The Guilty Couple(61)

I take a seat as the maître d’ disappears off again and scan the street beyond the window. Where is she? I check my phone but she hasn’t sent me a text. Did she go to the wrong restaurant? Did we cross wires somehow?

I tap out a text:

Aysh? Where are you?

What do I do now? Just wait? Sit here for an hour on my own? Will it still count as an alibi? Do I even need one? When Dominic returns to his office and his safe is open and empty he’ll panic. He’ll search for his stuff and then what? Call his lawyer? The police? But what would he say? ‘The evidence I used to frame my ex-wife has been stolen’? He can’t ring Dani because some of my haul incriminates her and, given the conversation Grace overheard, she’ll be pleased if Dominic’s bargaining chip has disappeared. Or will she? If she discovers that I’m behind the theft she’ll definitely come knocking. And she knows where Smithy lives too.

‘Shit.’ My chair clatters to the floor as I stand up. I need to tell Smithy not to go back to the flat. But I’ve still got her phone. I forgot to give it back.





Chapter 43


DOMINIC


Dominic is furious that he spent forty minutes standing outside in the rain while the fire service checked The Radcliffe Building to find the source of the fire, only to discover that some arsehole deliberately smashed a fire alarm on the fifth floor. He’s just spent thirty seconds crammed into a lift with half a dozen damp people who smell like wet dogs and he’s pissed off with Rob for striding into his office earlier and ordering him out like a headteacher sending a recalcitrant child to detention. Rob Storey is a jumped-up little prick who should have been fired years ago and Dom’s got a good mind to book a meeting with one of the partners to complain about him. Then there’s the anonymous message on his phone that made him panic unnecessarily. There are three people who should be worried about the contents of his safe, and only one who knows it exists.

You can taunt me all you like, he thinks as he opens the door to his office, but the second I get my share of the money I won’t be the monkey dancing to your tune anymore.

He strides across to his safe and touches a finger to the keypad, keying in the code to unlock it. His heart spasms in his chest – a double beat that makes him feel sick – as he opens the door and catches sight of what’s inside. Or rather, what’s not. Now he’s not thinking about anything. He’s trying not to throw up.





Chapter 44


OLIVIA


There’s someone standing on the street outside Smithy’s flat – a woman in a brown leather jacket and jeans with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She’s pushing at the door, oblivious to the curious glances of shoppers drifting up and down Walworth Road. The door gives way a little with each shove but there’s resistance, as if someone standing behind the door is pushing back. A rush of fear passes through me. Smithy! Shit.

I sprint down the street, keeping to the edge of the pavement, out of leather jacket woman’s eyeline, then I rush her from behind, knocking her away from the door. She tips sideways and falls heavily. Her forearm and elbow hit the pavement first before her hips follow suit.

‘Smithy?’ I turn the door handle and push lightly, leaving the woman still groaning on the concrete behind me. ‘Smithy open up, it’s me.’

When there’s no reply I push harder. ‘Smithy? It’s Liv. Open the door!’

The door moves half an inch then catches on something and stops. There’s a narrow band of space between the door and the frame but I can’t see more than a thin strip of wall. Movement behind me makes me turn sharply. My blood runs cold as the woman I knocked down gets to her feet.

DS Danielle Anderson.

Confusion, then anger, flashes across her face and in an instant she’s standing beside me, her lips pulled into a hard straight line.

‘I could nick you for that.’

‘Go on then.’ I hold her stare. I’m breathing steadily even though my heart is pounding and my skin is tingling. All the frustration, hurt and anger I’ve felt over the last five years has risen to the surface. Inside Smithy’s flat is the evidence that’s going to send Dani Anderson to prison for a very long time.

A muscle twitches in her cheek. ‘Take a step back, Sutherland. You’re not in prison now.’ There’s a warning tone to her voice but I’m not afraid.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ I ask her.

‘I don’t think that’s any of your business.’

‘You bribed Smithy to keep tabs on me. Wasn’t it enough to frame me once?’

‘No one framed you, Liv.’

‘We both know that’s not true.’

‘I know you’re a very dangerous woman.’

‘And I know you’ve been sleeping with Dom.’

‘That’s bullshit and you know it.’ Her voice hasn’t lost any of its power but, for the first time since she stood up, there’s a hint of apprehension in her eyes.

‘Missing a black bra, are you?’

She smirks. ‘What? Did you break in again?’

‘If I had you wouldn’t report it. Why is that, Dani?’

‘Again, none of your business, Liv.’

She’s lost the polish she had in the gym. Her eye make-up has smudged, her hair is damp where it joins her forehead and there are beads of sweat above her top lip. ‘You sold yourself too cheaply. In and out of the bedroom.’