Page 73 of The Last One to See Him

THIRTY-THREE

TUESDAY 4 FEBRUARY

‘You’re not going to school today,’ Harper insists.

Dexter pauses with his spoon in the air then places it back in his cereal bowl, shooting milk onto the table. ‘I’m fine, Mum. I don’t want to stay at home.’

She reaches for his hand. ‘Listen, you’re not in any trouble for running away. I know you were upset with me. I just feel awful that I didn’t even notice you’d gone.’ Harper will never forgive herself for thinking Dexter was in bed. She’d said goodnight to him and then didn’t go in his room again. She’d thought she was doing the right thing by giving him some space to cool down. If only she’d checked.

‘How did the fire happen?’ he asks.

This is the question that’s kept Harper up all night. ‘I don’t know,’ she says. The police had found a large rock by the back door, which someone had used to smash the window, so clearly Kate didn’t do it herself. And for all her faults, Harper can’t question the love Kate has for Thomas.

And the other thing Harper knows is that if it wasn’t Kate, then someone tried to kill her and Thomas. They wouldn’t have known Dexter was there, so this can’t be about Harper.

‘Do you think Thomas will be at school today?’ Dexter asks.

‘I don’t think so. He’ll need time. Just like you do.’

‘The doctor said I’m fine.’

‘Physically, yes. But things like that leave scars we can’t see, Dexter.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means not everything that hurts us can be seen,’ Harper says, standing and taking her unfinished toast to the food bin. ‘Look, if you really feel like you’ll be okay, then fine. But if you change your mind at any point during the day, just tell the teacher and I’ll be straight there to pick you up. Now, finish your breakfast – I just need to make a quick call.’

Upstairs in the bedroom, she waits for Ellis to answer, counting the seconds until he picks up. ‘What the hell happened?’ she says, the moment he answers.

‘Why are you calling? I can’t talk to you.’

‘My son could have been killed last night. Yours too. And Kate.’

‘So it wasn’t you?’ Ellis says.

‘Of course it wasn’t me! Why the hell would I do that?’

‘Because you hate my wife. And you want to destroy her life.’

‘Ex-wife.’

‘We’re not actually divorced yet. You’ve been tormenting her for weeks, haven’t you? Trying to turn her life upside down. Trying to get me to take Thomas from her.’

‘Don’t act all innocent. I know this fire was something to do with you.’

Ellis snorts. ‘I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, because what you’re saying is dangerous. You need to learn when to keep your mouth shut.’

‘Why would someone want her dead? Aren’t you asking yourself that?’

Ellis takes his time to answer. ‘Someone other than you, you mean? And Kate’s not dead. Thomas is fine. Now they’re safely here with me, where I can keep an eye on them and make sure nothing like that ever happens again. Don’t call me again.’

He cuts her off, leaving Harper staring at her phone, shocked at the icy tone in Ellis’s voice, and the smug satisfaction. Now he’s finally got what he wanted all along.

Harper sits in her car opposite Ellis’s house, waiting for him to leave for work. It had been easy to find out where he lived from asking Thomas a few harmless questions when he was at her house with Dexter.

It’s crossed Harper’s mind that Ellis might have taken the day off, to stay with Kate and Thomas, and the thought of that chills her. Now that Kate and Thomas are in his house, what lengths will he go to in order to keep them there? Ellis knew about Kate’s affair with Jamie, and he never said a word. That would make him hate Jamie. It’s enough to send him over the edge. To lash out at the man he held responsible. The police would be interested to hear more about this, but telling them will only put Harper on their radar.

At ten past eight, the front door opens and Ellis steps outside, followed by Thomas, dressed in the school uniform Harper gave him and trainers he must have had at Ellis’s house. Like Dexter, he must have insisted on going in to school.

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