Chapter Three
Aster’s neck twinged. She’d been sitting on the marble floor for hours. Struggling to stand up, she kicked off her shoes and limped to the kitchen. The window looked out over the garden but the light was still hurting her eyes. So she drew the curtains, switched the kettle on and fired up her laptop sitting on the kitchen table.
As she waited for her apps to load, she made a coffee and was appalled to see her hand was shaking. She hadn’t taken her jacket off yet as she couldn’t get warm and wrapped her hands around the mug. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the screen of her laptop and took courage from her screen saver.
It was a picture of her sisters at Ariana’s wedding. They were all laughing into the camera. Even she was. She and Clem had made bunny ears behind Paddy and Nick’s heads and Ari was in the middle of the five of them, her huge white gown creating a lake of tulle. Aster only ever had this screen saver set for home log-ons. If she was in a public space, her laptop showed a basic Microsoft wallpaper. Her obsession with privacy was almost pathological, and it extended to her family. She never gave interviews, had no social media presence beyond her various fake accounts, and unlike some of her sisters, never featured in lifestyle magazines. Despite always being in control, this morning she had woken up in a stranger’s house having been drugged.
She had no doubt now that that was what had happened, but she went online to check the symptoms. Lapses of time, confusion, poor memory of the previous night, light aversion, feeling hideously hungover. Well, she had all of that. It was time to see what had happened next. Plugging in the USB stick, she hit play and held her coffee cup to her chest as her evening played out in front of her.
The first scene was of the familiar hallway and the front door opening that she had just escaped from. Aster watched as the stranger almost had to carry her over the threshold as she swayed and stumbled against him. She was fully clothed, her buttons were correctly fastened, her handbag was slung over her chest and her strappy sandals were both in place, although she seemed to be having trouble standing up in them. As horrible as it was to see herself like this, it was her expression that made Aster feel sick. She was looking at a zombie. Her face was lifeless, her mouth was slack and her eyes kept rolling back.
The second time she stumbled, the man paused and picked her up and carried her down the hallway. She had absolutely no memory of this. She watched as the screen flickered and he was now heading down the corridor, through a kitchen, and then he opened a door. The man put Aster on the ground and gently pushed her forward. Aster couldn’t see what she did next, but he closed the door and was speaking to her through it. A few seconds later, he spoke again, and she walked out.
Aster was mortified to see that whilst she had clearly managed to go to the loo, she hadn’t pulled her skirt all the way down, but at least she had covered her knickers.
Retching, she hit the pause button and took a swig of coffee. Then ran to the kitchen sink and threw up again. Pouring a glass of milk, she returned to the laptop and breathing deeply, hit play.
She was still incapable of walking properly and once more he picked her up and she followed the security footage as he returned through the kitchen and headed back along the hallway, pushing open a door with his foot. She watched as her limp body was being carried through the house by a complete stranger and shuddered in disgust as she watched her head loll backwards, her arms swinging loosely below her body. The video now flickered to show them entering the room. Aster’s head was tipped back, her eyes closed. Flicking a switch, the room was fully illuminated and he walked over to a familiar sofa and laid her down, then walked out.
Aster stared at the screen as nothing happened for a few minutes. She was just lying there, not even moving. Occasionally her eyes would slowly open, then close again. The man re-entered the room. Over one arm was a blanket and in the other hand, he carried a bucket. Placing the bucket on the floor near her head, he returned with a pint of water and some tablets and put them on the floor as well. He then covered her in the blanket. He turned on a sidelight, switched off the main light, then left, closing the door behind him.
She sat and watched the video on fast forward until she watched herself wake up. He had not returned once, and Aster sobbed in relief. She watched as he entered the room, spoke to her, then left. The recording ended as she was still sitting in the room staring at the door.
She stared at the screen and was about to play the footage again when her phone rang with Ari’s ring-tone. Her sister was currently on a family holiday in New Zealand. She was desperate not to answer the call, but it was the middle of the night. Nighttime calls were always bad news.
She tapped on her phone. Thousands of miles away, her call connected.
‘What’s wrong?’
Aster almost sagged in relief when she heard her sister chuckle softly.
‘Nothing. But Hector has been throwing up all night and I’ve given up trying to sleep, so I thought I’d call and say hi. Hi.’
‘Have you taken him to the doctors? The hospital. Could it be food poisoning?’
Aster had already opened up her browser and was checking the CDC site for known health issues.
‘He’s fine. Too many ice creams and chocolate.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Of course I’m sure. I know what happens to children whose eyes are bigger than their tummies. Trust me, no need to start investigating.’
She laughed again. Everyone knew Aster was the first to spot a problem and then to solve it. Aster tried to laugh and found her voice broke. Her panic about the children blended into the past few hours and she felt her emotions swiftly unravelling.
‘Aster. Are you okay?’
‘Yes’, said Aster in a very small voice.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Bad day.’ She hitched a breath.
‘Aster. You’re crying!’
Ari’s alarm was clear and Aster hurried to reassure her sister, but couldn’t find the right words.
‘I’m coming home.’
‘No,’ moaned Aster. ‘I’m fine. Honest. I’ve just had a shock. I’ll be fine soon. By the time you got back, I’d be okay.’
As she spoke, she calmed down. She knew her sister would probably try to fly home from the other side of the world and Aster would not be responsible for spoiling their holiday.
‘Tell me what’s happened and I’ll be the judge.’
And so Aster told her big sister everything that she could remember and felt like a kid all over again.
‘He taped you!’ Ariana’s screech could probably be heard without the need of a transatlantic line.
‘Honestly. It’s not as creepy as it sounds. He obviously has some inbuilt security system. I think he showed me the footage to try to reassure me. I mean, it’s as unnerving as hell, but I think it was done in good faith.’
‘In good faith? Aster, are you insane?’
Ari broke off and Aster could hear her muttering to Seb in the background.
‘I’ve spoken to Seb. We’re packing up now.’
‘No. Don’t do that. I’m fine.’
‘Listen to yourself. You just said that the man who drugged you was acting in good faith.’
Aster tried to catch up with what Ari was saying, and the penny dropped.
‘I don’t think it was him. That doesn’t make sense.’
‘Psychopaths don’t.’
‘Yes, they do actually, but think about it. What was his goal? And why give me the footage? Honestly, I think he was just a good Samaritan.’
‘Aster, someone drugged you. You’re not thinking clearly.’
‘Call it a gut instinct. I genuinely don’t think he was involved.’
She thought back to him in the club. He’d been friendly and chatting about books. She remembered his smile was quite endearing, as though he wasn’t aware of how good looking he was. But then, of course, she was under the influence.
‘You’ve gone quiet. Look, I don’t care. I’m coming home.’
Aster groaned. This was not what she wanted.
‘Tell you what. I’ll call Clem.’
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
‘You will?’
‘Yes. If you promise not to cancel your holiday.’
After a few more words, Aster asked to speak to Seb. Her brother-in-law was a lovely man and worshipped the ground that Ari walked on, but he was also level-headed and wouldn’t be as emotionally involved as his wife.
‘Aster. We are on our way.’
Aster ground her teeth.
‘Stop it. Seb, seriously, I’m okay. A bit freaked out, but nothing happened. Honestly. I’m fine. I’m going to call Clemmie and I’ll see you next week when you’re back for the board meeting.’
Having finally reassured them there was no need to drop everything, she hung up and made a coffee. There was no point in calling Clem. She was in the middle of a collection and wouldn’t answer her phone or pick up e-mails or messages until she was happy with the new designs. Instead, Aster hit play on the footage again.
Somebody had just made the mistake of his life, and Aster was about to destroy him.