It took me fifteen minutes to walk to the park. Neal directed me to a bench opposite the duck pond. I sat next to him, feeling the tension emanating from his body.
‘How did it happen?’ he asked, looking straight ahead.
‘I don’t know. I got sidetracked by this meter bloke and rushed down. I thought it was the police. She must have caught the door before it closed. I thought she was locked inside, so I left the hatch unlocked.’ I took a deep breath. ‘What are we going to do?’ I asked, trying to disguise the panic in my voice.
Neal looked around the park, as though the answer would magically appear there. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I’m sure she’ll understand. If you talk to her, explain why you had to do it. I feel…’
He turned, his face red with anger, his eyes blazing. ‘Are you fucking stupid? I’ll be finished, done for, within twenty-four hours. Her father will see to that. Do you really think Jo will forgive me for taking her away from Joel all this time? He’ll finish me, Nev. I’ll lose my job, he’ll make sure I never work again unless it's sweeping the roads. I won’t see my son. You know how that feels. I’ll lose everything.’
‘I…’ The words wouldn’t come. I didn’t know what to say. ‘If you explain that you did it for the right reasons,’ I managed eventually.
He nodded, then said, ‘I need to think things through. Give me a bit of time to work out what I’ll say to her. Maybe I can talk her out of telling her father.’
‘I’m sure if you explain… After all, we kept her in luxury, didn’t we?’
He glared at me. ‘Everything was going perfectly to plan until you fucked it up.’
I felt anger rising within me. ‘Don’t youdareblame me. You got yourself into a mess. You broke our contract and put me in a right mess, too. Now you should tell her the truth and face the consequences.’
‘Like I said, I just need time to work it out.’
‘You owe me money,’ I reminded him.
He looked at me with hatred in his eyes. ‘I think you forfeited that money when you messed this up,’ he said cruelly.
He stood up and walked away, leaving me shaking with anger. My mouth was so dry, I could barely swallow. I clenched my fists until the nails bit into my flesh. The cold crept into my bones, and I finally pulled my weary body up and walked back to the house, feeling lost and exhausted.
I believed that Neal meant business, and that, despite all I’d done, he wasn’t going to pay me.
***
Several days after our meeting, Daniel finally called. Relief washed over me as I picked up the call. Anything was better than this nightmare. At least Joanna would finally know that I’m not the bad guy. That had become important to me. I’d found myself drawn to her in ways I didn’t expect.
‘I’ll be over this evening,’ he said.
He must have heard my sigh of relief.
‘That’s good. You’ve thought it through?’
‘It’s not going to be easy,’ he said. ‘I don’t think she’ll forgive me.’
He paused. I felt the need to encourage him. ‘I think she will. Do you know what time you’re coming?’
Was I sounding too eager?
‘I’m not sure. I’ve got a client first. I’ll see you later. You’ll back me up?’
‘Of course,’ I said, relieved it would soon be over.
He hung up. I felt light, almost hopeful. Maybe Joanna could convince him to pay me after all. Perhaps she wouldn’t call in the police, once she knew the truth.
But Daniel didn’t show. He sent a killer instead. In the few days I’d waited for him to make contact, he had been arranging our murders.
***
Daniel
