Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
HAVEN
A hotel room is usually a place for a person to relax. But that doesn’t really apply to me as I enter the room where me and my boyfriend are due to stay for a couple of nights.
‘This is great!’ Joel cries as he admires the double bed, spacious bathroom and the large flatscreen TV on the wall. ‘I could get used to this.’
‘I’m sure the credit card company could get used to it too,’ I say, reminding him that we are only here because he used a credit card to fund it.
But it’s not a problem because he’ll have ￡75,000 very soon, although I still think we should be wise with money, where we can be.
That’s why I object to his idea that we order a bottle of champagne to the room.
‘Spoilsport,’ Joel says before taking off his T-shirt. ‘I’m going to test the shower in here. You want to join me?’
‘I think I’m just going to try and rest for a minute,’ I say, looking at the bed.
‘Suit yourself,’ Joel replies before disappearing into the bathroom.
I hear the shower turn on and, within seconds, Joel is whistling.
He seems content, far more content than I thought he would be, given his delicate family situation right now.
How is he able to separate all of that from his mind and find some peace?
I would have thought he would be cut up about the rift that was developing between us and his parents, never mind the potential issue of his brother and him being at war if Joel stays on my side.
I get onto the bed and do what I told Joel I was aiming to do.
I try to relax. But it doesn’t work, not even after turning the TV on and trying to distract myself with something on there.
By the time Joel emerges from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, only one of us looks like we are refreshed.
‘You look tired,’ he says as he walks to my side of the bed and gives me a kiss on the head. ‘I was thinking I might go out for a walk. Maybe grab a beer somewhere. How about you stay here and rest? I could be back in about an hour and a half. How does that sound?’
It actually sounds quite good. I could do with some time to myself. I’ll get off the bed at some point and have a shower and maybe I’ll be feeling better when Joel returns.
‘That sounds like a plan,’ I say, forcing a smile onto my face.
Joel gets dressed as I watch some more TV, and by the time he is ready to go, I am feeling lazy but settled.
‘I’ll be back soon,’ he says, giving me another kiss. ‘Then we’ll get some food.’
I am hungry so the prospect of a meal is inviting, but right now, this bed and a warm shower at some point are even more inviting, so I wave my boyfriend off before snuggling further into my pillow.
I guess Joel wants a walk to clear his head and that is a good thing.
He’s most likely checking his bank account at regular intervals too, to see if the inheritance money has gone into his account.
It should be anytime now and I’m sure the moment it shows up will be a moment full of conflicting emotions.
Sadness that he gained this money from the death of a loved one.
But excitement about how the money could be used to fund the next part of his life.
It wasn’t my idea to get him to spend the money on a place for us to live.
I would never tell him how to spend his inheritance, and I certainly knew that making any suggestions would run the risk of drawing Liane’s ire.
Particularly if that suggestion had been to spend the cash on a city-centre apartment that I got to live in too.
But the idea of the apartment is all Joel’s, and it does make sense that our next step would be to move into our own place together.
We are sticking around here rather than returning to travelling, and we are sticking together, despite what his mother might want.
But there is no respite from my paranoia because I know that at some point, I’ll have to see him again.
Scott. The man I think is a murderer. I can’t avoid him forever.
He’ll pop up again somewhere. I can’t expect him not to.
He’ll want to see his brother. There will be some kind of family occasion, whatever it might be, so this isn’t going to get any easier.
But going to the police will only make it harder, so I’m stuck in the middle.
Right now, I’m nothing but a woman with a conspiracy theory.
I eventually make it off the bed and into the shower and it feels good to have the strong jets of water hitting my aching body.
I still feel stiff from my exploits last night in which I had to squeeze myself under a bed and stay there for far longer than I wanted to, but the warm water is soothing my aches and pains.
After the shower, I wrap a warm towel around my wet body and take a good look at myself in the mirror.
The toll of the last few days is plain to see.
It’s written all over my face, from the bags under my eyes to the wrinkles on my forehead that I could have sworn were not there before.
It’s not anything that a bit of make-up can’t conceal, but still, as I stand here and stare at myself, I hardly look like someone who is capable of standing up to anyone who wants to shut me up.
That’s why I better be careful.
I can’t allow myself to be alone with Scott if the situation ever arose.
I can’t give him the chance to silence me like he silenced Valerie.
I dry my hair, then go back into the bedroom to get dressed. But I’ve not even removed my tightly wrapped towel from around my body when I hear a knock at the door.
Who could that be? Joel back already and having to knock after forgetting his room key?
Or an employee of the hotel coming here to check everything is okay with our stay?
Maybe Joel did go ahead and order something from room service, perhaps a treat for me while he is gone.
I wouldn’t put it past him, so as I make my way to the door, I have a smile on my face at the prospect of being greeted by a big bottle of champagne or some tasty snacks.
But then I open the door and my smile instantly dissolves.
That’s because it’s not room service. Instead, it’s the last thing I wanted to see.
Scott is here.
And now my biggest fear just came true.
I am alone with him.