The Guilty Couple(36)

A sneer lifts his lip. ‘PT client, was it, that sent you scurrying out of the office? Or was it your rich boyfriend asking for a favour?’

The ‘rich boyfriend’ jibe jabs at her guts and she suppresses a gasp of surprise. Has Argent been tracking her off-duty movements as well as on shift? The whole team knows she was the PT to a victim in an attempted murder case (and testified as a witness) but there’s no way Reece could know she’s been sleeping with Dominic Sutherland. She’s always been very careful. No. She catches herself before her thoughts spiral out of control. Reece doesn’t know anything. It’s a stab in the dark and she’s overreacting. No one’s going to find out what she did, not as long as she keeps Dominic sweet. She’ll get his money out of him first, then she’ll get whatever it is he’s holding over her.

‘Cat got your tongue?’ Argent says, leering at her like she’s PornHub on a lonely Saturday night. ‘Or are you saving it for your boyfriend for later?’ His lascivious wink turns Dani’s stomach.

‘Actually,’ she taps him on the cheek, ‘I thought I’d take a lesson from you and stick it up the boss’s arse in the next briefing. Now get out of the bloody way.’





Chapter 25


OLIVIA


As the train pulls out of Audley End station I dial Nancy’s number. I’m so stunned by Sonia’s revelation that I need help to make sense of it all. I wasn’t able to get any more information out of Sonia as she was rushing to pick up her son but she did tell me that she slept with Dominic only once, on the night of Jack’s twenty-first birthday. Her exact words were ‘It was a drunken one-night stand and I never saw, or heard from him again.’ Four months later the three boys finished their third year and Sonia and Jack lost touch. I tried to push her to tell me why but she was halfway to her car and she brushed me off with a ‘Sorry, I really have to go.’

‘Hello?’ Nancy picks up after three rings. ‘Liv! How are you?’

Her voice sounds loud and echoey as though she’s in a tunnel or shopping mall.

I cut straight to the chase. ‘Nance, I’m going to send you a photo. Tell me who you recognise. I’m sending it now.’

I hear piped music, the beep of a cash register and a child’s faint squeal, then, ‘Wow!’ Nancy’s voice cuts through the noise. ‘God Ian looks young. Where did you find that?’

‘I’ll tell you in a minute. Who else do you recognise?’

‘Well, that’s definitely Dom on the right and is that … no, it’s can’t be … that’s not … is that Jack? In the middle? Your Jack?’

I wince as she says, ‘Your Jack.’

‘Yes, it’s him. I found the photo in Sonia’s house, that’s his sister. She thought Dom was someone called Matt Platt. She said she slept with him after Jack’s twenty-first birthday party.’

‘Wait, what? Rewind a second. You went to see Jack’s sister?’

‘Yeah. He’s been emailing me and I wanted to talk to Sonia about it.’

There’s a pause then, ‘Emailing you? Seriously? What the hell did he say?’

‘That he was sorry, basically. I asked him where he was and he said he was hiding, that it was too dangerous to tell me where.’

‘Wow.’

‘I know.’

‘So he’s been hiding from the police for five years?’

‘I assume so.’

‘What does he want though? Why has he suddenly got in touch?’

‘I don’t know. I haven’t asked him yet. I’m waiting for proof that it’s really him.’

‘What do you mean, “proof”?’

‘I asked him a question, about us, that only he could answer.’

‘And?’

‘He hasn’t replied yet.’

‘Right. Sorry. Give me a sec, Liv. I need to get out of this shop. I’m struggling to hear you.’

The phone line becomes muffled for a minute or so then she says, ‘Can you hear me? I’m at the entrance to the women’s loos.’

‘I can hear you. So, what do you think? About the photo? They obviously all know each other but Dom and Jack never mentioned each other. In fact …’ a memory comes back to me ‘… when Jack and I were getting to know each other he told me he went to Manchester Uni and I asked him if he knew Dom. He said no. He didn’t recognise Ian’s name either.’

‘That’s so weird. Why would he lie?’

‘I don’t know. Has Ian ever mentioned knowing Jack?’

‘Nope. Never. Even when you were arrested and there were photos of Jack in the paper he never said, “I know him.”’ She goes quiet for a few seconds. ‘Maybe they were acquaintances or Dom and Ian just happened to be in the pub that night?’

‘I thought that but why take a photo? And Sonia said they were best friends. Could you show Ian the photo when he gets home tonight and ask him … no, actually don’t do that. I don’t want him to talk to Dom.’

‘Okay, I won’t say anything.’ She makes a quiet hmm sound. ‘What did you say Jack’s sister thought Dom was called?’

‘Matt Platt. Why?’