Page 268 of Under Her Skin
Max dragged her into the kitchen and into the pantry. The space was tight and she was pressed up against him. They listened to Clem enter, throw his keys down and went into the kitchen. Through the slats in the pantry door, they could see him grabbing a beer from the fridge. He leaned against the counter anddrank.
Through her fear, Jess was aware of being pressed up against Max. The situation was almost comical. All the terror left her then. Jess felt laughter bubble up inside her and buried her face in his chest to muffle it. Her weight shifted and something moved on the shelf behind her. Theyfroze.
Clem looked over towards the door and Jess stopped breathing. He had blonde hair and blue eyes but those eyes … she shivered. She couldn’t be sure it was Jules but they held all the malevolence of her reviled step-brother. She couldn’t see what Amelia saw in this guy. She began to tremble. Clem opened a drawer, still looking towards the door, and pulled out a kitchen knife. Max reached around his back and slowly pulled out his gun. Jess bugged at him. Max winked at her and mouthed ‘Don’tworry.’
Clem reached over to the fruit bowl and picked up an apple, chopping it in two in one easy movement. He looked back over to the pantry door, took a step towardsit.
Max slipped the safety off. Jess started to tremble and he kissed her forehead, never taking his eyes fromClem.
A loud knocking at the door. Clem hesitated for a beat, then strode over to the door and pulled itopen
‘Amelia! What a lovelysurprise.’
Jess and Max gaped at each other. Amelia was walking into the kitchen withClem’.
‘I thought I’d just drop your invitationaround.’
‘Can I offer you adrink?’
‘Oh no, really, I just stopped by on the off-chance. I’m actually just going to seeJess.’
Jess and Max froze as Clem glanced again at the pantry door. Jess could feel her heart beating out of herchest.
‘Then how could I delayyou?’
Amelia and Clem said goodbye and Clem stepped back into the kitchen. Jess and Max stopped breathing as he stood, planted square in his kitchen, staring at the closed pantry door. For a long, eerie, unsettling moment, his eyes seemed to drift in and out of focus. Jess stared athim.
It could be him. It could be him. The disguise was very good if it was Jules. The black hair that he’d prized was shaved almost to nothing and bleached a bright white. The beard – false or not – was bushy, huge, hipster-like and covered more than half of the bottom of his face. The eyes… too blue to be natural. Contacts, Jess thought now, with a growing terror building insideher.
A loud rapping at Clem’s door made them allstart.
‘Clem? Let mein.’
Jess and Max gaped at each other. It was a woman from the bar on the island, Caroline. She was snippy redhead who had taken a dislike to Jess on sight. Amelia had told her, discreetly, that Caroline had grown up with Theo, had her sights set on him, even in the face of Theo’s utter ambivalence. Clem strode over to the door and pulled it open. Caroline brushed past him into theroom.
‘Thanks for waiting for me.’ Her tone wassnippy.
‘You said you’d be on the seven-thirty. I was there at seven-thirty. You were not. Do you want adrink?’
Caroline sat down in the living room. ‘Yes. Scotch. What was so pressing you couldn’t wait an extra thirtyminutes?’
Jess and Max watched while Clem handed her aglass.
‘Believe it or not, I’m not inclined nor am I obligated to wait around foryou?’
Caroline grunted. ‘I forgiveyou.’
Clem smiled without humour. ‘What do you want,Caroline?’
‘I want to know why you’re fucking that old woman. Especiallyher.’
Jess could feel Max tense up, his hand flexing on his gun. She put her hands against his chest, cautioning him, calminghim.
‘Ah. How about we not talk about… that… for just this onenight?’
Clem put his drink down and pulled Caroline to her feet. ‘I think we can use this time better.’ He kissed her and Carolineresponded.
‘I missed you, baby.’ She crooned. Jess wrinkled her nose and made a gagging gesture which made Maxgrin.
