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‘Nash says he dropped it off with you when I wasn’t in?’
‘Well, he didn’t. If he’d given me your bag, I’d have handed it over to you at the next art class.’
I nodded. ‘I know you would. It’s so weird.’
She laughed. ‘Are you sure he hadn’t had one too many whiskeys? Maybe he justimaginedhe’d given me your bag.’
‘Weird.’
And it really was. Had Nash been lying about it, then? But why? He’d gone to a lot of trouble to track me down, but according to him, it was because he wanted to make sure I was okay, and to return my belongings. But maybe the ‘good guy’ act was all just for Shirley’s benefit?
Or was it Janey who was the liar? She always came across as sunny and friendly, and it was hard to believe she might have a dark side. But maybe everyone did.
My head was spinning. I felt more unsettled than ever now, not knowing who I could trust.
‘How’s things with Skye?’ Janey asked. ‘Is she still kicking her shoes off in the hall when she gets in and leaving them there for you to trip over?’
‘Actually, she’s gone to stay at Ada’s... our mother’s house. So I’ve got the place to myself again.’
Afterwards, I thought about Skye and how irritating it had been at times, having her sharing my space. But how, now that she’d gone, I was really missing her company...
*****
After the call, I busied myself making dinner, although I only managed to eat half of the fish pie. It was one of my favourites but my appetite seemed to have vanished along with my certainty.
Who could I trust when all these weird things were happening to me?
I was at a loss to know and it wasn’t a good feeling.
When the buzzer sounded around seven, just as the light was fading, it was almost as if I had been expecting it. I sat there on the sofa, determined to ignore it, and whoever it was buzzed another three times in quick succession.
At the same time, though, I was desperate to know who it was.
And then I heard a rattling sound.
My heart in my mouth, I paused the TV and listened. And there it was again. A rattling, like stones being thrown at a window. My bedroom window. I crept next door and – leaving the lights off – went to the window and peered out over the back garden.
Fear surged into my chest, stopping my breath.
A dark figure was standing there, in the centre of the lawn, staring up at me.
Instinctively, I stepped back from the window and hid behind the curtain, peering through the narrowest of gaps. But I couldn’t see the face properly in the gloom.
I reached for my phone in my pocket. It was time to call the police for help... to report an intruder in my garden...
And then suddenly, the figure moved and the face came into view. He waved up at me.
It was Lance!
A feeling of sheer relief rushed through me.
I hurried to the door . . .
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
‘Come up, Lance,’ I gasped into the handset, letting him in when he buzzed again. ‘Thank goodness it’s you. I just didn’t know...’
‘On my way up,’ came the reassuring reply. ‘Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.’
