Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
JACK
Going down the stairs to find Kara helping Lina through the front door, Jack felt his gut tighten. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked, eyeing her cautiously.
‘I called you earlier but you weren’t answering,’ Kara said, by way of no explanation.
‘And then I came home to grab a shower and left my phone upstairs. I’ll have a word in a minute.
’ Giving him a brief smile, she shepherded the woman through to the lounge.
She wasn’t meeting his gaze, he noted, which was disconcerting.
As was the fact that she surely could have used Evie’s phone if she hadn’t wanted to present what he dreaded might be happening here as a fait accompli.
His apprehension quadrupled as Evie appeared, lugging several carrier bags in with her. ‘It’s okay, I can manage,’ she said, shooting him a despairing look as she dumped them on the floor and then turned around to go back outside.
Torn between following Kara to the lounge and asking her outright what was happening or going after Evie, he chose the latter. He wasn’t sufficiently in control of his emotions to be anywhere near Lina, despite her stroke scare.
Reaching the car, he picked up a bag Evie had placed on the drive, and his heart sank as he noticed the dog-eared stuffed rabbit on top of it.
It used to be Natalia’s. Her comfort toy, one she’d kept into adulthood.
She’d given it to Evie when she was small and having nightmares.
Evie had obviously taken it with her to Lina’s.
He swallowed back the choking lump in his throat. ‘What’s going on here, Evie?’ he asked.
After fetching another bag from the car, Evie closed the boot and turned to face him. ‘You should ask Kara,’ she said, glancing at him guardedly as she moved past him towards the house.
Jack took a second to compose himself and then went after her.
Dropping the bag down next to the others, he went to the kitchen, poured a large brandy from the bottle he’d brought from the lounge earlier and knocked half of it back.
He tried to avoid drinking to excess, but that bloody woman was enough to drive anyone to drink.
Kara came in after a moment, her gaze travelling cautiously from his face to the glass he had in his hand. ‘Well?’ he asked. He really didn’t want to appear to be demanding explanations, but he felt he was owed one.
She drew in a breath. ‘I’ve offered Lina the use of the annexe,’ she announced.
‘Right.’ Jack took a large swig of his drink and tried to take stock. ‘For how long?’
Kara hesitated, and the knot in his stomach tied itself tighter. ‘For as long as she needs,’ she replied eventually. ‘She obviously needs help and—’
‘Jesus!’ Bewildered, Jack banged the glass down. ‘Are you out of your mind?’ He stared hard at her.
Kara stepped back, clearly shaken, and he immediately regretted his outburst, but surely she couldn’t be serious.
‘No,’ she answered calmly. ‘I believe Lina might be struggling with her cognitive thinking, and I accept that your wife had issues, but I can assure you I’m perfectly sound of mind. Thanks for your concern, though.’
Seeing her disillusionment, Jack wished he could reel the words back, but could she not see what was happening here? ‘She’s manipulating you, Kara,’ he said, his voice heavy with despair. ‘You and Evie both. She’s trying to turn Evie against me, you must see that.’
Kara studied him carefully. ‘She’s ill, Jack,’ she pointed out. ‘She needs help.’
‘It’s an act,’ he reiterated.
Kara ignored that. ‘She can’t stay in the place she’s renting. It’s a dump,’ she said, going across to turn the kettle on. ‘Not fit for habitation. Plus, she’s about to be served an eviction notice.’
‘Says who?’ Jack asked, unconvinced. He would bet that was bullshit too.
‘Evie. She’s spoken to the landlord.’ Kara turned to face him, her expression now immensely unimpressed.
Jack couldn’t blame her. In her eyes he was acting uncharacteristically. Definitely unsympathetically. You need to get your damn act together. ‘Right, so you think her health problems are genuine?’ he asked, attempting to moderate his tone.
‘The dementia?’ Kara folded her arms across her chest. ‘Yes, I do. She’s confused, forgetful. She might not have had an actual stroke, but the heart problem’s definitely genuine. She has all the symptoms. I lost my nan to the same thing, Jack. I think you can trust my judgement.’
Jack blew out a sigh, now wishing bitterly he hadn’t overreacted. It wouldn’t help. It would just make him appear to be the emotionally unbalanced one. ‘Okay, I’m sorry,’ he said, contrite. ‘It’s just… I don’t trust her. I never have.’
‘I gathered,’ Kara responded with a thoughtful frown.
‘Once we’re alone, perhaps you’d like to share.
You never have spoken about what happened that night,’ she added pointedly.
‘Meanwhile, you need to consider that Evie clearly loves her grandmother. She’s concerned for her, as I am.
If you turn your back on Lina, you might well end up losing Evie.
She’s determined to try to look after her, meaning she will stay over at her flat, which might actually be a health risk to her considering it’s cold, damp and mice-infested.
If Lina’s here, at least we’ll be able to keep an eye on things. ’
‘I suppose,’ Jack reluctantly conceded, though it would also mean that Lina would have free access to Evie to fill her mind with whatever poison she might choose to.
Perhaps she was genuinely ill, but it was too much of a coincidence that this was all happening at once, that she’d supposedly run into Evie in the village.
The woman hadn’t even lived in the village.
The last Jack heard, she was still living close to Worcester town centre.
She’d probably googled builders in the area and found out his whereabouts.
She’d engineered this. he was sure of it.
And she was dangerous. Evie would only end up with more questions.
Questions he couldn’t answer. He needed her to move on from Natalia’s death.
All he could do was attempt damage limitation, make sure Evie knew that her grandmother was suffering early dementia – and pray that nothing Lina said would jog her memory.
He couldn’t let Evie find out the truth. It would destroy her.
‘So can I take it you’re in agreement?’ Kara asked, her expression wary. That it was him she was wary of gutted him. Lina was already causing trouble between them. He guessed his appearing to be drinking excessively wasn’t helping matters.
He pushed the glass aside. ‘I guess I don’t have a lot of choice if the flat really is that grim, do I?’ he said.
‘It is,’ Kara assured him. ‘Unless of course you think she trained the mice to make an appearance as part of her master plan.’
Jack laughed wearily. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I am sorry, Kara.’ He gave her a smile, hoping to redeem himself in some way. ‘Her appearance has dredged up so many emotive issues – obviously for Evie too. Even so, I could have handled it better.’
Kara looked at him thoughtfully. ‘Of course it has, but I don’t think we have any choice but to bring her—’ She stopped, her face registering shock as there was a high-pitched shriek from the hall.
‘Christ,’ Jack muttered, swinging around, Kara close behind him as he raced that way.
‘What the fuck was she doing upstairs?’ Evie seethed, glaring at Imogen, who was in floods of tears fumbling to open the front door.