Page 37 of The Last One to See Him

‘Yeah, Dad. Sorry about Maddy.’

We need to talk, Kate mouths, while Thomas isn’t looking.

‘Okay,’ Ellis says, ushering Thomas inside. ‘Why don’t you set up Mario Kart and I’ll come in and play once I’ve had a quick chat with your mum.’

Thomas races to the living room, leaving Kate and Ellis alone. ‘Let’s go in the kitchen,’ Kate suggests.

She closes the kitchen door. ‘Don’t get angry, but I went to see Maddy today.’

‘What? Why are you interfering, Kate?’

‘Because it wasn’t me who called her. But I know who it was.’

‘Who?’

‘Do you remember that school mum who called you about the football.’

‘Yeah.’

‘It was her. She’s been…doing some weird things. Messing with me.’

‘Why would she do that?’

‘I don’t know. But I need your help proving what she’s been doing to me. And to you now. She’s messed with your relationship, Ellis. We can’t sit by and do nothing.’

Ellis sits at the table and folds his arms. ‘Hardly something we can go to the police with, is it?’

‘I’m not talking about the police.’

‘Then what?

‘I’ve ordered some tiny cameras, and I need to hide them in her house. We might be able to catch her doing something. And then I can go to the police. She’s not going to stop at this, Ellis.’

‘Is this why you’ve been acting strangely lately? Do you realise how far-fetched it all sounds?’ He lets out a deep sigh, then stands and paces the room. ‘You’re disturbing me, Kate. All this stuff about hidden cameras and spying on someone. It’s not…normal. You need to stop.’

‘I know exactly how it sounds, but everything I’ve told you is true and I need you to trust me. The thing is – I can’t go to her house. She won’t let me in. We’ve already had a confrontation, so even if she did let me in, she’d never leave me alone long enough to hide them anywhere.’

‘Let me guess – you wantmeto do it.’

‘You could go round there. Say a place has opened up on the football team or something. Anything that will get you through the door.’

Ellis shakes his head. ‘Surely this is illegal, Kate.’

‘So is what she’s been doing. Please, Ellis.’ Under the table, Kate crosses her fingers.

Minutes of silence tick by, and Kate can hear the sounds of Thomas’s game in the living room.

‘I don’t like this,’ Ellis says finally. ‘But I’ll do it.’

SEVENTEEN

2014

All the years she’s spent with Jamie have been a mistake; Harper knows that now. Her baby girl is dead because of him, gone before she had a chance to take her first breath. And now their relationship has been shredded and Harper is moving on.

Despite her resolve, doubts descend on Harper as she approaches the restaurant. Why is she doing this? She’s not lonely – she doesn’t need a man to fulfil her. She’s content with her career and the flat she’s renting by the sea in Southend. And most of the time she can live with the aching hole the absence of her baby has left her with. But she won’t forget that it’s Jamie’s fault Molly is dead.

Her work friend Coraline had arranged this date, ignoring Harper’s protests that she doesn’t want a relationship. Coraline had been so persistent that Harper agreed just to stop her going on about it. That’s why she’s here, making her way to a restaurant in Covent Garden she’s never been to and probably won’t like. The man she’s meeting – Pierre – had seemed nice when Harper had spoken to him on the phone. But then so had Jamie when she’d first met him. People only show you what they want you to see – Harper has learned that the hard way.

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