Page 39 of She Saw What He Did

‘It was on my mind, you being here alone and … What harm is there in taking a few extra precautions?’

I nod.

‘Perhaps I should keep Sam home from nursery,’ I say, trying to sound as calm as possible.

He shakes his head.

‘No,’ he says firmly. ‘Her life shouldn’t be disrupted. She’s perfectly safe there.’

Jared yawns.

‘I’m whacked. I think I’ll go up.’

He squeezes my hand. ‘Want to join me?’

I nod and start clearing away the coffee cups, but he stops me.

‘Leave that until the morning.’

*

I look over at the bedside clock. It’s 2 a.m. I can’t sleep. I slip quietly from the bed and check on Sam. The temptation to pick her up and hold her safe within my arms overpowers me and I have to force myself from the room. It’s dark in the hallway and I switch on the hallway light and then hurry down the stairs, clicking switches as I go, until the cottage is flooded with light. It’s a tiny cottage and there are only so many places a person can hide. Sam and I had discovered that when playing hide and seek. I scan the rooms and then make myself a hot drink. I study the photos I’d taken while on Laslow Island. Is it possible the killer isn’t looking for us? The media hadn’t covered the story. After all, there had been nothing for them to report. Would that have reassured the killer that we weren’t a threat? Would he realise that we hadn’t seen his features clearly enough to identify him? Surely to pursue us would be foolhardy? I enlarge the photo and peer closely at the man. My skin prickles at the sight of him and I quickly close my computer. He won’t come after us. He’d be a fool if he did. Jared is right to get us extra security just in case. But everything is going to be okay. I’ll take Sam to nursery tomorrow. I need to get back to normal. After all, what else can I do?

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sparrow sat staring into space. Every time he thought about the box, his heart pounded and pain cut across his chest. He was scared. He’d got himself entangled in something big and he didn’t know what to do. There didn’t seem to be any way out. Even the thought of seventy thousand didn’t calm him. His mind was in turmoil. One thing he knew for sure, though, was that he had no choice in the matter. The man he’d met in the pub had made that very clear.

Sparrow had felt quite confident. They were offering him more money. He had started getting excited about the proposition. The whisky had lulled him into a false sense of security. Then the man had dropped his bombshell.

‘You murdered someone, Sparrow,’ he’d said menacingly. ‘Artem Taris was his name. He had a wife and two children.’

Sparrow’s stomach had lurched. He couldn’t imagine that burly man with the gun having children.

‘Oh God,’ he’d groaned, finding it hard to get his breath.

‘You can see why we couldn’t come and collect from you? It was a mess.’

‘I … the thing was …’ he’d stuttered.

‘Have a drink,’ the man had suggested, topping up Sparrow’s glass.

‘But I didn’t mean …’ began Sparrow.

‘Still, que sera, sera,’ the man had smiled. ‘People take chances, so they get what’s coming to them. It wasn’t his box to have.’

Sparrow had stared at the man in astonishment and had felt nausea rise up in his stomach.

‘I had no choice,’ he’d said in an effort to defend himself. ‘I wasn’t prepared for other people coming to get it.’

‘You were being paid a lot of money,’ said the man dismissively.

‘I didn’t want to kill him. I …’

‘Yes, we understand that. Our problem is we need that box and it has to be delivered on time.’

Sparrow had fidgeted nervously in his seat. The man had continued to smile and then reached into his pocket. Sparrow had cowered; convinced the man had a gun in there. Instead he pulled out a USB flash drive which he pushed across the table to Sparrow.

‘That’s a recording of the murder. You can destroy it, but we, of course, have the original. Let’s call it insurance.’

---