Page 66 of The Last One to See Him

‘Thanks,’ Harper says, her voice cracking. She’s touched by Aleena’s kindness, but this has nothing to do with grieving for Jamie.

‘Can Thomas and Dex come over after school?’ Theo asks.

‘Not today,’ Aleena says. ‘You’ve got Rugby. And Thomas is staying at his dad’s tonight. I just ran into Ellis.’

‘Oh, how is Ellis?’ Harper asks. ‘I got to know him a bit at football last week. He wasn’t doing so well after his break-up with Maddy.’

‘Well, I’m not sure why I’m defending Kate but Ellis deserves this after having an affair. What goes around comes around,’ Aleena says.

‘True. But things are rarely black and white.’

‘I suppose so,’ Aleena says. ‘Maybe I’m just so used to hearing Kate’s side of it that I never stopped to question the truth of what happened. Before that, I always thought Ellis was a good man.’

‘How well do we ever really know anyone?’ Harper says, as they reach the gates. ‘Well, at least I won’t bump into Kate at pick-up.’

Aleena frowns.

‘You said Ellis was having Thomas tonight.’

‘Yeah,’ Aleena says, but her attention is caught by a mum waving at her from the gates.

The boys walk in together and Harper watches them for a moment before turning back to Aleena. ‘Well, might see you later. Have a good day.’

Aleena smiles. ‘Yeah, you too.’

Harper rushes home. Talking with Aleena has helped cement a plan in her head, and there’s a lot she needs to get organised before tonight if she’s going to pull it off.

THIRTY

MONDAY 3 FEBRUARY

There’s silence on the other end of the phone, and Kate wonders if they’ve been disconnected. ‘Ellis?’

‘Yes, I’m here.’ But his tone of voice suggests he’d rather not be. A guilty conscience?

‘Harper found the cameras. Where did you hide them?’ Kate won’t tell Ellis she thinks he might have given the cameras to Harper. Now that Kate knows Ellis knew Jamie, any trust she had left for him has withered away.

‘I did what you told me. Look, I’m about to leave for work.’

‘Can you pick Thomas up from school today and have him at yours? For the night?’

There’s a brief pause before he answers. ‘Yeah. No point me asking why you need me to have him?’

Kate thanks him and tells Ellis she needs to go.

David is the next person she needs to call. Once again Kate is asking him to cover for her, but she’ll make it up to him when this is all over. And to Ellis.

As soon as the call ends, Kate dials Faye Held’s number, glancing at the clock to see how long she has before she’ll need to wake Thomas for school. And Ellis won’t be long.

‘Hi. What’s happening?’ Faye’s voice is chirpy, as if she’s already been up for hours.

‘Can we meet? Today?’

‘Not even a little hint? I’m a busy woman, you know.’

‘Please, Faye. Harper’s dragging my son into this…and that terrifies me more than anything. I need to prove that she’s the one who killed Jamie. If we go over everything together, maybe you can help me see something I’ve missed?’

‘Not sure what you think I can do. And that’s a big leap to make about Harper being a killer.’

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