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She jumped out of her van, headed into the pub and scanned the interior, trying to avoid catching anyone else’s eye, praying Jess wouldn’t be in there. Her luck was in. There he was, a half-drunk pint of Safe Harbour in his right hand.
She sidled up to him.
‘I need to talk to you.’
‘What’s up?’
‘I’ve had another card.’ She felt self-conscious. Suddenly, she worried that whoever had sent it was in here, watching her and enjoying her discomfort
‘Let’s have a look.’
‘I can’t show you in here.’ That would be awful, for the sender to witness her showing the card to Woody. ‘Can you come back to mine?’
He hesitated. ‘Sure. I’ll just text Katya but I’m sure she won’t mind.’ Woody had a new girlfriend he’d met at Tawcombe parkrun. It was early days. ‘Let’s get a curry. My treat.’
The thought of food made her stomach curdle. But she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so maybe a takeaway was a good idea. They always used to have one on a Friday night, when they were together. Then, the only curry in town came from the chippy, swimming in yellow grease. Now, the Bhaji Shack had opened, and its beautifully aromatic dishes were seasoned to perfection with zingy fresh herbs and served with pillowy nan breads.
‘OK,’ she agreed as he finished his pint. She drove them to the other end of the high street where they ordered onion bhajis and vegetable samosas, then chickpea, smoked aubergine and potato curry for her and beef rendang for Woody. They headed out of town as night finally curled itself over the coast road, and it was getting dark when Nikki pulled up outside Number Four. There was the soft glow of golden lights coming from Number Three, and for a moment she wondered what Adam was cooking in his kitchen of dreams. Under another set of circumstances, she might have brought a takeaway home and offered to share it with him.
In the kitchen, Woody put his hands around his face and peered out of the glass door to the back garden and the darkness of the sea beyond.
‘I bet you can see forever on a clear day. To the edge of the world.’
There was a wistfulness to his tone. Woody worshipped the sea. He’d be in it every minute of the day if he could. She thought for a moment how much he would love having the secret beach on his doorstep.
‘What are the neighbours like?’ He broke into her thoughts.
‘Young couple in Number One. Middle-aged couple in Number Two. Widower next door. Just moved down from London.’ She had to stop herself giving too much detail about Adam.
‘Do you want me to run a check on him?’
‘No! He seems fine.’ She put plates and cutlery on a tray. ‘Come on. We can eat in the dining bit. I can’t call it a dining room. Dining area?’
She ushered him through to the table at the bottom of the stairs. Woody unpacked the containers from the brown paper bag and peeled off the lids. The air was filled with the scent of ginger and star anise and coriander. Usually, her mouth would be watering by now, but the dread in her stomach made her feel slightly nauseous.
Woody eyed her thoughtfully.
‘You have to eat,’ he said. ‘I know you’re stressed. But everything seems much worse if you starve yourself.’
She sighed. ‘I know.’ She flopped herself down in her seat and obediently began to fill her plate. Woody had picked up a quartet of Cobra beers from the off-licence and flipped the lid on two of them. She knew Woody wouldn’t let her talk until she’d eaten. And once she began to dig in, the food pushed away the flickers of fear.
‘OK,’ he said, when the last container was empty and their plates had been scraped clean. ‘Let’s have a look.’
The very sight of it filled her with panic again. Just a couple of sentences, but they seemed so threatening.
‘OK,’ Woody nodded thoughtfully, ‘I guess combined with the other two messages it does seem like they know something.’
‘Oh God.’ Suddenly Nikki felt as if she had lost control of everything. ‘What do they want, though? And who is it? And how do they know?’
Woody shrugged. ‘What do they think they know? I mean, what proof could they possibly have?’
‘Shit. I don’t know. I don’t know!’ Nikki wanted to cry. Frustration and panic were toxic bedfellows, enough to make anyone lose their mind.
‘I mean, short of being in the room with you, and taking a photograph, which presumably you’d have noticed, no one can prove anything. So it’s just an educated guess.’ He stared at the phone. ‘Assuming they’re referring to …’ He made a face. ‘Matey boy. Or have you got other dark secrets?’
He was teasing, but Nikki wasn’t up to being teased. ‘Stop it. I don’t know. It must be that. It’s the only thing I’ve ever done wrong.’ She was going to cry. She could feel herself crumbling.
‘Stop it!’ Woody jabbed a warning finger at her. ‘You need to hold your nerve. We need to look at the evidence. Try and build up a picture. But you need to stay calm. What are they banking on? What have you got to lose?’
