Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
LIANE
I stand open-mouthed as I watch the man running away from me, unable to believe that he has chosen to run. But if I didn’t think something very strange was going on with Haven, I sure do now, which is why I don’t hesitate a second longer.
I start running too.
Going in pursuit of the mysterious man who clearly does not want to talk to me, I seriously doubt I’ll be able to keep up with him, let alone catch him, considering he looks to be at least twenty years my junior.
But I have to try because if I lose him now then I’ll never get another chance to talk to him again.
He’ll never reply to any more messages I might send him, not now he knows I’m not really Haven, so I’ll never have the opportunity to get any information on her if he gets away from me.
So I keep running, as fast and as hard as I can, praying that I can reach him before he gets out of this park and disappears into whatever crowd there might be on the streets beyond.
But it’s not easy with stiff knees, and as I rapidly run out of breath, I am regretting even trying to chase this man down in the first place.
But I can’t give up. I can’t just quit like I used to in all those PE classes back when I was a schoolgirl.
This isn’t just some silly test from a teacher.
This is important adult stuff, so I have to keep going and tap into reserves I didn’t even know I possessed.
‘Hey! Come back!’ I call after the fleeing man, but it’s a waste of my diminishing oxygen levels because the man ignores me. He doesn’t even turn back to check if I am chasing him, or how close I might be, which suggests he isn’t too worried about being able to outpace me if he has to.
I’m already aware I’m not going to catch up to him without some stroke of fortune going my way, but as the man darts through one of the park exits, I’m prepared to give up on any such luck coming my way.
That’s until I hear the loud screeching of tyres.
As I exit the park, I’m shocked to see the man lying on the ground in front of a car.
I see the driver of the car sat behind the wheel looking stunned, as if he did not expect to have somebody run right in front of his vehicle.
For a second, I wonder if the injuries to the man I was pursuing might have been fatal.
But then I see him trying to get back to his feet and I realise he isn’t hurt badly at all, meaning he’s likely to start running again any second now.
Seizing my chance, I reach him and stand over him, making it harder for him to get up.
I’m not just doing it because I need to question him again, but because he might genuinely be hurt and I’d feel terrible if he got hurt because of me.
But he does look okay and when the driver of the car calls out of the window, I realise this incident wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
‘What are you doing running into the road? I almost hit you!’ the driver cries, telling me that the man lying by my feet was not impacted by the vehicle, so he must have just tripped in front of the car.
That’s a relief, and it means I can concentrate on getting this guy to talk rather than getting him to a hospital.
‘Get away from me,’ the man in the road says as he gets to his feet, looking a little unsteady, although maybe it’s his pride that is hurt more than his body. I would be embarrassed too if I’d lost in a foot race with someone older than me.
‘Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?’ I ask, offering help. I would offer him some water if I had any on me, but I don’t, so words are all I can give.
‘Just get away from me,’ the man says before grimacing, and I figure he injured some part of his lower body during his fall.
‘Just tell me who you are, please,’ I beg, trying not to be too forceful because this guy did just experience a potential near-death experience.
As the driver gets back behind the wheel to leave, I look to the man in front of me to talk. Thankfully, he does.
‘My name is Calvin,’ he says. ‘I’m Haven’s brother.’
‘Her brother?’ I repeat, processing this as something that I hadn’t even considered to be an option.
‘Yes, her brother,’ Calvin replies. ‘That’s why I came here to meet her, but all I got was you instead.’
‘But why didn’t you just tell me that in the park? Why did you run?’
‘I don’t know, I guess I panicked.’
‘Why would you panic?’
‘Because I was worried for Haven and wanted to find another way to contact her to check she was okay.’
‘I told you she was fine,’ I repeat.
‘Yes, but you also pretended to be my sister, so how can I trust you?’
He has a point there.
‘I told you why I was doing it. I’m just trying to make sure my son is okay and isn’t being used by your sister.’
‘Haven would never use anybody.’
‘You know that for sure?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Then why did you leave a note for her saying to contact you if she was ever in trouble? What kind of trouble has she been in in the past?’
‘It’s none of your business,’ Calvin says, and he tries to move past me.
‘Yes, it is!’ I repeat, blocking his way whilst hoping he doesn’t try to push past me. ‘I told you she is my son’s girlfriend, and she is currently living in my house, so I have a right to know exactly what kind of woman she is and what she might be hiding.’
‘She’s not hiding anything.’
‘Really? Because I feel like she is, just like I feel she is very, very interested in the money my son is inheriting from his grandmother’s death.
My mother’s death. Money she worked hard to save over an entire lifetime.
So forgive me if I seem nosey, but I will not stop until I know for sure that my mum’s money is not going to be taken by somebody with an ulterior motive. ’
Calvin has listened to everything I just said without trying to get past me or run again, which is helpful because I definitely don’t have the energy to chase him one more time.
Then he shows another sign that he is done with running, opting to walk over to the wall that surrounds the perimeter of the park we were in before taking a seat on the edge of it.
I walk over and sit down next to him before looking at Calvin to do the talking.
‘My sister has been through a lot in her life,’ he says.
‘We both have. Our parents weren’t there for us, so it’s good to hear that you are trying to be there for your son.
But Haven doesn’t have anyone to look out for her, so that’s why I will always be there for her if she ever needs me.
But one thing I can assure you of is the fact that she is not trying to steal any money from your son or anybody else.
She is a good person, and if she is with your son, then she likes him and he must make her happy. If so, it makes me happy too.’
That was not what I was expecting to hear.
‘You say you have both been through a lot in your lives,’ I ask. ‘What kind of things? What happened with your parents?’
‘It’s personal.’
‘I need to know. My son is involved now.’
‘No, you don’t,’ Calvin replies. ‘What you need to do is stop prying into Haven’s life. What you’ve done today was ridiculous, and you have wasted our time.’
Calvin goes to get up off the wall then, but I put out a hand and I’m glad he stops.
‘Just answer me this,’ I say. ‘If you and your sister are so close, why does she only have your number on a simple scrap of paper? Why aren’t you two in more regular contact? Why have I never heard about you before? My husband asked Haven about her family and she just said it’s complicated.’
‘Complicated is the right word,’ Calvin replies.
‘And it applies to our relationship too. Just because I care for her, it doesn’t mean we talk every day.
She doesn’t want to see me all the time because I remind her of the past. When she went to Australia, I didn’t even know if I’d see her ever again.
I thought she might stay over there and that I’d lost her forever.
I wouldn’t have blamed her because it’s not as if either of us has anything here.
That was until she got back and randomly turned up on my doorstep.
She told me she had met a guy while travelling and was staying with him.
She also told me she had a new number and wrote it down for me.
So I wrote a note for her too and she took it before leaving. I haven’t seen her since.’
‘Wait, when did she visit you?’ I ask. ‘I was at the airport when she got back. She arrived with my son, and they have been staying with us ever since, so I don’t know when she could have visited you.’
‘I’m not making it up,’ Calvin replies. ‘She came to see me.’
‘When, exactly?’
‘Last Tuesday,’ he says simply.
But that is not a simple answer for me. Not in any way whatsoever. That’s because I greeted her and Joel at the airport on Sunday. So how could she have been in England before she got back from Australia?
‘You must be mistaken,’ I say. ‘She didn’t get back in the country until Sunday. It was just before my mother’s funeral.’
‘I know when I saw her,’ Calvin reiterates. ‘It was definitely Tuesday.’
‘It can’t have been!’ I cry, but Calvin stands to leave, forcing me to stand too. ‘Please, just wait. I’m only trying to understand all of this.’
‘Haven doesn’t need you snooping around behind her back,’ Calvin tells me. ‘I would get in touch with her, but I don’t know which number to trust anymore.’
‘Come with me to my house and you can speak to her there,’ I suggest, but Calvin shakes his head.
‘No, she wouldn’t like that,’ he says, and now he really is going.
‘Please, wait,’ I try one more time, but he walks away, and as he crosses the road, I decide not to try and chase him again considering what almost happened the last time I did.
As I watch him leave, there are still so many questions that remain. But I guess there is one main question that I need answering more than any other, so I call out to him across the street whilst he is still within earshot.
‘Are you sure that she is not going to be trouble for my son and my family?’
Calvin stops and turns around, looking back at me across the road as a car drives in between us.
‘I’m sure,’ Calvin calls back before ominously adding, ‘Unless you are trouble for her.’