The One You Love (29 page)

52

‘What’s the matter?’

Miranda stood at the edge of the study, waiting for Edward to turn around. But he didn’t – he just continued to stare out of the window. He’d been holed up in the study for over half an hour now, and had returned home without even announcing his arrival. Miranda was getting worried; maybe he was having second thoughts about the baby.

‘Is it something to do with Will?’ she ventured.

‘You were listening in to my conversation,’ Edward said sadly.

‘I… I didn’t mean to,’ Miranda said, edging into the room. ‘I was coming to see if you were all right and I heard you talking, that’s all.’

Edward turned around. Miranda was shocked at how sad and old he looked. She thought that maybe he had been crying, although she’d never seen him cry before.

‘What did you hear?’ he asked.

‘Err, nothing really.’

‘But you knew I was talking to Will.’

‘Yes, but I didn’t hear any details.’

‘Couldn’t hear any details,’ he corrected. ‘You tried to listen but couldn’t hear.’

‘No,’ she denied. ‘I wasn’t listening in on you, Edward. What is this, anyway? All this secrecy?’

‘You don’t want to know.’

‘Edward, if this is going to work then we’ve got to trust each other. Love is about trust. You do love me, don’t you?’

‘I can’t take this right now. I might go for a walk.’

‘But you’ve only just got back in,’ she said, her voice softening into a more conciliatory tone. ‘Can’t we sit down and have a chat? You’ve been acting strange for a few weeks now – I’ve noticed it. Maybe if you talked things through, then it might help.’

Edward just looked at her. ‘How do you feel about the baby,’ he said, gesturing towards Miranda’s midriff.

‘Feel?
I don’t understand.
I’m happy about it, if that’s what you mean. I hope you are too.’

‘I didn’t mean like that. I mean, what are your feelings towards your child.’

‘It’s your child too,’ Miranda countered.

‘I know. What I’m trying to say is, even though the baby hasn’t even been born yet, even though you’ve never set eyes on the baby, you’d probably do anything for it, wouldn’t you?’

‘I hope so,’ Miranda said. ‘But I don’t understand, Edward, what’s this all about? Are you nervous about being a father again? I could understand if you were.’

‘I don’t think I’ve ever been a father,’ Edward replied, sitting down on the edge of his desk.

‘But you are a good father,’ Miranda said, moving over to put an arm around him. ‘I know you’ve had a few problems with Emma and Will, mostly because of me, but things seem to be improving now.’

‘Don’t you dare blame yourself,’ Edward said, pulling away. ‘It started long before I met you. When their mother died, when my children needed me the most, I wasn’t there for them. All I cared about was myself.’

‘But you were upset too.’

‘I was selfish. And I haven’t changed.’

‘I don’t think you’re selfish.’

Edward turned to look at her. ‘You know, Miranda, I don’t think you know me at all.’

***

It had been worth the journey – ten minutes of frantic motorcycling across the capital, dodging London buses and weaving through lanes of traffic. But that was why he loved this job – the adrenalin rush, the chase for the picture. He imagined hunters got the same buzz. They were both stalking prey, of sorts – one with a gun, the other with a telephoto lens. And in many ways, the lens could be just as damaging.

‘Hi,’ he said into the mobile phone. ‘I’ve got some fantastic shots here.’

The first shot had been of Will talking to the police – fortunately he had parked at some distance, away from the unmarked car.

Then he got a few great ones of Stuart Harris being carried into the ambulance, including a fantastic close up of his face.

The guy looked in a really bad way.

And finally, when he thought things couldn’t get any better, Will Holden appeared at the front of the flats, kneeling down with his head in his hands.

It was pure soap opera.

‘I don’t know what’s going on with all this,’ he said, ‘but Emma Holden’s brother was at Stuart’s flat… I’ve got shots of that, yes. Then the police arrived, followed by an ambulance… no idea… but from what I could see, it looked pretty serious to me.’

He looked over at the flats. Will was still sitting there, head in hands. If he’d thought about it for too long, he could have felt sorry for him. But there was no time for such emotion, with such money at stake.

‘Yes,’ he said, turning his attention away from Will, ‘should be able to get them developed quick sharp. More than time enough for the morning papers – they’re going to love this.’

53

‘So what are we going to do now?’ Lizzy said to Emma, as they sat in her flat. ‘You tempted to go and look for Eric again?’

‘I don’t think it would do any good,’ Emma replied. ‘The state he was in, I don’t think we’d learn anything new.’

‘Probably right. I wonder whether the police have found out anything yet about who sent the package?’

‘They must have found out something by now.’ Spurred into action, Emma pulled out her mobile and searched for the number Gasnier had given her those days ago.

Lizzy nodded her agreement.

The call was answered on the second ring.

‘Hello?’ Gasnier’s tone was clipped and impatient.

‘Hi, it’s Emma Holden here. I was wondering if you’d found out anything about who…’

‘Now’s not a good time,’ he interrupted. ‘We can talk later.’

‘So you’ve found something?’

‘Not now,’ he said, sounding distracted. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

And with that the line went dead.

‘What did he say?’ Lizzy asked.

‘That it wasn’t a good time.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Lizzy replied, pulling a face.

‘I’ve no idea. But it sounds like something has happened. You could tell – he was distracted by something.’

‘I suppose they’ll tell us when they decide to,’ Lizzy mused. ‘But that just leaves us hanging around in the dark.’

‘I feel completely helpless,’ Emma admitted, stretching back and looking up at the ceiling. ‘And I don’t like it.’

Then her mobile rang.

‘Maybe it’s the right time now,’ Lizzy smiled, as Emma reached for the phone.

But the number wasn’t Gasnier’s.

‘Hi, is that Emma?’

‘Speaking.’

‘It’s Sister Donahue here from the hospital. I’ve got some news about Richard – he’s woken up.’

***

‘Try not to get your hopes up,’ Lizzy said, as they stood in the lift taking them to the ward where Richard was being treated.

‘I’m trying,’ Emma said, ‘but this could be the break we’ve been waiting for. Richard must have seen what happened to Dan. He must have seen who hit him. He’ll be able to clear Dan’s name.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ Lizzy said.

They stepped out and headed down the corridor. Nurse Donahue met them at the entrance to the ward, as if she had been waiting there on guard since her phone call.

‘Take things slowly,’ she warned. ‘Richard’s been unconscious now for nearly two weeks. He’s bound to feel disorientated, and it’s important not to push him. The doctors have said that he really shouldn’t be having visitors, but I thought you ought to be able to have a quick word.’

‘Thanks,’ Emma said, as they walked towards Richard’s room. ‘Have you told the police that he’s woken up?’

‘Just. They said they wanted to know as soon as anything happened, and I dare say they want to be the first to see him. But I wanted Richard to see some friendly faces – he doesn’t need an inquisition.’

‘No,’ Emma said, remembering Lizzy’s note of caution.

They got to the room and through the glass Emma could see Richard sitting up, his eyes open. It was the best thing she had seen in weeks.

‘I’ve brought a couple of people to see you,’ Nurse Donahue said, entering the room. Emma and Lizzy followed behind, and when Richard saw them he smiled, albeit uncomfortably. Emma guessed that his mouth was probably desert-dry at the moment.

‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Nurse Donahue said, smiling at them and leaving the room.

‘Thanks.’ Emma turned to Richard. ‘How are you?’

‘Confused,’ said Richard, trying another smile. ‘I feel like I’m dreaming – not much is making sense at the moment.’

‘Have the doctors told you anything?’ Emma asked.

‘They’ve explained some things,’ he said, his face appearing somewhat vacant. ‘But I can’t say I’ve taken much of it in, really. I know I’ve been in a coma for nearly two weeks.’

‘Can you remember what happened in our flat?’ asked Emma, knowing that this sort of conversation wasn’t what Nurse Donahue would have had in mind.

‘The doctors told me I got hit on the head. But I can’t remember anything, Em. I wish I could.’

Emma tried to hide her disappointment. She had pinned her hopes on Richard being able to remember something. ‘So you don’t remember if there was someone else in the flat, apart from you and Dan?’

‘I can’t. Em, I can’t even remember going to your flat – or even why I was there.’

‘Dan’s stag night. You were going on his stag night.’

‘Right,’ he said, looking as though he was trawling through his mind for buried clues. ‘The wedding – have you…?’

Emma shook her head. ‘Dan’s been missing since that night,’ she said, wondering whether she should be telling him this.

‘What?’ Richard’s face creased with confusion. ‘Dan’s missing?’

‘The police thought at first that he was the one who hit you.’

‘Em,’ Lizzy interjected, reaching out with a hand. Emma looked at Richard, staring off to his left, and realised that she had gone too far.

‘Don’t worry, Richard,’ she said, ‘everything’s going to be okay.’

***

‘I shouldn’t have told him about Dan,’ Emma lamented, as they sat outside the room on a couple of plastic chairs. ‘Did you see his face? He was devastated.’

‘You didn’t plan to tell him,’ Lizzy said. ‘And he has to find out sometime.’

‘But he didn’t have to find out now.’

‘Maybe he did. Look who’s just arrived.’

Emma looked up to see Gasnier and Davies talking with Nurse Donahue. They turned and Gasnier spotted Emma instantly. He spoke a few words to Davies and they came over.

‘Emma,’ he said.

Emma stood up – she didn’t like him standing over her like that. Lizzy did likewise.

‘Detective,’ said Emma.

‘You’ve already spoken with Richard?’

She nodded.

‘Anything I might be interested in?’

‘He can’t remember anything.’

Gasnier nodded, as if that was what he had expected. ‘I’m sorry about earlier. It really wasn’t a good time to talk. I promise I wasn’t dismissing you – I don’t play those kind of games.’

Emma was taken aback by the apology. ‘That’s okay.’

‘I understand how frustrating all this is,’ he said, glancing over to look at Richard.

‘Are you going to speak with Richard?’

‘Yes. Although we don’t expect him to be able to help, if what you and the medical staff say is true.’

‘Right.’

‘We’ll do our best not to upset him,’ Gasnier promised. ‘But we’ve got to do anything that can help us to find your fiancé.’

‘So you do believe that Dan is in danger?’

‘New evidence has come to light,’ he replied. ‘We need to discuss this in a side room.’

Emma and Lizzy followed Gasnier and Davies into a nearby side room.

‘I have some news,’ Gasnier said.

His stony expression set alarm bells ringing.

‘We do believe that Dan is being held somewhere,’ he continued. ‘We found evidence at Stuart Harris’s flat that leads us to believe he kidnapped him.’

‘Stuart?’ Emma said, taken aback. ‘Are you sure?’

‘There was a photo of Dan on Stuart’s computer. I’m afraid it showed him tied up. We also found a copy of the letter sent to you, supposedly from Dan. Added to the fact that Stuart’s name was down at the couriers.’

‘But you didn’t find Dan?’

‘He wasn’t being held at the flat,’ Gasnier said. ‘Our officers are searching the place for clues as to where he might be.’

‘But what does Stuart say about it? Can’t you make him tell you where Dan is?’

Gasnier paused and glanced down at the floor. Emma noticed that his hands were clasped, as if in prayer.