Chapter 6
Chapter Six
They walked over the Millennium Bridge, paused outside St Paul’s, and wandered along the South Bank, watching the river slide past and the city hum around them.
When darkness fell over the bustling city, Flynn treated her to a steak dinner in a swanky wine bar, which was about as far from their usual pints in the Mermaid Inn as you could get.
As far as Lily was concerned, the Mermaid Inn would have been preferable, not to mention cheaper, but the location was irrelevant. She got the entire day with Flynn, and that was all that mattered.
Snuggled up in bed with him that evening, she savoured the warmth and scent of him as his body relaxed into sleep while tangled up with hers.
Footsteps in the building had her ears pricking up. A door opened. Voices drifted into her mind while sleep crept in at the edges.
“What was that?” she asked, her voice loud in the silence of the bedroom.
“What?” Flynn muttered.
“That crash. Did you hear it?”
“It’ll be the neighbours banging around.”
More voices came, raised this time. A woman.
“Someone’s arguing,” Lily said.
“It’s Caroline, shouting at her son for coming home too late,” Flynn said sleepily. “Standard Friday night stuff. He’ll shout back at her and then things will settle down.”
He was wrong. The shouting stopped. More footsteps sounded. Definitely the click of another door…
Sleep sucked Lily under and kept her for a solid eight hours.
When she blinked her eyes open, Flynn was already up and dressed.
“You look as though you’re ready to leave,” she said, pouting.
“I am.” He sank beside her on the bed.
“You should have woken me earlier.”
“I thought about it, but you looked too peaceful to disturb.”
She sighed heavily.
“I wish I didn’t have to work today,” he said, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“I’ll be fine.” She forced a smile. “Don’t forget to tell your mum you have to work. I’ll have to meet her next time instead.”
He nodded and leaned down to kiss her. “Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”
“Can’t promise that,” she said, then snuggled back down once he’d left.
The desire for caffeine soon overtook the comfort of the warm bed.
All set to make herself a cup, she changed her mind and went to get dressed.
Hanging out in a busy London coffee shop would surely be better than sitting alone in Flynn’s kitchen.
She could pass some time people-watching and then make a plan for the rest of the day.
Stepping out into the hallway, she was focused on making sure she had the spare key and her phone, and purse, so didn’t immediately notice the lady from upstairs mopping the hallway. Not until the main door opened and Gigi walked in.
“Oh, no!” She reached down for Pixie, but the little dog pranced around, leaving dirty paw prints all around. “I’m so sorry,” Gigi said, finally getting a hold of the dog and lifting her into her arms. “We always seem to come in from a walk right when you’re cleaning the floors.”
“Don’t worry,” Caroline said, then flashed Lily a brief smile. “I hadn’t done that bit anyway and now it’ll feel more worthwhile doing it.”
Distracted by the wriggling dog, Gigi made a beeline for her door without acknowledging Lily.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Mr Latham this morning?” Caroline asked.
It took Lily a moment to realise the question was directed at Gigi and not her.
“No.” Gigi focused on getting her key into the lock, which didn’t look easy with the dog squirming in her arms. “Why?”
“I was supposed to speak to him this morning about the cleaning schedule. He specifically told me to come over, but he’s not answering the door.”
“He probably forgot,” Gigi suggested, getting increasingly agitated with the key.
“He doesn’t usually forget things like that,” Caroline said.
“Maybe you got the time wrong or something.” Gigi swore at the door before setting the dog down to attempt it with her hands free.
“Did you hear any strange noises last night?” Caroline asked. “Like a loud crash?”
“I heard something,” Lily said.
“I always fall asleep with a podcast on,” Gigi said. “I didn’t hear anything except that.” With the door finally open, she glanced back at them. “Sorry, I have a work call in ten minutes. Have a good day.”
“You too,” Lily muttered.
“Do you ever just get a feeling that something is wrong?” Caroline asked.
“Yeah,” Lily said knowingly.
Sighing, Caroline leaned on the handle of the mop. “It’s not like Mr Latham to forget something like this, and I know I haven’t got the time wrong. After that crash last night, I’m worried.”
“Does anyone have a spare key for his flat?” Lily asked.
“I do. I clean his place too. It crossed my mind to pop in and check on him, but it feels inappropriate.”
“You’d only be ducking inside to check everything is okay. I don’t see any harm in that.”
Caroline nodded slowly, but didn’t look convinced.
“I can come with you if you want. Then you’ll have a witness to confirm you only went in to look for him and came straight out again. In case it’s an issue later.”
“Would you mind?” she said, tilting her head.
“Not at all.”
“That would actually be great. Then I can stop thinking about it.”
Lily pointed at the stairs. “Lead the way.”