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“Is that Jordan?” Savannah asks as she perks up.
“Who’s that?”
“Elliot’s best friend.”
Oh, for fucks sake. Even dead, this man continues to bring trouble to my door.
“What’s he doing here? How does he know where I live?”
Instead of answering, Savannah jumps out of the car and walks up to him. I kill the engine and join them, not wanting to miss anything valuable.
“He’s in Bali,” Savannah says.
The stranger looks up at me as I stand beside her. “He would have called me Sav. You know us.”
I intervene. “He discarded his sim card before he left.”
He doesn’t look at me when he speaks, instead shooting his pathetic, pleading eyes at her. “He knows my number. You know this. He would call me – even if it was to gloat. I haven’t heard a peep from him in four months. That’s not like him.”
Savannah shifts her weight from one foot to another. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Jordan. He’s gone.”
“No! Something happened to him. Iknowit. Can’t you have someone investigate it?”
She looks up at me. “Can you? Just to give him peace of mind.”
I sigh. “I have a business to run. I don’t have the time to look for a man who is probably sitting in the sun.”
Jordan steps up to me. The top of his head barely comes to my shoulder, and I refrain from laughing at how ridiculous he looks.
“This was you. Elliot had you all sussed out, so you probably had him murdered. Don’t trust this man, Sav. Elliot knew all about him. He told me that he forced his ex out of the country, and now look where he conveniently ended up. Don’t trust him.”
Savannah keeps one hand on her belly and uses the other to rub his shoulder. “That’s not what happened. He left willingly. I saw the contract and pictures myself. It was selfish but smart.”
Jordan eyes her large bump. “He’s gotten into your head. You’re not stupid, Sav. Wake up.”
He needs to leave before he starts planting seeds of doubt in her head. I’ve only just gotten her to drop the murder accusations against me.
“Get off my property.”
“You’ve got one week to give me proof of life before I report your ass to the cops.”
Now it’s my turn to step to him. “Don’t threaten me.”
“You did something to him, and I won’t stop until I find him.” He takes a step back. “One week. Get me anything. Video of him on the beach. A phone call.” He looks at Savannah again. “A missing girlfriend and dead wife? Be careful who you’re lying in bed with.”
37
Myfatherwasameticulous man. He kept concise records of every business transaction, whether it be an invoice or email. He also made sure his house was always in order. Everything had a place and was required to be returned after being used. My mother always hated that about him, which makes sense because she never understood her place in the home; she was a wife and mother but decided to be a whore instead. Nevertheless, my father’s habits rubbed off on me, and I learnt to keep a record of everything, label and store it away safely should I require it in the future.
The future is now. Every conversation Savannah had with Elliot Hunter was saved to an encrypted hard drive. It’s the only audio source I have at hand to splice words together to create a fake voicemail. I’ve managed to hold him off for an additional week. I could have easily completed this task within the week he demanded, but I wasn’t about to concede to his every request. I would have dismissed it entirely had I wanted Savannah to start doubting me again. Providing this evidence should alleviate any suspicions that may remain with her.
There’s a soft knock at the door before her head appears in the opening. “Are you finished working yet? I’m bored.”
Her early maternity leave has been difficult for her. She spends her days eating through everything in the kitchen, watching TV or napping in Emery’s room. I regret not installing cameras in there while she still resided in the guesthouse. Unlike Emery, she doesn’t spend the entire day in there or lock the door. The few times I’ve found her there, she was curled up on the bed asleep.
I close my laptop. “I’m done now. You should have come knocking earlier if you wanted company.”
She takes a seat on the sofa and fiddles with a chess piece. “I feel bad you leave the office early to babysit me.”
