I realised as I stared at the space in front of me that there was no point in harbouring any sentimental thoughts I may have had about Daniel and his love for me. This was a blatant declaration of war and I needed to toughen up if I was going to survive, let alone win.
Time was not on my side. My appointment with a solicitor was scheduled in two days. My brother had called a friend of his who was a top divorce lawyer for advice and she had confirmed that I would need to take in as much information about our finances as possible, both joint and individual, so that my solicitor would have something to build my case with. I realised in dismay that I was going to be heading to that initial meeting with nothing but a few vague notes I had scribbled on a piece of paper. I had a horrible feeling I was going to look like a complete idiot, who deserved everything she got.
I couldn’t face being alone in the house so, when Frieda called, I jumped at the chance to go round for dinner with her and James and stay the night. James was a great cook, although I decided I had better wear something loose as he was renowned for over-catering and the food was always too good to resist. Tom, their son and my mast man on the boat for the last couple of years (Team Bow we called ourselves), came to pick me up and, without saying anything, enveloped me in a massive bear hug. Tom and the rest of our crew had all walked off the boat in a touching demonstration of loyalty the minute they found out what Daniel had done, vowing never to sail with him again.
‘Come on then,’ Tom said, opening the car door for me. ‘Dad’s catered for at least thirty, so I hope you’re hungry! You look great, by the way.’
I adored Tom and his younger sister Alexandra, having known them since they were little kids, so I was delighted to find Alex, who lived nearby with her fiancé, was coming round to join us for the evening. Frieda had also invited Neil and Gwen for added moral support. They had all been part of the old crowd from the sailing club when Daniel was with Julia, and the six of them had been great friends. Like Frieda and James, Neil and Gwen had been disgusted to hear the news of Daniel’s horrendous betrayal and shunned him immediately, calling me as soon as they found out to offer their support. As the evening progressed, the alcohol was doing a great job of numbing the pain and, to my surprise, I was actually able to find humour in the outrageous absurdity of the whole situation. As I looked around the table at the smiling, laughing faces of the friends who were all rooting for me, I felt incredibly grateful and suddenly felt I would get through this.
That was the night Little Miss Turbine was born. Her main mission was to honey trap Daniel (aka Rotorvator) on the flying forum he was a member of and pump him for information. Daniel had told me about the forum in the past and I remembered how I had laughed at the ridiculous name he had given himself, to his great irritation. Tom and Alex came up with the idea of joining the forum, basically to stalk Daniel and gather information. It was a loosely planned idea, but it seemed as good a way as any to find out what he was up to, given that we all knew how Daniel loved to boast about what he had, how much it cost and what he was doing. The jury was out on just how useful it would ultimately prove to be, but at least we were having some fun playing detectives.
After dinner, the three of us grabbed a laptop and hurriedly set up Little Miss Turbine’s account on the forum, going with Alex’s inspired suggestion of Dickhead 1 for the password, which seemed fitting. Little Miss Turbine wasted no time in posting a ‘damsel in distress’ message, on the pretext of planning a first solo flight into the Oxfordshire area, asking for advice on landing grounds and places to stay nearby. Rotorvator was predictably quick to engage and responded with a lengthy, flirty message, offering to meet up and take our heroine to dinner. Tom, Alex and I looked at each other and burst out laughing, unable to believe how easily he had been reeled in. The problem was we had no idea how to continue Little Miss Turbine’s adventures, as the face to face meeting we had suggested was clearly out of the question. Still laughing, I picked up my drink and wandered through to the lounge to join the others, leaving Tom and Alex to ponder that one as they continued trawling through the messages on the forum.
I was actually gobsmacked. The email from Lorraine had been sent just a few days earlier and I had to believe that chaos reigned all around in the world of Daniel, yet there he was, large as life, apparently without a care in the world, looking for the next woman to prey on. Frieda had been a close friend of Daniel’s since their teenage days, but as I looked at her face I could see only disgust at his behaviour and the betrayal of their friendship. She shook her head in disbelief.
‘Unbelievable. He really is a piece of work. I’m afraid he’s pissed on his chips one time too many with me now. I’ve had it with him. I’m warning you though Grace, there’s a ruthless side to him. Remember what I told you years ago about how he treated Julia? I don’t know for sure whether he was physically violent, she would never admit it, but all the signs were there. He certainly tormented her relentlessly and messed with her head in a big way.’
‘I’ve always been wary of him,’ added Gwen. ‘I hated the way he cheated on Julia, flaunting it to all of us, as well as her. She was scared of him, I know that. The police were called out to their house on more than one occasion when neighbours reported a disturbance. I questioned her a few times about the bruises she sometimes had, but she always insisted they were accidental. He treated her appallingly and then turned on the charm with everyone else.’
‘Do you think that’s why she killed herself?’ I asked suddenly. I had never pushed the subject with any of them before.
‘We’ll never know I guess,’ said Frieda, sadly. ‘By the way, I noticed Niamh Ryan was mentioned in the email you got. I know for a fact she was one of the women Daniel was having an affair with. It was obvious he didn’t want to be with Julia, but he would never let her move on either. He was always ringing her and going round to see her after they split up, so she kept convincing herself they were getting back together, but it was just a control thing with him. When she finally saw the light and realised he was playing her for a fool, she couldn’t handle it and went to pieces completely. The worst of it was she was still totally besotted with him.’
‘Oh God, that’s so awful. The poor woman.’
‘Tell me about it. I was stuck in the middle,’ Frieda continued. ‘We had all been friends with Daniel for a long time, but it was obvious to all of us that he was no good for her. I told her she needed to stay away from him and make a clean break for her own sanity. I tried my best to support her, but I’ll never forgive myself for the fact that I didn’t see the suicide coming. Things were obviously worse than any of us realised.’
She paused at the memories of her friend and looked sadly at the picture of Julia on the wall, show jumping on her beloved Amber. I waited for her to continue, feeling uncomfortable and not knowing what to say.
‘Daniel stepped back completely after it happened…said it was his way of coping, but I’m not so sure. He just seemed to switch off, like he didn’t care…almost like Julia never existed. He took himself off somewhere with Niamh the week of her funeral, which infuriated me. He came back for a couple of hours to show his face after I had a go at him then disappeared again. That’s not normal behaviour when your wife is being buried, even if you are technically estranged.’
‘Well, he always was a tosser,’ said Neil, decisively. ‘He pissed off pretty much everyone around here by being such an arrogant twat,’ he added. ‘We all knew he didn’t give a shit about Julia. To be honest, I don’t know why any of us put up with him for as long as we did.’
‘So, how did he meet Niamh?’ I asked, hungry for information now.
‘She’s an artist,’ said Frieda. ‘Northern Irish, but moved to the Republic years ago and lives and works in Cork now, I believe. Daniel said he met her on a plane when he was going over to do a job in Ireland. They ended up buying a house together somewhere near Kinsale, I believe, but I assume that was sold before he married you.’
She paused a moment
, then added, ‘I would maybe check on that if I were you.’
I was already thinking back to a time when we were first married and Daniel went to do a sailing event in Ireland without me, as I had to work. He told me he was staying with ‘friends’ but, when I asked him about them, he was evasive.
‘Oh, you don’t know them,’ he had said, refusing to elaborate any further.
Did he stay with Niamh? In their house near Kinsale? - There was so much I didn’t know.
My ‘to-do list’ was getting longer by the minute, but I felt that was a good thing. I needed to focus on that list and keep searching for information. The alternative was to go over and over what had happened in my head and to question everything about the life I thought I knew, the life I thought was mine. In a nutshell, I had been married to a stranger. A man I did not know at all. Our life together had been built on lies and deceit. Focusing on that would drag me down into the depths of despair and I was not going to let that happen.
Frieda’s was the voice of reason as always, with a cool, calm approach to everything.
‘On a practical note, you need to write a little plan each day of what you need to do,’ she continued. ‘Keep it small and achievable. Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey! We’ll do some searching as well and we can all compare notes about what we find out. A team effort!’
I nodded enthusiastically as Tom and Alex came through with a load of print outs of forum chats they thought may be useful. We decided it would be best for Little Miss Turbine to play hard to get and not reply to Daniel’s message. She could still be a great asset to the team however, by simply logging on each day and monitoring posts.
‘Are you going to be okay at the house by yourself Grace?’ asked Gwen, concerned.
‘Oh yes, I’ll be fine,’ I lied.
James looked at me reassuringly as he spoke.
‘You know you can stay here as long as you want, but I honestly think you need to get back to the house and stake your claim to it, so to speak.’
‘He’s got a point,’ agreed Neil. ‘Don’t give Tosser an inch of wiggle room or he’ll shaft you with the house. Remember it’s your home and you have rights.’
‘Just make sure you ring any of us if there’s a problem,’ added Gwen, as she and Neil left to go home.
They were all right about the house, of course - I thought to myself as I lay curled up on Frieda’s sofa later than night but, the truth was, I dreaded having to live there on my own. Daniel appeared to be holed up with The Whale, playing happy families for now, but what if he came back? I was clearly a nuisance factor, the same as Julia had been. What if he just wanted to get rid of me? Make me disappear? The house was isolated….
I laughed out loud at my own stupidity. I told myself firmly that I was being ridiculous, allowing my paranoid thoughts to run away with me, imagining myself in some kind of thriller movie. I needed to get a grip.
Tomorrow I would go home and prepare properly for my meeting with the solicitor.
It was time for me to take charge of the situation.
The mother of his child
Jane
Jane stood in the bedroom doorway and stared at Matthew and her son, asleep on the bed. Words could not describe how livid she felt with him, but she had forced herself to take a step back and think of the bigger picture. That email had been the biggest shock she had ever had in her life. She had always known he was married of course, but she had never for a second imagined there was a whole load of others lurking in the shadows, just waiting to pounce and spoil things for her. Everything she had worked towards for the last fifteen years had been put in jeopardy and she needed to think and act fast. She did not like being caught on the back foot.
She had called Matthew immediately of course and told him in no uncertain terms to get himself home. Home, as in the one where she lived, just to clarify. He had been sheepish and apologetic, but there had been no declaration of undying love for her, no rejection of all the others in favour of family life with her. He was pathetic and appeared to have no idea how to deal with the fallout from his colossal mess. She realised that she needed to take charge.
First, she dealt with the email. A curt reply to put that scheming bitch firmly in her place:
Lorraine,
I have no idea who you are or what kind of hold you think you have on my partner, Matthew. I suspect you are delusional and have created a relationship that does not exist from a stupid fling you once had.
A mistake.
I have a child with the man you are referring to and I can assure you he is wholly committed to us. In fact, he is here with me, the mother of his child, right now.
I would strongly advise you to check your facts more carefully before sending such spiteful nonsense, or you will be hearing from my solicitor regarding libel. Please do not contact me again.
Jane
That should do it, she thought as she pressed send. It was essential to present a united front for now, even though it was fake. Jane was no stranger to lies and deceit.
Next, she needed to deal with finances as a matter of urgency. There was almost certainly going to be a divorce on the cards and Jane did not want that bitch of a wife coming out of this well. She could see things turning into an almighty scrap before much longer and she had no intention of sharing anything if she could help it. She assembled all the paperwork she needed, starting with the Will.
She had insisted Matthew make a Will when Aaron was born and had seen to it that they were both well provided for in the event of his demise. She paused and wondered for a moment, as she often had done, what would have happened if he and the ‘bunny boiler’ had died as planned in that helicopter crash? It would all have been so much neater than the bun fight that was about to ensue. She needed to keep the Will safe as, in her opinion, Matthew had suddenly acquired a long list of enemies, many of whom would be more than justified in harbouring murderous thoughts towards him.
There was a problem with the Will, however, given that there was apparently another child. An older child. Jane clenched her fist so tightly her nails bit into the flesh of her palm, leaving red lines. She had to force herself to stay calm and think. The American woman Anita, and her kid Tara were thousands of miles away. He could not possibly have the same bond with Tara that he had with Aaron and surely it would be much harder for an American to stake any kind of claim in British courts. Jane was sure she still held the ace card, but there was no harm in taking out additional insurance. She decided after some deliberation to go after his car collection and set about coming up with an argument to convince him to sign at least some of them over to her. Once things were in her name, at least that bitch of a wife would not be able to snatch them in a divorce settlement. To her mind, it was a no-brainer.
So far as his business was concerned, there were more than a few loose ends to tie up there. She had started her own Life Coach company some time ago. Even she didn’t know what the fuck that really was when it was at home, but this latest trend seemed like an easy way to fleece people out of some money and she was quick to spot an opportunity and jump on the bandwagon. She was on Matthew’s company books as a ‘service provider’ which suited him as a way of easily transferring money to her for child support and hiding it from both his wife and the taxman. She had also made sure she got involved with his highly creative accounting at an early stage and consequently she now felt in a position to hold a gun to his head if necessary. Now that she knew about the American woman and her daughter though, she was more than a little concerned about the extent of Matthew’s state-side business interests and finances and also suspected there may be another Will lurking somewhere.
Jane was satisfied that she had dealt with the basics to salvage at least something from the mess, but there was still a hell of a lot to sort out. For the moment, she wanted Matthew living with her, where she could keep a close eye on his activities and protect her own interests, but she had no intention of that becoming a long term arrangement. She was hel
l-bent on making that lying bastard pay for humiliating her, but she would wait until the time was right. She was not sure yet exactly how she would make him pay, but one thing she was sure of was that Matthew/Daniel/whatever he chose to call himself had gone way too far this time.
Jane thought to herself that someone should have told him about Icarus. He flew too close to the sun. And look what happened to him.
The waiting game
Lorraine
Lorraine knew she had a massive advantage over all the women she had sent the email to. She was actually feeling pretty pleased with herself as she went about her daily business as normal, waiting for the replies to come in. Secretly, she was revelling in the power she suddenly had.
Predictably, John had been the first to get back to her. She despised him, the pathetic worm that he was. He had cried and snivelled on the phone to her, declaring her to be his soul mate, telling her she was the only one he had ever truly loved. He had begged her to forgive him and take him back so that they could presumably live happily ever after, now that he would be getting a divorce.
When he realised that wasn’t happening, he had started to panic about the vintage Bentley and the Porsche 911(the very one he had turned up in for their first date) that he had stashed in her garage, not to mention all the paperwork and other stuff he had in her house. When it finally sank in that she had absolutely no intention of allowing him back in the house, never mind letting him have any of his things back, he predictably turned nasty. In the end, she decided to cut him off completely and block his number to shut him up.
Lorraine had not been particularly surprised by the email she received from Jane. She looked like a hard-faced cow from the photos of her on John’s iPad and on social media. Clearly, she was prepared to stand by her man no matter what. More fool her.
Twenty Years a Stranger (The Stranger Series Book 1) Page 14