Page 159 of The Heart You Kept

ALORA

Ring, ring…. Ring, ring.

I close my eyes, hoping he won’t answer and I can just leave a message.

“Alora. Hi.”

“Hi Pascal,” I reply. “I saw the news and spoke to your mother. Are you okay?”

“I’m getting there.” His voice has a sadness in it. “Just got out of hospital today.”

“Right.” I chew my lip as I try to work out what to say next. “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see them.”

“They jumped you from behind?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t Edward, he would never hit someone from behind, he would want them to know it was him.

Phew….

“What are the doctors saying?” I ask.

“I have six broken ribs and a broken eye socket and nose.”

“God. You must be in so much pain,” I whisper. “How awful.”

“I’m on the good drugs, so I’ll be fine.”

“Ummm.” Should I just ask him? Yes, screw it, I need to know. “Pascal, I have to ask you something.”

“Yeah.”

“I found an….” I try to find the right words. “A tracker in my purse. Do you know anything about it? I mean, if you put it there by accident or something while we were going out then that’s okay,” I stammer. “I just need to know who put it there. It’s really scared me.”

“What kind of tracker?”

“I don’t know what type it was but it was a location tracker, it was in a pen.”

“Oh.” He falls silent. “What kind of pen?”

He seems genuinely shocked, it wasn’t him at all.

“Why don’t you ask your new boyfriend about it? He would have put it there for certain.”

Huh?

“Pascal, I have to ask, did you know Edward before you met him through the council in Monaco?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“We went to school together.”

What?