Page 40 of Her Deadly Promise

What had Ed done? No one knew the real Ed except her and what she did know, she hated. She also hated that there was nothing at all she could do about that message. He would destroy her.

TWENTY-SEVEN

NADIA

She could see from the app that Ed had parked up. What shocked her was, he didn’t go back to Derby. He was parked up on Cleevesford Industrial Estate, outside his unit. Nadia paced up and down, itching to go straight there and see what was going on. Something was seriously wrong, and it had to involve Billie. That text on his phone was all the confirmation she needed.

She hurried upstairs and peered around William’s bedroom door. Her little boy’s heavy breaths told her he was in a deep sleep. Could she leave him, just for a short while? It would take her no longer than half an hour and he didn’t normally wake once he’d properly fallen asleep. No one would know. She swallowed. If someone did see her leave, they might report her, and she wondered if she could lose William. No, it was just for a few minutes, nothing would happen. She pulled his bedroom door closed and crept across the landing. Pulling back the curtain, she glanced up and down at the eerily quiet street. Every house was in darkness, and no one was around except for a fox. It darted into a patch of trees and shrubs.

Running down the stairs, she slipped on her trainers, locked up and drove along the deserted roads of Cleevesford. Minutes later, she pulled into the industrial estate, pulse racing and mouth dry. Ed’s car was exactly where the tracker said it would be, parked up in the space that was reserved for the managing director. She always thought the sign was a bit pretentious but that was Ed. He always liked people to know who he was. She turned off her lights and continued to drive past the building where she pulled up next to a kerb. The business next door was in total darkness.

As she reached the building, she leaned up and looked through the back windows, but she couldn’t see him. Light shone from his office upstairs. That’s when she saw two elongated shadows across the grass. He wasn’t alone. She shuffled backwards, trying to avoid the light spillage. If he was looking out of the window, he’d see her.

She knew it. Ed was having an affair. Why else would there be two people in his office and why would he lie? The signs had been there, just like last time and the time before. If she confronted him, he’d deny everything and accuse her of being unstable. That’s how it usually went, and she had no choice but to stay. He had to be the one to leave as he’d ensured that she could never leave him. He was calling all the shots and it wasn’t fair, but then again, when had Ed ever played fair? Whoever was up there with him was nothing more than this month’s choice, someone easily replaced by whoever comes along next. Heading closer to the light, she caught the back of Ed’s head before he moved away from the window.

His office was double aspect. She had to get to the front window to see who he was with. Snatching her phone from her pocket, she held it up ready to take a photo. If she knew what the woman looked like, she could search through his Facebook friends until she found her. Shaking with anger, she thought, to hell with it. She’d send the woman a message telling her to stay away. If he hit her because of that, so be it. She was sick of being walked all over.

As she was about to step past the side of the building, the main door opened and she listened to the beeps as Ed set the alarm, then the woman spoke. ‘Let’s check into a hotel.’

‘My desk not good enough for you this time.’ He laughed.

‘I want you for the night. For once we can feel like a proper couple.’

‘Why don’t we go to yours?’

‘No, not with all that’s going on and we can’t go to my mum’s.’ She paused. ‘Ed?’

‘What?’

‘When are you leaving her? I hate the lying and I feel horrible.’

‘Soon, I promise. I only want you.’

Nadia shook her head and held a hand over her mouth as she gasped. That was a total lie. He was up for sex any time. Peering around, she watched as Ed closed the door. His bulky frame covered the woman completely as he leaned in and began kissing her hard, pressing into her as she backed up against the wall. Please don’t have sex now, she thought. A part of her wanted to storm over there right now but another part held back as she caught sight of the woman whose tongue was in her husband’s mouth. She’d recognised the voice, but she didn’t want to believe it was true. Seeing her made it real and it pained her to the core.

Swiftly retreating, she placed a hand over her banging heart and clenched her fists. All this time, Ed’s affair was happening close to home. She trusted her friend, and she’d been welcome in her home. Ed had never given her a second glance when he’d seen her in passing. How dare Meera betray her like that?

The central locking flashed on Ed’s car. He couldn’t know that she’d left William alone. Confronting him would have to wait. As he pulled away with Meera, she remained stiff against the wall, hoping that he hadn’t seen her or the car but then he stopped for a moment too long at the junction, the engine turning like her nervous stomach was. He knew. He didn’t stop or turn around, he continued turning right and out of the industrial estate. She could look at her tracker and find out which hotel they were going to but there was no point. Why torture herself any more?

She stood there for a couple of minutes and waited for the shaking to subside. Stomping over to the car, she beat the bonnet with her fists until they hurt, then she kicked the bumper. Her phone beeped.

Little boy all alone. How soundly you sleep.

She replied.

I hate you, Ed!

The text bounced back. She rushed into her car and crunched the gears before speeding back home. How dare he humiliate her and then send her horrible messages. He was the one in the wrong, but he’d twisted everything again.

What if it wasn’t Ed? She gasped for breath and almost crashed into the road sign at the entrance to her close. As she glanced up at her house, the landing light was on. She didn’t leave it on. William – something had happened.

The keys jangled in her trembling hand as she opened the front door. Legs like jelly, she crept through into the kitchen and could see that no one was there. The bottle of wine she opened had been placed in the middle of the table and a full glass had been poured. Next to that lay the missing door key. Ed had been back.

She hurried up the stairs, getting more light-headed the closer she got. Almost paralysed, she pushed William’s door open, and she could see that her son was still sleeping. Her gaze was drawn to the light in the doll’s house. A doll had been seated at a table and she was drinking a glass of wine. Silent cries exploded from her chest as she left her son to sleep, throwing every door in the house open, checking every cupboard. There was no one in the house except her.

‘Mummy.’

She flinched. ‘William.’ She pulled her sleepy boy close and hugged him. ‘Couldn’t you sleep?’

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