‘I know what caused it. But it’s odd.’
‘Odd? Why?’
‘So,’ he says, scratching his balding head with stubby fingers. ‘You told me that the last thing you were doing on your laptop was searching for tutors, right?’
‘I hadn’t even started searching really. All I did was type in the word ‘tutor’ and then the screen froze and that deleting bar appeared.’
‘Well, it’s the weirdest thing.’ Gary shakes his head.
‘What’s weird?’
‘Watch…’ he says.
I do as he asks and watch the screen as he types various words into the Google search bar. It all looks quite normal.
‘Nowlook,’ he says. Gary types in the word ‘tutor’ and then he tries to type in something else, but the keyboard has locked up.
My heart sinks as the loading bar appears. ‘It’s done it again!’ I cry. ‘I don’t believe this.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Gary says. ‘I’ve saved all your files ontothis.’ He hands me an external drive.
‘Good thinking! Thank you. Are you able to fix it again, or do I need a new laptop?’
‘Your laptop will be fine. I made it happen again on purpose.’
‘Okaaay. Why would you do that?’
‘I’m about to remove the virus, but I just wanted to show you what happened. The file deletion only activated when I typed in the word “tutor”. Before that, everything was fine.’
‘So what are you saying? It doesn’t like that particular word? That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘No. It doesn’t. Unless someone has inserted a virus into your laptop to make it lock up when you type in the word “tutor”.’
‘What? Why would they do that?’
‘You tell me.’
‘And how would they do it? Wouldn’t they need to physically have my laptop?’
‘Not at all. They could have sent you an email with a link containing the virus. Can you think of any strange links you’ve opened recently? It might not even have been that recent. If this is the first time you’ve typed that word, then the virus could have been sitting dormant for ages.’
I link my hands behind my head and lean back into the sofa. ‘I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary. But I get all sorts of emails from all sorts of people – colleagues, friends, family.’
‘Okay, so do you know anyone who might have done something likethis?’
My mind scrolls through all the possibilities and lands on just one…Rebecca.
Sixteen
Standing opposite the school with my mobile phone clamped to my ear, I pretend to listen to the imaginary person at the other end of the call. In reality, all my attention is focused on the school gates and the surrounding area. Watching. Waiting.
It only took a few hours to drive down to the coast this morning. I headed straight to the beach, stepped out of the car and sucked in lungful after lungful of sea air. Cleansing away the past few months. Everything feels fresher here. Warmer. But I mustn’t get ahead of myself. I mustn’t assume anything. That’s how mistakes are made.
With my free hand, I slip out the photo from the back pocket of my jeans and study it once again. The father is handsome, relaxed in jeans and an open-neck shirt. He looks… perfect. The woman, on the other hand… she looks like a cold fish. Her blonde hair is short and stylish, elfin, not a single hair out of place. It might be hard to win her around. But I won’t have to. If I can get the children on my side, then the parents should come on board quickly enough.
These kids are cute. Dressed in bright Boden colours. Catalogue pretty. Probably spoilt, though. But that can work in my favour. I can spoil them too. Win them over with treats and fun. I slide the photo back into my pocket. Feel it lying there like a living, breathing thing. A family captured forever on photographic paper. A record of a moment in time. But moments, by their very nature, never last.
The area in front of the school is growing busy now. The gates swing open and the horde of parents surges into the playground, gathering in their little cliques, or standing alone swiping at their mobile phones. Five more minutes tick past. Have I missed them? Did the mother or father go in without me noticing?
