Obsession (The Talisman series) (33 page)

Gabe was smiling at me.
“Suzu, I’ll do anything you ask, if you’ll come back to me.”

“
Anything?”

“
Whatever you want, darling.” He sounded sincere. I swallowed, trying to find the words.

“
I need some time. This hasn’t been an easy decision for me. I’m not sure at the moment what I want to do.” I let him continue to hold my wrists and he nodded, listening intently. I couldn’t look at Josh. I had to focus on Gabe and make him believe me. “We need to talk.” I forced a small laugh. “I’d really like my passport back, I feel like you’re holding it for ransom.”

“
You can have it.” He raised my hands one at a time, pressing kisses on my fingertips. “Come back with me—I changed hotels. We can talk some more. In private.” He looked directly at Josh, standing there stone-faced. “You can have your passport. Come with me now, Suzu.”

I looked down at my t-shirt, smiled and looked bashful.
“I need to shower and get dressed. Give me your new address and I’ll come over in half an hour.”

He beamed, relief oozing from every pore.
“I’ll wait. I don’t mind waiting.”

“
No, it’s okay. I need to go and speak to Anita first. Where are you staying now?”

“
The Metropole, room 74.” He kissed my fingers again. “I’ll wait in the lobby for you. We can drive back together.”

I made a split-second decision.
“Okay.”

17.4 Josh

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He’d waltzed in here, brandishing a bunch of flowers and professing undying love—and now Suki was going back with him. My stomach cramped. She saw him out of my room, all smiles and relaxed while I stared at her, terrified she’d changed her mind. Leaning against the closed door, her back to me, I heard her give a little sigh and my insides all twisted up some more.

I had to be wrong.
Please, God, let me be wrong
. “Suki, please tell me this is not what it looks like.”

She turned slowly, her face stricken. Why could I not read her, now when I needed it more than ever?
“Josh, I need you to trust me.”

I’ve never trusted a woman my entire life. I don’t know how to. I held my tongue and tried to swell the rising tide of panic.

Suki glanced down at her clothes, Anita’s t-shirt, my clean boxers. “Where are my things? My jeans and stuff?”

Why hadn’t she answered my question?
I licked my dry lips. “They’re hanging in the cupboard. They should be dry by now.” She nodded, distracted, running fingers through her hair. “What time is it, Josh? I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“
What are you doing, Suki?” I know my voice was hard. It shocked her. Her eyes widened and she moved towards me, placing a finger across my lips. I could only gaze at her, agonized at the thought of her going back. To
him
.

“
Trust me, please.”

I moved her hand out of the way.
“Trust is something I don’t do very well.”

“
Me neither,” she snapped, and then looked immediately contrite. “Come here, cowboy.” She stepped into my arms, after a moment’s hesitation I held her close, burying my nose in her hair. It smelled of my bed, of our lovemaking. “I need to get my passport back; I’m stranded without it. And I’d really like to get some of my other stuff, my phone and my laptop. This might be the way to do it. I won’t make him any promises, tell him I need some time and then as soon as I’m out of there, can you take me to the airport?”

My knees sagged with relief. I closed my eyes as I waited for the frantic pounding of my heart to calm down. Suki was still talking.
“He has to stay here until after the race. I’ve got time to go home and pack up my essentials, then find somewhere else to stay for the time being.”

“
Me,” I blurted, without even thinking. “Come and stay with me. I’ve got an apartment in London.”

There was a long silence.
“My job is in Manchester. I need to stay in the North West, Josh.”

Fear assailed me.
“If you stay in Wilmslow, he’ll find you. Won’t he be ever so slightly pissed off when you run out on him?”

“
You don’t say.” She burrowed into my embrace. “I know I haven’t thought it all through yet. I’m just focusing on the next half-hour.”

“
You don’t think I’m just going to drop you at the airport, do you? I’m coming with you.”

“
Thank you.” She sighed, and then pulled back a little, cupping her hands around my face. “There’s something else I want your help with too.”

***

Twenty minutes later, she stood clean and fragrant before me, dressed in her own jeans and a borrowed clean t-shirt of mine. Still with my boxers underneath though. I was pleased to note her finger was bare of its rings.

Suki leaned back against the wall as I drank her in with my eyes. Jokingly, I placed my forearms on the wall on either side of her head.
“You can’t get away now,” I teased, completely unprepared for the fear that splashed across her face. “Hey, what did I say?”

She tugged my arms down, her hands shaking.
“Please, don’t do that, Josh.” With a groan I recalled her telling me how he pinned her against the wall and hurt her.

“
God, Suki, I’m sorry. I never thought.” I knew how to make it right though. I spun around, so that I leaned against the wall, Suki standing free before me. “This better?”

Weaving her arms around my neck, she pulled my head down and pressed her lips against mine.
“Yes, much better. I forgot to ask—I guess that was Jon on the phone earlier?”

“
Yeah.” I lost myself in another kiss. “He was trying to warn us Gabriel was on his way.” Far too soon, we had to break off. I picked up my bags and rang Jon. He was going to go down and distract Gabriel for a couple of minutes, to give me time to fetch my car. I wanted to follow Gabriel, just in case he didn’t take Suki straight back to his hotel.

When it came to that fucker, I didn’t trust him an inch.

17.5 Gabe

I felt numb. The kind of unthinking, unfeeling paralysis that leaves everything except motor functions impossible. Sitting on a chair in the lobby area, I breathed in and out and waited for my brain to spark back to life.

She’d been with
him
. He’d
fucked
her. She glowed. She looked satisfied in a way I’d never achieved in our ten years together. I’d hired him for this very thing, but never believed she’d succumb.
God
. Suki. I sank my head into my hands as pain and anger tore through me. I forced a state of relative calmness and reached for my phone. I had maybe fifteen minutes left before she reappeared, just enough time to do a few things.

I’d almost finished when a familiar voice spoke.
“What are you still doing here, Gabe?”

Jonno
. With an exaggerated sigh, I pressed SEND and put away my phone, then looked up to meet his glare. “And that’s your business because…”

His scowl grew more pronounced.
“I’m hoping you didn’t find Suki?”

I knew he was trying to intimidate me. I rose to my feet, shoved my hands in my pockets and rocked back and forth on my toes.
“I’m sorry, did you say something of interest?”

“
We have unfinished business, you know. You were behind that incident in Paris. It won’t be long before I prove it.”

I yawned now, looking truly bored.
“God, Jonno, you have such a vivid imagination. And such lousy taste in women.”

“
It would take very little for me to add a second break to your nose. Don’t tempt me.”

Suki chose this moment to appear, wearing another outsized t-shirt underneath her canvas jacket. She clutched her handbag in front of her, looking awkwardly at Jon and back to me.
“Am I interrupting?”

“
No, darling. We’ll be off now.” I fashioned a smile for her and reached to take her arm. I couldn’t miss the way she glanced again at Jonno. They nodded politely at each other before she walked outside with me. My car was parked right at the front of the hotel—I’d snagged a space for disabled drivers—so we didn’t have far to walk in the rain.

“
You aren’t wearing your rings.” I caught a glimpse of her hand as she fastened her safety belt, settling into her seat with the bag in her lap. She coloured slightly under my gaze but didn’t reply straight away. The rain was coming down hard again, I moved out into the light evening traffic and tried to summon my earlier state of near-calm. We flashed from streetlight and back to darkness as we crept through the town, Suki’s face alternately visible and then in shadow as we moved along.

“
So, Gabe, you wanted us to talk.” Her voice sounded steady. Only her fingers, with their death-grip on her bag, gave her away.

I made her wait. Stopping at a set of lights, I glanced again in the rear view mirror. There was the same silver Audi that had pulled out from the hotel behind me. As I pulled away, I hung a sharp left without indicating. So did the Audi.

“I think your boyfriend is trying to follow me.”

She flinched, hugged her bag a little closer and stared at the dashboard.
“Why do you say that?”

“
Suki, give me some credit.” I cruised down the street heading out of town, keeping under the speed limit and watching the Audi. It hung back sufficiently far that I couldn’t make out the driver clearly, or the passenger. I’m sure there were two in the car. I dragged my attention back to Suki. “You fucked him.” I stared at her, hard, before resuming my view of the road ahead. “
You. Fucked. Him
. And now he’s going to pay the price.”

CHAPTER 18

18.1 Josh

“He’s seen us.” Jon’s grim assessment matched mine. He glanced at the laptop perched on my knee. “How will that thing cope when we’re out of town?”

I shrugged. It wasn’t something I could predict. The live feed from my camera was clear at the moment though, pointing roughly out of the windshield of Gabriel’s car from its position in Suki’s handbag.
“As long as we’re getting pictures and sound, we can afford to hang back a bit, let him think he’s given us the slip.”

Jon nodded his agreement and eased back, dawdling as another car shot past us. There hadn’t been much conversation to listen to so far. Gabriel’s chilling threat sat in the pit of my stomach. I knew I shouldn’t have let her go with him. I wished I’d hit him harder, put him in hospital.

Jon turned to say something, but Suki began to speak and he quieted. We listened intently.

Suki sounded nervous, and no wonder.
“I thought your hotel was in Spa? We’re heading on the Balmoral road out of Spa.”

“
We’re not going to my hotel.”

I could see the road whipping past on the screen, he appeared to be driving fast along a quiet road. Too fast. The rain was making the roads slippery. I wondered if Suki would have the chance to get out at some point.

“
So where are we going?”
There was a long silence. “
Gabe, I asked
—
”

“
We’re going to find somewhere private for a little talk.”

“
We can talk here. Why don’t you pull over and
—
”

“
And have you leap out and run away? I don’t think so, darling.”
We heard a clunking noise. “
The doors are locked. You only get out when I tell you.”

“
That’s the A27 motorway ahead,” murmured Jon. “I’ll move a bit closer, he should be confident now that he’s ditched us. And I don’t want to lose him.”

Suki must have realised the same, she started talking rapidly.
“Are we getting on the motorway? Where are you taking me? Sarpay? Sart-Lez-Spa?”
She paused and then continued, sounding amazingly calm. “
This is the N629. Where are we going, Gabe?”

Jon gave me a tight smile.
“Let’s hope she can keep up the directions.” I nodded.

“
Do you know the area, Jon?”

“
Yeah, a bit. No idea where he’s going, though.”

We shut up when Gabriel started speaking again.
“So tell me
—
how long have you been fucking Josh Delaney?”

“
You said it was unimportant—just a blip.”

“
I said a lot of things.”

“
Gabe, do you actually want to talk to me, or are you hoping to bully me into submission first?”

“
You don’t like it when I drive fast, do you?”

Her voice was rising, fear colouring her tone.
“
You’re just trying to scare me.”

“
Is it working yet?”
He chuckled while I swore under my breath. Jon had his taillights in sight, zipping along darkened country lanes at a speed that made me nervous.
“So tell me, Suki
—
what was so bad about our marriage that you had to do this?”

Jon’s phone trilled, he cursed and scrabbled for it with one hand while careering along the wet road.
“It’s Anita. Josh will you take it?”

I grabbed it, eager to reassure her and terminate the call.
“Anita, it’s Josh. We’re a bit busy at the moment, can it wait?”

Over the radio link I could hear Suki yelling at Gabriel. Something about him manipulating her. Anita’s voice was equally loud in my other ear.
“He killed his ex-fiancée, Josh. Gabe
killed
her.”

18.2 Suki

The only thing stopping me from getting hysterical was the knowledge that Josh and Jon were somewhere behind us. Hopefully not far behind. Was now the time to acknowledge that, yes, it had been a mistake of colossal proportions to get in the car with Gabe? What part of my brain had been working when I believed him about going back to his hotel?

I squashed down my fear and tried to feel angry instead. “Were you even going to give me back my passport? Or was that just a trick to get me to go with you?”

“
Why do you want your passport?” How could he remain so cold? You’d have thought we were discussing items on a shopping list. Instead, he was hurling us with reckless abandon around corners I would crawl around on a bright sunny day.

“
Why are you driving like an idiot? You’re going to kill us both.”

This drew a snort of laughter.
“Are you seriously questioning my driving skills, Suki? I drive fucking cars for a living. Or had you forgotten?”

I screeched back, for one blissful moment, forgetting to be scared.
“You keep trying to manipulate me, telling me I’m going mad, but you know what, Gabe? You’re the one with a screw loose. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“
I’m not doing anything. You, however, are going to commit suicide.”

I gaped, all the breath disappearing from my lungs.
“I’m
what
?” It came out as a whisper.

“
If I can’t have you Suki, I’m making sure nobody else—especially not Josh fucking Delaney—has that pleasure.”

I had to keep him talking. While he was talking, he wasn’t doing anything else.
“You can’t get away with that. Nobody will believe you.”

He grinned at me. The bastard looked positively happy for a moment.
“You know the great thing about phones these days? You can use them for email, too. And you, my darling, sent me an email about half an hour ago, to say you’re sorry.” He flashed me another smile, I saw his teeth glinting in the reflected lights from the dashboard. It was pitch dark outside. “And you sent me a text.”

“
You did that in Paris—you pretended I sent a text to Jon. Nobody will believe that same trick twice.”

“
Oh?” He sounded interested. The car lurched around a sharp corner, my bag slipped to the floor. As I tried to grab it, we swung around a tight bend in the opposite direction and my bag disappeared further into the footwell. “How did you figure out I sent Jon that text? How d’you know it wasn’t Josh?” He sneered Josh’s name.

“
I found the phone in your bag, that’s how.” Josh’s tiny camera would now be giving him an excellent view of my shoes. I had to hope it was still transmitting sound okay.

“
I might have got it from him. And besides. I’m not the only person you’ve talked to about your depression. You’ve told Babs.”

18.3 Josh

I couldn’t speak for a moment, then my brain clicked into gear.
“Wait,” I snapped, then asked Jon, “how do I put this on speaker?”

He pressed the required button and Anita’s voice poured from the phone.
“Gabe’s mum has just been here, looking for me. She remembered meeting me at their house and knew we’re friends of Suki’s. Get this, she’s stolen Suki’s passport from his room—she gave it to me—and she told me he
killed
his ex-fiancé. She was unfaithful to him and he pushed her car off the road into a river. Gabe’s mum saw on the news about a mystery woman drowning and was petrified he’d done it again.”

“
How could he get away with something like that?” Jon didn’t seem fazed at all. He managed to talk while throwing the car around ridiculously tight bends in the pouring rain, following a pair of taillights, in the hopes that we had Suki in our sights.

“
That’s just it,” Anita tried to explain. “His mum provided an alibi for him. He never told her what he did, but she figured it out.”

Silence hung between us for a long moment.
“Don’t let him do it again, Josh. Please, bring her back safely.”

Jon terminated the call, stuffing the phone in his pocket as he manoeuvred through the night. His concentration on the road ahead was fierce and I silently thanked any god who happened to be listening for my idea to ask him for help. I couldn’t have kept the car on the road—and followed Gabriel—and monitored the camera link. Without Jon’s help, Suki would be out here all alone. My gut cramped some more, this was excruciating.
“Where is he going?” I snarled to Jon, not expecting an answer.

And now the live feed was screwed up, but, thank God again, we still had sound. We’d been driving for over forty minutes, climbing higher towards the dense Ardennes Mountains. I remembered pictures from the tourist website
—steep slopes, gullies, rivers and waterfalls, impenetrable forests. So many places to stop. So many opportunities to kill Suki. My current fear was he’d realise he was being followed again, even though Jon was trying to hang back. So far he hadn’t mentioned it. We listened, appalled, to their conversation.

“
Babs who
?” Suki sounded defiant.

“
Babs, your shrink
.”

This time she sounded shocked.
“
How do you know about that
?”

“
Her shrink?” Jon glanced at me. I shook my head, a flurry of new concerns running through my head. Although to be fair, being married to Gabriel would send anyone running for a psychiatrist.

“
Obsession27
?” Gabriel’s tone mocked her. “
Ring any bells?”

“
You hacked into my emails
?” A note of disbelief. “
It was you that changed my appointments. What gave you the right to do that?”

“
You’re my wife, Suki. That gives me every right.”

“
So you told Babs I was depressed? She’s a psychiatrist. People don’t talk to her when they’re happy.”

He chuckled again. It sent shivers down my spine.
“
I told her you were going to kill yourself tonight. And”
—he spoke over her when she tried to interrupt—
“I told her your name. You’re going to be all over the papers tomorrow, darling.”

“
You’re crazy. You can’t get away with this.”

“
Watch me. And you know what makes it even sweeter? Because your darling Josh was following us, it’ll look as though he killed you. I can just see the headlines tomorrow. Jealous lover enraged when she goes back to her husband. While I, heartbroken of course, tell the world how he attacked me. Again.”

18.4 Gabe

I reluctantly gave Joshy-Boy some credit. I’m pretty certain he was still behind me, but some way back now. Even better, by the time he caught up it would all be over, for Suki at least.

She clung to her seat as I threw the car around some more. Damned rental car; it didn’t perform as well as I needed. I’d lost traction badly on that last hairpin bend, the tires had struggled to grip. We only had a couple of miles to go. I was heading for a remote beauty spot, one we’d explored on an early visit to Spa, years ago. A high rocky cliff overlooking a steep ravine, a natural waterfall hurtled down the slope to the lake far below. In daylight, it was a breathtaking view. It was the perfect place to take Suki for us to discuss how to repair our marriage, a location we both remembered with happiness.

Or at least, that’s what I’d tell everyone.

“We’re going to that lake, aren’t we?” I’d never included mind reading in her list of skills. “Our first visit to Spa, the Lake Gilleppe. We stopped there for drinks, a little café overlooking the water. It was owned by a couple of Americans—the Philadelphia.”

“
You told me it was the most beautiful place you’d ever seen.”

“
Gabe, it’s not too late. Let’s talk about this, really talk.”

“
We are talking.”

Her left hand crept up to rest on my thigh. I could feel her fingers fluttering nervously against me.
“Stop the car, Gabe.
Please
.”

“
If I asked you to give him up, would you?”

Her silence spoke volumes.
“You’re too honest, Suki. You should have lied and said yes.”

“
If I say yes, what will change?”

“
Hmm, that’s a good question.” I grinned at her in the darkness, enjoying her grimace as we climbed steadily on the wet slope. “If you say yes, you will leave him. I might not do everything I planned.”

Her voice sounded tight.
“And what are you planning, for God’s sake?”