Chapter 15
They didn’t see Hannah again that night and Mac slept in Jessica’s room. Edie and Ralph sat up in bed and talked into the small hours, trying to piece together everything they could remember about the times they’d spent with the other couple, both individually and together.
Edie found it hard to set aside her previous assumptions, especially about Hannah, whom she’d considered to be one of her best friends.
She’d seemed so plausible when she’d talked about Mac’s filthy temper, and Edie had never doubted her.
Now, Hannah’s ability to manipulate, and the lengths to which she’d gone to deceive everyone, took Edie’s breath away.
Given her behaviour with other men, and her fondness for rubbing Mac’s nose in it, his jealousy made complete sense. He must have felt so miserable, frightened and insecure, never knowing when she’d next lash out – or tell him the marriage was over. Edie doubted he’d ever fully recover.
She was angry with herself for being so blind, but as Ralph said, Hannah was an excellent actress. And though Ralph blamed himself for failing to question Mac more about his injuries, the truth was, they’d seen very little of each other lately and their conversations had been pretty superficial.
When Edie and her husband finally dropped off, they slept fitfully, and Edie woke with Marina’s strange words filling her ears:
‘You need to know, things are not always as they seem and what you think is real may be a lie. Keep an open mind and try to trust the process. Nothing happens in this world by mistake. So long as you keep the faith, all will be well.’
Edie had always been sceptical of psychics, clairvoyants and the like, but the artist’s pronouncement seemed strangely accurate now.
She couldn’t help thinking if Marina hadn’t told her to ‘Keep an open mind’ about what was real and what wasn’t, she mightn’t have been willing to challenge her perceptions about Mac and Hannah’s relationship.
With her mind closed to the possibility there could be another version of events, she might have remained loyal to Hannah, perhaps helping to condemn Mac to yet more years of misery with his wife.
But what did Marina mean by saying, ‘Nothing happens in this world by mistake’ and ‘Keep the faith’ ?
Was she suggesting all this was meant to happen, even Jessica’s disappearance? It sounded like mumbo-jumbo to Edie.
Furthermore, why had Katerina warned Edie and Ralph: ‘Look after what you have. It’s very precious’ , as if she knew their relationship was about to be put under a lot of strain?
Edie couldn’t wait for the nightmare to be over and to get back to Surrey, to her and Ralph’s lovely home, to their dog and their two, precious children. She quite decided from now on, she’d never complain about Ralph, or anything else in her life for that matter, ever again.
‘Penny for your thoughts,’ Ralph mumbled in a sleepy voice, rolling over to face her with his eyes still half closed.
Edie had assumed he was still snoozing.
‘Oh, nothing really,’ she replied, reaching for his hand, which felt warm and comforting. ‘Just hoping we get some news today.’
She didn’t want to discuss Marina and Katerina with him; he’d only tell her they were nice, but nuts.
She’d rather keep to herself her newfound notion that there might, possibly, be something bigger out there, and that maybe everything happening to them was, in some strange way, supposed to be.
When Ralph’s phone rang, they both jumped like wide-eyed deer and Edie let out a squeal. ‘Quick! Answer it!’
As soon as she heard the now-familiar voice of Ioannis Karanasios, from the Tourist Police department, she sat bolt upright, all her senses on alert.
After just a few seconds, Ralph held the phone away from his ear to speak to his wife. ‘They’ve found her. She’s OK.’
Edie’s heart thumped wildly and she burst into involuntary tears, all the pent-up fear and anxiety of the past few days exploding in a torrent of sobs.
Ralph raised an index finger to his mouth – ‘Shh’ – before placing his hand reassuringly on her thigh, and squeezing.
Clamping the phone to his ear again, he continued the conversation. Meanwhile, Edie buried her face in her pillow to stifle her blubbing and tried to catch what was being said.
Of course, she was desperate to know everything, every last detail, but she had to wait on tenterhooks for the phone call to end before Ralph could properly fill her in.
When he turned to her at last, she threw off the sheet and knelt beside him, her hands resting in her lap.
It seemed Jessica had been located in a small guest house in the city of Kissamos, in north-western Crete, some two and a half hours by road from Knossos.
She’d been visiting the city’s archaeological museum, beaches and other local sites, having changed her plans at the last minute and decided to head to Knossos later.
Her intention had been to return to Porto Liakáda sometime tomorrow or the next day; she wasn’t sure exactly when. Her phone was on silent, because she didn’t want to be disturbed. She hadn’t checked her messages and had absolutely no idea a frantic search for her was underway.
In fact, when police arrived at the guest house and told her they’d been looking for her, she thought they’d got the wrong person. She said it had never crossed her mind her friends would be worried about her. They knew she often travelled solo and was perfectly capable of looking after herself.
It took Edie a few moments to absorb the information, then she heaved a big sigh.
‘I can’t believe anyone can be so selfish and self-centred,’ she said at last, rubbing her eyes and wiping her nose with the back of a hand. ‘Not to even drop us a text to say where she is. It’s mind-boggling.’
‘I know.’
Ralph clasped both Edie’s hands in his and gently shook them up and down.
‘Look,’ he said earnestly, ‘I know we both think the same – she’s vile, a total egoist. When we get back home, I never, ever want to see her again.
You’ll bump into her at school, unfortunately.
But hopefully, you won’t have to speak to her that much.
The thing is, though, the police are bringing her back now.
They’ll be here in two or three hours. I think we should try to keep our feelings to ourselves for the time being and focus on the fact she’s safe.
We need to thank the police. They’ve been great.
We couldn’t have asked for more. And there’s Mac to consider, too. ’
Edie nodded. ‘What do you reckon he’ll do?’
Ralph paused for a moment and scratched his head. ‘I think he needs our help. Lots of it. The last thing we want is for him to reconcile with Hannah.
‘I bet once she’s sobered up and hears about Jessica, she’ll take back everything she said last night, including about the divorce.
It suits her to have him at her beck and call.
I reckon she likes the power and control.
But it will be a disaster for him if he listens to her and gets bullied into staying.
He needs to get out now, but he won’t be able to do it on his own. ’
Edie tilted her head to one side. ‘So, what do you suggest?’
‘I think he should stay with us, just while he sorts himself out and gets the divorce proceedings going. He could have Maisie’s room, or we could turn the downstairs family room into a temporary bedroom.
‘I know it’s not ideal, but I’ve known him forever and I really want to support him. That’s what mates are for. How would you feel about it? Could you cope?’
Edie didn’t hesitate for a second. ‘Of course.’
It occurred to her Hannah would regard this as a massive betrayal, but she didn’t care. Perhaps the falling-out would bring Hannah and Jessica closer together. They were welcome to each other.
After that, Ralph popped out to tell Mac the news. Edie couldn’t face knocking on Hannah’s door, so she texted her instead.
Jessica’s been found safe and well.
She deliberately waited a while before going downstairs and by the time she joined the men, Ralph had had a serious talk with Mac, and he’d accepted the offer of moving in with Ralph and Edie.
Sitting round the patio table drinking coffee, the three of them came to the conclusion that as there were only two more days after this one before they were due to leave Crete, they wouldn’t try to change their flights.
‘We’ll just keep out of Hannah’s and Jessica’s way,’ Edie said with a shudder. ‘If we stick together, I don’t think either of them will dare come near.’
To her relief, Hannah slept in late, probably nursing a terrible hangover, and at around 10a.m. Edie braced herself and went upstairs.
She hadn’t told Ralph or Mac her intentions; she just knew that for her own peace of mind, she had to talk to Hannah and try to understand. They’d been friends for such a long time, after all.
Her pulse was racing when she knocked on the door and heard Hannah’s reply, in a quiet but steady voice: ‘Come in.’
Not knowing what to expect, Edie entered with trepidation.
To her surprise, Hannah looked remarkably composed, sitting on the edge of the bed combing her hair.
Neatly dressed in a clean white T-shirt and shorts, her face was clean and make-up-free, her hair shiny, the skin on her arms and legs tanned, smooth and moisturised.
Beside her were all the things she’d need for a day on the beach or by the pool: swimsuit, book, sun cream, sunglasses, beach bag, flip-flops and hat.
Smiling coolly at Edie, she beckoned to her to sit down beside her while she continued to comb her hair.
‘About last night—’ Edie began nervously.
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ came the rapid reply.
Edie swallowed, unsure how to proceed. She’d imagined Hannah might be a total mess, puffy and red-eyed from weeping and lack of sleep. The fact she appeared so serene and unruffled was dumbfounding.
‘I, I had to ask him, you know,’ Edie went on. ‘Mac, I mean. I don’t understand why?—’