Page 11 of Her Deadly Promise

SEVEN

NADIA

Nadia lay next to William in his bed, taking the scent of his hair in. She almost mourned for his baby smell as it hit her. He was growing so fast and one day, she wouldn’t be able to lie like this and read him a story. She shivered as she thought of poor Kayden, he’d never experience that closeness again.

‘Has something happened? You look sad and Dev’s mummy was crying. It upset Dev so I looked after him and let him go in the playhouse first.’

She hugged him and kissed his head, touched at how kind and thoughtful her little boy was. ‘It’s going to be okay, honey. Just go to sleep and we’ll talk in the morning.’ There was no way she could face telling William that his friend’s mum was no longer with them, and she wasn’t ever going to tell him that she was murdered. Her innocent son had never come across such horror, and she wanted it to stay that way. She wondered how long it would be before his friends at school talked and she had to explain things she didn’t want to talk about, or even think about.

Pulling the thin sheet over his clammy body, she forced a smile as she took in his perfect skin and his tiny porcelain white teeth. She couldn’t imagine being suddenly taken from him, like Billie had been taken from Kayden. Curling up next to him, she lay there stroking his eyes until his breathing deepened and within moments, the busy day of play had caught up with her son as he fell into a deep slumber. As his short, sweet breaths tickled her neck, she stared at the lit-up doll’s house on the large table against the wall, the one that her own father built for her, and all she wanted to do was go back to a week ago when she was playing with William. They were pretending that the daddy doll was making breakfast and it was fun. Life was fun. But now, a dark shadow was hanging over them all.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost midnight. Slowly, she dangled one leg off William’s bed, then she turned onto her back and followed with the other leg over the edge of the bed. He made a slight groan so she remained as still as she could until he was once again breathing deeply. She grabbed Dino, his favourite soft toy, and slipped it under his arm before creeping out of the room, hoping that he’d remain asleep.

As she reached the bottom step, Ed held out a glass of rosé and she took it. ‘Where have you been? You didn’t answer your phone.’ She shook her head. ‘I needed you. My friend has just been murdered.’ Her bottom lip trembled. ‘You should have been here.’

‘You’re right but I’m here now. I got your message.’

‘But you didn’t call me back.’

‘I’m so sorry for not answering my phone, love, I was driving. Come here.’ He wrapped an arm around her.

She sunk into his warmth even though she didn’t believe him. ‘You weren’t driving all afternoon and evening.’ A tear sprung from one of her eyes.

‘Hey, look at me.’ She glanced up and looked into his warm eyes. ‘There was an accident on the motorway. It’s been chaos on the roads and my phone was also dead at the time. I’m here now.’ He kissed her on the head before grabbing the bottle of wine from the kitchen island and leading her out into the garden.

Nadia took a swig of the cold wine. ‘I can’t believe what’s happened. I’ll never see her again.’ The patio was lit up with fairy lights and the garden that was busy with playing children earlier was now quiet, except for a distant barking dog. They sat, with only the sound of the trickling water feature to fill the void of their own silence as he decided not to say anything. Ed was never good when it came to matters of the heart and right now, that really wound her up. The glass she gripped was itching to be smashed on the patio. That would get a reaction out of him. She wanted him to see how torn up she was.

Nadia’s hand trembled around the stem of the glass as she wondered if he had another life going on somewhere. He never touched her any more and he didn’t seem to talk to her much either. It was as if they were fulfilling a function, respectable mummy and daddy in a respectable house with respectable jobs. She wondered if that’s what everyone did. She wasn’t feeling the love and more than anything tonight, she needed love, understanding, and someone to talk to.

‘Does anyone know what happened to Billie?’

She shook her head and let out a sob. ‘No. All I know is she was murdered in her own home. One of the neighbours called Meera and told her. I keep scrolling through the local news to see if there are any updates but, nothing.’ She paused. ‘I saw her this morning, when we dropped the kids off at school. She was fine, then…’ Loud sobs filled the night air.

Ed took the glass of wine off her and placed it on the table. ‘I’m an idiot and I’m sorry. I should have made sure my phone was charged and I should have been here. I love you and I’m here now.’

‘But you’re not,’ she wailed. ‘It never feels like you’re here.’

She wiped her damp cheek with her hand.

‘Come on, don’t be like that. You’re upset. You’re lashing out.’

‘Too right, I’m upset. Meera couldn’t even go home. She went to stay at her mum’s. She was scared. I mean, what if it was a random attack, like a burglary that went wrong? What if it happens to us? We’re all scared, and you weren’t here.’

Ed placed his wine on the table and unexpectedly hugged her. Maybe their marriage wasn’t the shambles she thought it was. ‘I won’t let anything happen to us. You and William mean the world to me. Anyone tries to come here and hurt either of you, I will literally kill them.’

She pulled away, taking in his square jaw, his shiny dark hair and handsome features and she wondered if she could trust him. ‘Were you with someone else today?’

He let go. ‘Not this again. No, there is only you. I wish you’d trust me.’

‘I saw.’

‘You saw what?’ He swigged his wine down in one go and topped up his glass again.

‘The way you looked at Billie.’

He slammed the glass on the table, making it shake. ‘You’re deluded.’

Nadia shook her head. He got off on telling her things like that all the time. ‘I know what I saw. She was my best friend, and I could tell that something was off. What have you been hiding from me?’

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