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Taylor takes my hand. ‘We need to go to the police, Hannah. Let them deal with this.’
‘Let me speak to him first. He knows everything. And the police won’t be able to ignore that, will they?’
Taylor shakes his head. ‘At least let me be with you when you hand the money over.’
‘Yeah. Okay. Thanks.’ I pull away, because it feels too good. ‘He’s given me until Sunday, so I assume he’ll just show up then.’
‘Then I’ll clear whatever plans I have and be around all day.’ He squeezes my shoulder. ‘It will be all right. I don’t know how, but I have to believe it will.’
For hours we talk, finishing the bottle of wine and then another. And in that time our conversations seem to be about everything. Alice. Max disappearing. Taylor’s work. My shop. We only notice the time when a message pings on my phone. It’s three a.m. Ignoring the message, I tell him that I need to get some sleep. Cole is due in late tomorrow so I’m opening up the shop on my own.
At the door, Taylor gives me a brief hug. ‘We’ll get through this,’ he says, disappearing down the stairs.
It’s only when I’m in bed that I remember the text message. I reach for my phone and check it now. It’s from an unknown number.
You’re wrong if you think you’ll ever be free.Keep looking over your shoulder, Hannah.
TWENTY-TWO
Putney Community Group
Public Group, 10.7K members
Lana Jankowski:What’s happening with the Alice Hughes case? It’s gone very quiet. We need justice for Alice.
Comments:
Sam Castle:Nothing’s happening. No witnesses. No CCTV. Nothing. They’ll never find out who did it.
Isabella Howard:A friend of mine was her client. She said Alice was definitely seeing someone. And she thinks Alice was hiding something. She started acting really weird. Cutting their sessions short because she was in a state. That kind of thing.
Sarah Brooks:Have some respect. You shouldn’t be talking about her on here. If you’ve got anything to say then go to the police.
Nita Luthra:I’m Alice’s neighbour and she was lovely. Always friendly. I never saw her with any man. But maybe that’s because I mind my own business and get on with my own life.
Sitting opposite the young male police officer puts me on edge. I might have had nothing to do with Max’s disappearance, but there’s an avalanche of lies I’ve told waiting to take me under. And there’s something about this uniformed police officer, the way his eyes narrow as he questions me. I need to be on my guard with him.
He looks around the house, silently taking everything in, noticing things any civilian would pay no mind to. I wonder how long he’s had this job – if he has that desperate urge to prove himself to his older, more experienced colleagues. These are the people you have to watch out for. The ones who are hungry for success.
Thankfully Mum could have Poppy today, so she’s spared from witnessing this.
‘So you say you haven’t seen him since Wednesday morning.’ He does a quick calculation. ‘Three days. Can I ask why you’re only reporting it now?’
‘I thought I had to wait. I didn’t realise I could report someone missing straight away if they’re not a child or someone vulnerable. I would never have waited otherwise.’ It sickens me how easily lies roll off my tongue now.
He nods. ‘The thing is, after his attack, he would be considered a high priority. Did you not realise that?’
My cheeks burn. ‘Yes, I just…the last I heard was that there was another attack, so you thought it was the same person who attacked Max.’
‘We try not to jump to conclusions.’
‘I feel terrible.’ I study the police officer’s face, but there’s no way to tell if he believes me.
He doesn’t reply.
I answer the rest of his questions. Tell him how worried I am. That of course Max and I haven’t argued, or had any problems in our marriage. And all the while I bury my guilt that I’m lying about everything, and Max is out there somewhere, safe enough to possibly be sending me threatening messages.
When PC Adams is happy he has all the information he needs, he asks if he can check the house. And with his words, my body freezes as the realisation dawns on me that Max could have got the driver of the Golf to steal the key card so he can hide it somewhere. In my things. So there’s no doubt who it belongs to. With everything that’s happened, my mind pushed it aside, but I’m convinced Max is the one who found it.
