Edie couldn’t wait for the nightmare to be over and to get back to Surrey, to her and Ralph’s lovely home, to their dog and their two, precious children. She quite decided from now on, she’d never complain about Ralph, or anything else in her life for that matter, ever again.
‘Penny for your thoughts,’ Ralph mumbled in a sleepy voice, rolling over to face her with his eyes still half closed.
Edie had assumed he was still snoozing.
‘Oh, nothing really,’ she replied, reaching for his hand, which felt warm and comforting. ‘Just hoping we get some news today.’
She didn’t want to discuss Marina and Katerina with him; he’d only tell her they were nice, but nuts.
She’d rather keep to herself her newfound notion that there might, possibly, be something bigger out there, and that maybe everything happening to them was, in some strange way, supposed to be.
When Ralph’s phone rang, they both jumped like wide-eyed deer and Edie let out a squeal. ‘Quick! Answer it!’
As soon as she heard the now-familiar voice of Ioannis Karanasios, from the Tourist Police department, she sat bolt upright, all her senses on alert.
After just a few seconds, Ralph held the phone away from his ear to speak to his wife. ‘They’ve found her. She’s OK.’
Edie’s heart thumped wildly and she burst into involuntary tears, all the pent-up fear and anxiety of the past few days exploding in a torrent of sobs.
Ralph raised an index finger to his mouth – ‘Shh’ – before placing his hand reassuringly on her thigh, and squeezing.
Clamping the phone to his ear again, he continued the conversation. Meanwhile, Edie buried her face in her pillow to stifle her blubbing and tried to catch what was being said.
Of course, she was desperate to know everything, every last detail, but she had to wait on tenterhooks for the phone call to end before Ralph could properly fill her in.
When he turned to her at last, she threw off the sheet and knelt beside him, her hands resting in her lap.
It seemed Jessica had been located in a small guest house in the city of Kissamos, in north-western Crete, some two and a half hours by road from Knossos.
She’d been visiting the city’s archaeological museum, beaches and other local sites, having changed her plans at the last minute and decided to head to Knossos later.
Her intention had been to return to Porto Liakáda sometime tomorrow or the next day; she wasn’t sure exactly when. Her phone was on silent, because she didn’t want to be disturbed. She hadn’t checked her messages and had absolutely no idea a frantic search for her was underway.
In fact, when police arrived at the guest house and told her they’d been looking for her, she thought they’d got the wrong person. She said it had never crossed her mind her friends would be worried about her. They knew she often travelled solo and was perfectly capable of looking after herself.
It took Edie a few moments to absorb the information, then she heaved a big sigh.
‘I can’t believe anyone can be so selfish and self-centred,’ she said at last, rubbing her eyes and wiping her nose with the back of a hand. ‘Not to even drop us a text to say where she is. It’s mind-boggling.’
‘I know.’
Ralph clasped both Edie’s hands in his and gently shook them up and down.
‘Look,’ he said earnestly, ‘I know we both think the same – she’s vile, a total egoist. When we get back home, I never, ever want to see her again. You’ll bump into her at school, unfortunately. But hopefully, you won’t have to speak to her that much. The thing is, though, the police are bringing her back now. They’ll be here in two or three hours. I think we should try to keep our feelings to ourselves for the time being and focus on the fact she’s safe. We need to thank the police. They’ve been great. We couldn’t have asked for more. And there’s Mac to consider, too.’
Edie nodded. ‘What do you reckon he’ll do?’
Ralph paused for a moment and scratched his head. ‘I think he needs our help. Lots of it. The last thing we want is for him to reconcile with Hannah.
‘I bet once she’s sobered up and hears about Jessica, she’ll take back everything she said last night, including about the divorce. It suits her to have him at her beck and call. I reckon she likes the power and control. But it will be a disaster for him if he listens to her and gets bullied into staying. He needs to get out now, but he won’t be able to do it on his own.’
Edie tilted her head to one side. ‘So, what do you suggest?’
‘I think he should stay with us, just while he sorts himself out and gets the divorce proceedings going. He could have Maisie’s room, or we could turn the downstairs family room into a temporary bedroom.
‘I know it’s not ideal, but I’ve known him forever and I really want to support him. That’s what mates are for. How would you feel about it? Could you cope?’
Edie didn’t hesitate for a second. ‘Of course.’
