. He opens the cupboard above the fridge, which he knows she finds hard to reach, then slips the box and the phone into it. While his back is turned she makes a decision. She’ll go back to bed and pretend to have been asleep. He’ll only lie if she confronts him. Or get nasty. Or blame her for being paranoid. This way he won’t know she’s seen where he’s put the box. She can snoop tomorrow.
He turns just as she’s getting into bed. She pretends to be stretching in sleep, squeezing her eyes tightly shut but she senses him walking over to her. ‘Liv?’ he says quietly, stroking back her hair, the bed dipping under his weight. ‘Are you awake?’
She makes a groaning noise but doesn’t open her eyes. Let him think she’s still out of it. She’ll confront him when she knows more about what she’s dealing with. She feels him sliding into bed, his back to her. It’s not long before he begins to snore. She’ll wait until he’s gone to work in the morning and then she’ll see what he’s up to. Her phone next to her flashes, briefly lighting up her corner of the room. She tenses, wondering if Wesley will notice, but he doesn’t stir. She reaches for her mobile. Who would be texting at this time of night?
It’s from her mum. She opens it, and as her eye sweeps over the sentence, her blood runs cold. It’s just one line. Something she thought her mother would never say.
We need to talk about your father.
37
Jenna
I’ve not been able to sleep since I saw the note in the fireplace. Only two people were here tonight, Dale and Olivia. One of them must have thrown the note away. I think of how Dale helped me earlier, offering to drive Olivia home for me and bringing me fish and chips. It was kind of him. But now I’m wondering if he had an ulterior motive. Could he have taken the note when he was preparing the plates and cutlery? Or was it already gone by then? Had Olivia found it when I was in the toilet and tried to dispose of it? I frown and turn over in bed, feeling frustrated.
Suddenly I hear a noise, like a car door banging. I jump out of bed and grab my dressing-gown, wrapping it around myself as I pull aside my curtains. It’s dark outside with just the outline of the trees in the distance. Even the little lights in the branches opposite have been turned off. I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. I must have dreamt it. It’s nothing. I’m about to turn and go back to bed when I hear a bark, then see movement. It looks like two shadows moving as one, and as I blink, trying to adjust to the dark, I see that they’re in the shape of a man and a dog. A big dog. Like a German Shepherd. My heart races as I watch. They’re moving towards the cabin opposite and it’s not my imagination: a light is flickering beyond the narrow rectangular window. I’m convinced it’s the man I saw when I first arrived although it’s too dark to tell. I’m not sure if he’s alone. Is someone waiting inside for him to return? I check the time on my mobile. It’s gone midnight. I contemplate trying to take a photo but it’s too dark so I scroll through my contacts until I get to Dale’s number. And then I hesitate. Can I trust him? I shake my head, angry with myself. I have to trust him. He’s a detective. He’s a good guy. And I have no choice.