The Guilty Couple(82)

‘Come on, Grace. We’ve only got ten minutes to check in.’

I tighten my grip on her. ‘She’s not going anywhere.’

‘You should leave,’ he says tautly, ‘before I call the police.’

‘Funny you should say that.’ I match his cold, controlled tone. ‘Because I’m waiting for them to turn up too. They know you murdered Jack.’ I glance behind him, expecting to see Nancy’s mane of red hair, but there’s no sign of her. Why isn’t she here? She gloated about leaving with Dom.

‘Dad murdered someone?’ Grace stares up at me, her eyes wide with fear. ‘Mum, back at the house, Nancy turned up and—’

‘Of course I haven’t murdered anyone.’ Dominic yanks Grace towards him and grips her arm. ‘Your mother’s lying, just like she lied about trying to have me killed.’

‘Excuse me, mate.’ The taxi driver taps Dom on the shoulder. ‘You owe me a hundred quid.’

Dom lets go of Grace and fronts up to him. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Enfield to Terminal Five,’ the taxi driver holds out his hand. ‘Hundred quid. Lady said you’d pay up.’

I sidestep to my left, out of both of their eyelines, and slide a hand into Dominic’s jacket pocket. If Nancy stole the evidence from Smithy, she will have given it back to Dom, I’m sure of it. As my ex-husband continues to argue with the taxi driver I carefully lift out what I find and push it into my jeans pocket. It’s not what I was looking for and I’m standing at the wrong angle to be able to reach the inner pockets of his jacket without being caught.

‘Mum,’ Grace hisses in my ear. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Looking for something that Nancy stole.’

‘Dad took something from her handbag after … after he … he put it in there.’ She gestures at the travel bag, clipped around the handle of his suitcase. He’s let go of the handle to gesticulate at the cabbie. I reach for the strap at the exact moment Dominic’s hand falls back to his side and his fingers splay, searching for the handle of the suitcase. I snatch my hand away a split second before he finds it and folds his fingers over the clip.

Shit. The only way I can retrieve what’s inside now is to open the bag but I need to be careful. He mustn’t feel a tug on the strap as I reach inside.

I crouch down and pluck at the zip, steadying the bag with my other hand. Dominic’s curled hand with its broad knuckles and thick fingers is just inches from my face and I hold my breath as I tug on the zip. Slowly, carefully, I slide it to the right and open the bag. I exhale slowly then dip my hand inside.

‘She is not my friend. She’s my EX-wife.’ Dominic’s voice booms above me as my fingers graze paper and plastic. I hold myself very, very still, trying to anticipate whether this is the moment he’ll drag me back into the conversation. ‘She has nothing to do with me. If you want your money, ask her.’ My breath catches in my throat as he turns to look behind him and I whip my hand out of the bag.

‘Daddy!’ Grace leaps forward and grabs his arm, twisting him away before he can spot me, crouching behind him. ‘I’m hungry. Can we get something to eat?’

In an instant my hand’s in the travel bag again and I pull out what’s inside: a clear plastic bag containing two SIM cards, a handwritten note and a phone.

‘I’ll have those please.’ A voice behind me makes me jump.

‘Olivia.’ Dani holds out a hand for my spoils as I straighten up. Her skin is still as puffy and red as it was when I ran into her in the hospital corridor but the hollows under her eyes look darker and deeper, as though she hasn’t slept since.

Dominic turns sharply, the colour draining from his skin as his eyes meet Dani’s. He grabs at my hand but I snatch it back. Grace darts to my side.

‘Oh no you don’t.’ Dani slaps his arm away as he reaches for me. ‘Olivia, give that to me.’

‘No.’ I twist my arm behind my back and take several steps away.

‘I’ll let you walk away with your daughter,’ Dani says steadily as she matches me pace for pace, ‘if you give that to me.’

‘She’s not taking her anywhere!’ Dominic’s indignant cry is so loud that several people in the check-in queues turn to stare. A security guard in the corner of the room cranes his neck for a better look at what’s going on.

‘Hey!’ the cabbie interjects. ‘You still owe me—’

Dani flashes her badge at him. ‘Take a walk. And you,’ she looks at Dominic, ‘I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you. Well, Liv. What’s it to be?’

Indecision gnaws at my brain. If I hand the evidence over she’ll get away with framing me. There’ll be nothing left that connects her to Dominic and I’ll spend the rest of my life being treated as an ex-con. I’ll never get a decent job again. I’ll never be trusted. I’ll always be ‘that posh blonde woman who tried to have her husband killed’.

‘Mum.’ Grace pulls on my sleeve. ‘Mum, please. Can we go?’

The pleading expression in her eyes is more than I can bear. I can’t put her through this. She’s already been through so much.

‘Here.’ I hold out the travel bag to Dani then look away sharply as she slings it across her body. I can’t stand the triumphant look on her face. ‘Come on, love.’ I reach for Grace’s hand. ‘Let’s go.’