Chapter 41
I park outside my house, and my heart sinks. There’s a tall man with broad shoulders in a dark woollen coat standing at my door.
Is he a policeman? He certainly looks like one. Oh, God. I’m too late.
I get out of the car, my heart racing. ‘Can I help you?’
‘Oh, hi! I was just ringing your doorbell. How are you, Kate?’
I blink. And then I remember, with a wave of relief that almost knocks me over. It’s Jonathan…something. Cain. That’s Jonathan Cain. Max’s colleague. Also, the man who plays tennis with Max every weekend.
‘Jonathan.’
‘I’m really sorry to turn up like this, but we’ve been calling Max repeatedly for days and we can’t reach him.
He hasn’t replied to the texts I’ve sent, and honestly I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t getting critical.
I know he hasn’t been well, but, you know, it’s been more than a week, so…
’ He opens his arms and lets them fall. ‘What’s going on? Is he at death’s door? Is he dead?’
I jerk back.
‘Sorry. Bad joke. Is he all right?’
I glance at Teri’s house, but there’s no movement that I can see. ‘I’m sorry, Jonathan, but this isn’t a good time.’ I walk past him to open my door, mumbling an apology.
‘I just need to talk to him for a minute.’
‘You can’t.’
‘Kate, I have to.’ He puts his hand on the door to stop me from closing it. ‘I’m going to wake him up, okay? Five minutes. One minute, even.’
‘It’s not a good time, Johnathan.’ I take a step inside, still holding onto the door behind me. ‘Holly?’
Nothing.
‘Holly? Are you home?’
Nothing.
‘Can I come in, please, Kate? Just for two seconds. I really need to talk to him.’ He doesn’t wait for an answer. He moves right past me and points to the stairs. ‘Bedroom’s up there, I assume?’ To my horror, he just about jogs up the stairs without waiting for an answer.
‘Stop!’
He turns around mid-flight. ‘What?’
‘You can’t go up there.’
‘I just need to talk to him, Kate. We’re about to lose the Zurich account.
He hasn’t briefed anyone. There are other clients that he hasn’t briefed anyone about.
I’m tearing my hair out. So I’m just going to ask him a few questions, that’s all.
Look—’ he pulls out his phone from his pocket ‘—I’ve got them right here.
It’s going to take two minutes.’ He turns around and jogs up another couple of stairs.
‘He’s not there.’
He turns around again. ‘What do you mean he’s not there? Where is he?’
I bite my bottom lip. ‘I didn’t want to tell anyone.’
‘What, Kate?’
This is not good. I am not ready for this. I put my hand on the wall to steady myself. ‘He’s left me.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘We had a fight. He left me. I don’t know where he is. He said he needed to clear his head.’
He frowns. ‘He needed to clear his head?’
‘Yes. He said he would be back when he was ready.’
‘But…what about Sterling? The Zurich account?’
I don’t know what to do. I tug at my hair, twirling a lock around my finger. It’s all happening too fast. I was supposed to tell that story after he’d been found at the bottom of a gully after speeding.
‘I don’t know actually, Jonathan. I just don’t know.’ Then I add, ‘But I’m really worried about him.’
He walks back down the stairs, scratching his head. ‘Okay, this is really confusing. Didn’t you tell Amanda that he was sick, like bedridden?’
‘I know.’ I wring my hands together. ‘I thought he would call you. He said he wanted to clear his head and that he would be back when he was ready.’ Didn’t I just say that? I can’t remember.
‘I just can’t believe it.’ He rakes a hand through his hair. ‘When was the last time you heard from him?’
‘Erm…’ I tap my finger on my chin. ‘The day he left.’
He frowns. ‘When was that?’
I swallow. ‘Last Sunday. No wait. The Sunday before.’
‘And you haven’t heard from him since?’ he blurts, eyes wide.
‘I know it sounds bad, but we’ve been through this once before—’
‘You have?’
‘Yes. He came back eventually. So I thought… I’ve left messages, but I haven’t heard back. As I said, we went through this before. I was actually about to call Sterling to check if you’d heard anything. No, wait, actually I was about to call the police to report a missing person.’
This is not going well – at all. Maybe I should make some notes so I can keep my story straight.
‘Missing person?’ he shrieks.
I check my watch. Where is Holly anyway? Jonathan is speaking. I try to focus.
‘I’m so sorry. I had no idea,’ he says.
‘No idea about what, Jonathan?’
‘That you two had problems. That he…he really left you?’
‘Yes. There was another woman, you see.’
‘Oh, God, Kate. I’m sorry. I can’t believe it. I’ve only seen you two together twice, at our work functions, but you looked so in love…’
Well, yes. He would say that, since that’s the image Max liked to project.
Whenever we were out together, he would hold my hand, interlacing our fingers.
He would wink at me from across the room and make sure I had a drink, that I was warm enough or cool enough, pressing his hand on the small of my back.
To anyone watching, we were indeed very much in love.
‘Where could he be?’ I hear Jonathon say.
‘I don’t know, but that’s why I was about to go to the police. If you wouldn’t mind…?’
‘Of course. Will you keep us posted?’
‘I will.’
‘I really hope it works out, Kate,’ he says at the door. ‘That he’s all right and he comes home. You two really are a beautiful couple.’
‘Thank you.’ I nudge him out.
‘Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.’
‘I will. Thank you. Goodbye.’
I close the door, walk into the living room and sit on the edge of a chair to call Holly.
It goes to voicemail. I leave her a message: ‘Can you call me back, please?’
I hang up and wait, staring at the screen, my pulse racing. How long has she been there? She was supposed to go round straight after I left, which was two hours ago. Maybe Teri wasn’t up. Maybe she didn’t hear our argument after all. Maybe Holly has only been there for twenty minutes.
I send her a text: Where are you? I’m home, and you’re not here.
I stare at the screen some more, willing those little dots to start moving.
Nothing.
I pace the room. I should go there. Get her out. Something’s happened. She should have been home by now. Oh, God. What was I thinking, sending her in there?
Who does Kate love most in the world?
I feel sick to my stomach. I text Holly again, my fingers trembling: Come home.
Nothing.
I try calling her again. This time she answers. I sit back, breathing with relief.
‘Hello, Kate.’
Except it’s not Holly. It’s Teri.