He's After Me

Chapter THIRTY-FOUR



I push open the lounge door, expecting to see Jem, but it’s my dad who’s standing there in front of the fire. My mouth goes dry.

‘What are you doing here?’ I say.

‘Anna!’ says Mum. ‘Your father’s come to bring you a present from New York.’

‘Look what I got!’ says Livi and shows me an iPad. ‘You’ve got one too.’

‘Wow!’ I take the shiny bag from his hand and peer inside. ‘That’s generous.’

‘They’re cheaper in the States,’ says Dad. ‘I was going to keep it for Christmas, but Jude said you’d need it for college.’

She would. I don’t know what to say. ‘Thanks.’

‘That’s all right.’ Dad smiles at me and I smile back, nervously. This must have been one of the bags I’d seen Jude clutching this morning.

As if she’s reading my mind, my mum says, ‘Your father had a bit of a shock when he arrived home this morning.’

Shut up, Mum, please. Just shut up.

I take the iPad out of the bag and make a show of examining it. ‘This is amazing, Dad. Thank you.’

‘Someone broke into his apartment while he was away!’ declares Livi excitedly.

‘Really?’ I can’t trust myself to look at Zoe. But then Livi asks, ‘Did they take much, Dad?’

‘Not a lot, as far as we can tell. My watch, some cash that was lying about, and a few personal items of Jude’s, that’s all.’

Zoe’s jaw drops in surprise as I feel the blood draining from my cheeks.

‘Your watch was stolen?’

‘Yes, the one your grandma bought me when I qualified. That’s the thing I’m mad about.’

‘That was probably the most expensive gift she’s ever bought anyone in her whole life,’ says Mum softly. ‘Don’t tell her, she’ll be upset.’

I think of my grandma, scrimping and saving to buy that expensive watch all those years ago for the high-achieving son she was so, so proud of, and I know I’m going to cry. It had to be Jem – there was no one else there, except me and him.

Zoe’s voice, hard with anger, rings out. ‘The bastard!’

‘Yes,’ agrees my mild-mannered mother. ‘I think that’s what we all feel, Zoe.’

‘He took cash too?’ asks Zoe.

‘Yep. About two hundred and fifty quid, that’s all. I don’t leave much lying about.’

I feel sick.

‘You mentioned a few personal items of Jude’s?’ prompts Mum.

‘Bits of jewellery – gold mainly. He knew what he was looking for, all right. Left all the cheaper bits. And … he took some clothing, actually. A top she’s particularly fond of.’ He looks a bit embarrassed. ‘And items of underwear.’

‘Yuck!’ says Livi, her little nose creased up in disgust. ‘Pervert!’

‘You said it!’ says Zoe.

‘Don’t worry, sweetheart,’ says Dad. ‘I’ve had the locks changed. He won’t be back.’

‘What did the police have to say?’ asks Mum.

‘The police! You called the police?’

‘Of course they did!’ Livi looks at me as if I’m stupid. ‘They got broken into, didn’t they?’

Dad gives a little laugh. ‘Actually, technically speaking, we didn’t. There’s no sign of a forced entry.’

‘So how did he get in then?’ asks Livi curiously. I stand there afraid to breathe. It’s all going to come out now. It’s pretty obvious.

I let him in.

‘We must’ve left the door open when we left for New York. An open invitation to burglars.’

Silence falls. ‘I find that hard to believe.’ Mum voices what we’re all thinking. Dad had an obsession for making sure our house was locked up every time we went out. Doors, windows, everything had to be secure. ‘I come into contact with the dregs of society on a daily basis,’ he used to say when we complained.

He shrugs. ‘I wasn’t the last one out that morning,’ he says and the unspoken feeling fills the room that this is all Jude’s fault, only Dad is too loyal to say.

Except Zoe and I know what really happened. I can feel her eyeballing me, openly hostile. Suddenly, understanding floods through me, filling my veins with its toxic truth.

She thinks I had something to do with this.

‘Anyway, there’s loads of things he didn’t take. Laptops, TV, Wii, iPods …’

‘I wonder why?’ says Mum.

‘The police think he was more interested in using the flat than stealing stuff. That’s the worst bit really. He’d been living in it while we were away, it’s obvious. He left it in a right mess. We think he had a woman there as well.’

‘How could you tell?’ Zoe’s voice is harsh.

‘Some items that were left …’

My washbag. My pants!

Fortunately my father is discreet. ‘It was obvious. They’d been eating our food, drinking our champagne, sleeping in our bed. He used my razor, she’d worn Jude’s clothes. That’s what freaks her out the most. She feels violated.’

‘I’m not surprised!’ Zoe growls in disgust. ‘Some creep going through your stuff!’

I look at her in alarm. She won’t say anything, will she?

Mum shivers. ‘Where is Jude now?’

‘Gone home to sleep at her parents’ house. She says she never wants to set foot in the place again.’ He looks gutted.

How ironic is that? All I ever wanted to hear was that he and Jude had separated. But I never meant it to happen this way. Even Mum looks sad.

‘It’s the shock,’ she says gently. ‘Give her time. She’ll get over it.’

Dad smiles at her gratefully. ‘The police think we surprised him, coming home when we did, and he had to make a quick getaway. They think he might have been watching us for a while, and took his opportunity when he saw us going off in a taxi with our cases. Probably thought we were away for a week or two.’

‘Aahh!’ Livi’s sharp intake of breath makes us all turn to look at her. ‘I’ve just remembered something. That time we stayed over at your flat, yeah? There was a bloke in the bus shelter opposite, watching us. Do you remember, Anna?’

‘Yes.’ Thank you, Livi, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for throwing them off the trail. ‘Yes, I do. Then I noticed him again later that night, and he was still there, watching the flat.’

‘You need to tell the police that, Dad. I bet it was him!’ shrieks my sister in excitement and nobody but me notices that Zoe gives a snort of derision.

‘I will. Did you get a good look at him?’

‘Not really.’ Livi’s face clouds with disappointment.

‘Don’t worry. There’ll be CCTV footage for them to look at.’

‘CCTV?’ I say, thunderstruck.

‘Yes. They’re studying it now.’

‘Well, I hope they find him,’ says Zoe venomously.

‘Didn’t the neighbours notice anything?’ asks Mum.

Dad gives a wry laugh. ‘You’re joking. I wouldn’t even know who my neighbours were.’

‘Lucky you,’ says Mum and they both laugh again. Even in my panic I can’t help noticing that, weirdly, they’re more relaxed in each other’s company than they have been for months. And I wonder if, just maybe, some little bit of good will come out of all this mess.

Then the front doorbell rings and all hell lets loose.