Page 98 of The Psychopath Next Door

‘At last,’ said a woman’s harsh voice. ‘Where the hell were you?’

35

I held the tiny phone against my ear, unsure what to say. I didn’t recognise the voice of the woman at the other end, but it wasn’t Fiona. Dylan was gawping at me, his palms out, desperate to know who it was.

‘Hello?’ said the woman, in a sarcastic sing-song voice. She was English. Southern. She sounded about my age. She also sounded extremely pissed off. ‘Lucy calling Fiona. Come in. Helloooo?’

‘Fiona’s not here at the moment,’ I said.

There was a sharp intake of breath at the other end. Sensing she was about to hang up, I said, as rapidly as I could, ‘Fiona has gone off somewhere with my wife and daughter and I need to find them urgently. If you know anything, please help me.’

I waited. I could hear breathing, so she hadn’t hung up yet.

‘I don’t know who you are,’ I said. Except she had given away that her name was Lucy. ‘But I’m desperate. Worried Fiona is going to do something to my family. If you’ve got any idea where she might be, please tell me.’

I heard her breathing quicken, her mouth come closer to the phone. Was sheexcited?

‘You’re the dad,’ she said. ‘The neighbour.’

This Lucy knew who I was. Dylan was still staring at me, eyes stretched wide, frustration pouring off him.

‘That’s right. I’m Ethan Dove.’

‘Rose’s dad. Well well.’

‘And who are you?’ I asked.

She made a noise reminiscent of a laugh, but with no trace of humour in it. ‘You don’t need to know that. What are you doing in Fiona’s house?’

‘I told you. I’m trying to find Rose and my wife. I have Fiona’s spare key, so we didn’t break in.’ I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to tell this woman about that.

‘Good for you,’ she said. There was a pause. ‘So you know Fiona’s dangerous. Does that mean you know who she really is?’

Even though I was in Fiona’s house searching for a photo of her so I could find out her real identity, this still sent a chill through me. My mouth went dry, so when I spoke, the words almost got stuck. ‘No, I don’t. She told us her name is Fiona Smith.’

‘Ha. Well, the first name is real. I’m not sure why she didn’t change that too.’ She made a noise like she was musing over this. ‘I guess she was attached to it.’

There was a long pause, then she said, ‘I can help you, Ethan Dove, but I need you to do something for me first. I’m going to give you two names and an address. I want you to pay them a visit, see how they are, then report back to me.’

‘What? I don’t have time—’

‘Thisis the deal, Ethan. I need to know—’ She stopped herself, obviously deciding not to share whatever it was. ‘I just want you to ask these people if everything has been going well for them recently. Do not tell them you’ve been talking to me, even if they ask. Got that? If you do, if I think you’re lying, I won’t help you find Fiona and your wife and the famous Rose.’

Famous?What the hell had Fiona said to this woman about my daughter?

‘Also, if you go to the police and tell them about me and this call, you’ll never find Fiona in time.’ She chuckled. ‘I’m your only hope.’

‘Is she going to hurt her?’ I asked.

‘Hurt who? Rose? Oh no.’ There was that approximation of a laugh again. ‘Now, the address of the people I want you to go and see is ...’

She gave me an address in north London.

‘And their names are Jamie and Kirsty Knight.’

I took the little phone with me, tucking it into my pocket as I marched out of Fiona’s house, gesturing for Dylan to follow me.

‘Where are we going?’ he asked as I headed towards the car.

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