I can hear his breathing change. “How?”
“Apparently, someone recognized him being there and reported it. The police are on their way there now to look at the CCTV.”
“Shit!” he says.
I should tell him that I’m hoping I’ve deleted all trace of him, but I don’t want to let him off the hook just yet.
“They’ll see me walking in,” he says, without any regard for me. I wonder if that’s because he knows that I’m innocent. But he can only truly know that if he knows he’s guilty.
“I need you to tell me what happened,” I say. “I don’t know what to think anymore. Every passing second brings another piece of evidence against me and the only person who could possibly be behind it is…” I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence.
“Is me?” he says, almost inaudibly.
“Well, yes, but I don’t know why. I mean, even if you thought Jacob and I were having an affair and you’d done something, would you really go out of your way to blame it on me?”
“Do you honestly think I’m capable of doing something like that?” he chokes out.
“I just don’t fucking know anymore,” I say, truthfully.
“Naomi, we were making love just a few nights ago.”
“And look how that turned out,” I cry.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asks.
“A video of it ends up on my computer,” I shrill. “And I can’t help but wonder why you’d reject my advances in the kitchen and then half an hour later have a change of heart and come down to the office in the garden to seduce me. Did you need that time to arrange for whoever it was to film us?”
He exhales heavily, sending a whistling down the line.
“Well, did you?” I shout.
“I’d just come from seeing you in a hotel bar with another man,” he sighs, sounding at the end of his tether. “Knowing that you’d barefaced lied about it. Is it any wonder that I was reluctant to make love to you?”
“So what happened in that half hour to change your mind?” I ask, pressing for an answer that gives me just the flimsiest of reasons to believe him.
“What happened,” he says, “was that I decided that no matter what, I loved you and wasn’t prepared to lose you.”
A crack runs down the length of my heart.
“Though if the police see the CCTV from the hotel, I think that’s already sealed our fate.”
“I’ve deleted it,” I almost cry out, hoping that by saying it quickly it will not incriminate me.
“You’ve what?” he rasps.
“I went to the hotel, spoke to Andy and deleted everything with you or me in it.”
“Jesus,” he exhales. “Why would you think that was a good idea?”
“Because I’m innocent, and I knew if they saw me and Jacob in the bar, it would give them everything they need to charge me. But what I didn’t expect to see was you. What was I supposed to do, leave you on it and feed you to the lions?”
“But even if you’ve been successful, there’s going to be chunks of time missing on the videos and when the police ask Andy why, he’s going to tell them it was you.”
“He might not,” I say, though I already know that while he may be a good friend, he’s too career-minded to say anything other than the truth if asked. He’ll know that I was left alone with the CCTV for long enough to destroy the evidence. He’ll assume I’m guilty. I would.
“I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get ourselves out of this,” says Leon. “But if we can, the only way we’re going to do it is by sticking together.”
23
I wish I could believe him, but as much as it pains me, I still don’t know if I can trust him, so until I’m sure that I can, I have to do what I’ve got to do on my own.
“Oh,” says Shelley, when she opens her front door to me ten minutes later.
“Hey,” I say. “Have you got a minute?” I look at her, pleading for leniency.
“Naomi, I—” she starts, showing no sign of inviting me in. I wouldn’t rush either, if she’d used me as an alibi for something she clearly didn’t do.
“Please,” I beg.
She hesitates a split second before standing aside and beckoning me in.
“Tea?” she offers, though it’s obvious that every fiber in her being wants me to say no.
I nod. “Thank you.”
“Is everything set for this afternoon?” she asks, filling the kettle under the tap.
“I think so.”
“I guess it’s been a real strain on Leon,” she moots.
“It’s definitely taken its toll,” I say, feeling like I might cry. “But I’m sure everything will calm down once the concert’s out of the way.” If only that were true.
“So, do you want to talk about the elephant in the room,” she says.
I swallow. “I’m sorry for putting you in that position the other night.”
“I was surprised, to say the least,” she says, looking at me disapprovingly. “I like Leon and I don’t want to be your alibi if you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s not like that.”
“Well, what’s going on then?”
I sigh. “It’s a very long story and not something that I gave a second’s thought to at the time, but…”
She looks at me with raised eyebrows, waiting for me to go on.
“But if I’d known that telling a tiny white lie would lead to this…” I shrug my shoulders, looking around hopelessly. “Then I would never…”
Despite trying desperately hard not to, I can’t stop my eyes filling up with tears, and Shelley comes and puts her arm around me.
“What on earth’s happened?” she asks.
“I can’t go into it because I don’t want you to be in any way involved, but you have to trust me that I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You’re scaring me,” she says, wide-eyed.
“It’s going to be fine,” I say. “But I need your help.”
“O-kay,” she says, hesitantly.
“Is there a woman in your choir called Vanessa Talbot?”
She looks beyond confused, her eyes silently questioning me. “It could be Ness,” she says. “But I don’t know her surname.”
“Do you know anything about her?” I ask. “Is she married? Does she have children?”
She looks away, almost embarrassed. “I only know she’s married because there’s been talk of her having an affair.”
My chest tightens. “Recently?” I ask.
Shelley nods. “A couple of months ago,” she says. “And as you can imagine, it caused quite the scandal. In fact, I haven’t seen her since.”
“Do you happen to have her phone number?” I ask.
“I really don’t know her that well,” she says, thinking. “Though we are all on a WhatsApp group.”
She reaches for her phone on the countertop. “Are you able to tell me why you need to get in touch with her?”
I make a face. “I promise I’ll explain, but right now, I just need to find her.”
“Oh my god, do you think something’s happened?” I watch as Shelley’s brow becomes more and more furrowed as she scrolls through her screen. “The last time she put anything on the chat was over a month ago.”
“If you can let me have her number, I’ll check she’s OK.”
She reads it out and I add “Ness” to my contacts, feeling a little more in control, now that I might be closing in on whoever’s doing this to me.
I’m about to put my phone back in my bag when an unknown number shows up on the screen. I hesitate, not knowing whether I want to have a conversation with whoever it might be right now, but then I wonder if it might be Anna calling from another phone and I immediately feel the need to pick up.
“Hello.” There’s nothing but silence at the other end. “Hello…?” I say again.
“Naomi?” comes a quiet voice. “Is that you?”
It sounds a lot like Anna, but something’s not quite right.
“Yes, who’s this?”
“It’s me,” the woman says in a hushed voice. “Jennifer.”
The air rushes out of me and I collapse onto the floor as the shock sends adrenaline through my body, rendering my legs useless.
“Jen?” I croak.
“Yes,” she says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to just call you out of the blue, but I’ve been to see Aunt Meryl and I knew if I left my number with her, you’d never call me. I don’t blame you, not after last time.”