The Stranger in My Bed: An utterly gripping psychological thriller
Page 20
‘For me?’ Freya looked stunned. ‘I’ve no idea why anyone would leave me threatening letters. You should have told me, Phil. It’s more evidence that someone has a grudge against one of us. This person could be dangerous. I’m going to phone the police again, right away!’
50
Freya
The police came later that morning and were really concerned when they saw the letters. Phil insisted that he’d found them folded up on the mat by the front door, not in an envelope, as if they had been pushed through the letterbox, but Freya sensed he was lying. She was pretty sure that whoever had the key had walked in and left the letters, and that they were meant for Phil. And as she was the one who had found the back door open and not seen any notes, they must have left them in his study, maybe on his desk. That was probably why he had got a bolt for the back door because he knew that it wasn’t him accidentally leaving the door open, that someone had been coming in and he wanted to keep them out. Was it the same person who tried the door last night?
‘You should have told us about these sooner, sir. This is a serious situation. Someone tampered with the brakes of your car, and you are now receiving threatening letters.’ The police officer looked very grave. ‘If the sender is the same person who tried to enter your property tonight – and if they have been entering before – you could both be in real danger.’
‘They have a key too.’ Freya could feel herself trembling. ‘They can come in anytime.’
‘I suggest you consider getting the locks changed but in the meantime make sure you bolt both doors when you are in the house, especially at night-time.’ The second police officer looked up from the notes she’d just made. ‘As the letters were put through the door they could have been meant for either of you. Are you sure that you can’t think of anyone who might have a grudge against you?’
Freya shook her head. She could hardly believe this was actually happening. ‘We will definitely have the locks changed. I’m literally terrified by all this. I didn’t even know anything about the notes until today – Phil didn’t tell me as he didn’t want me to worry.’
‘And you, sir?’
Phil agitatedly rubbed the top of his arm. ‘I’m sorry, officer. I wish I could remember but, as you know, the last two years are a complete blank to me. It’s freaking me out, to be honest.’
When the police officers had gone, taking the notes with them, Phil turned to Freya, looking contrite. ‘I’m sorry for not telling you about the notes. Do you forgive me? I was only trying to protect you. I wasn’t sure if they were for you – I don’t know if you’ve upset a client at work, perhaps.’ He reached out and held her hand in his. ‘I would do anything to protect you, Freya. You’re everything to me.’
‘You should have told me, Phil. This affects both of us. I don’t want there to be secrets between us.’ As the words were out of her mouth, she realised how ironic they were, when she was keeping such a big secret from him. She had to tell him. He probably hadn’t told her the truth about the row with his family because he was ashamed, she told herself. But it was years ago, he had been young, and had been drinking – perhaps his brother had started it and Phil had lost his temper. Surely when he knew that his parents had forgiven him and were desperate to see him, he would be pleased and want to meet them? She took a deep breath. ‘Phil, I have to tell you something and I don’t want you to get mad…’
His eyes met hers. ‘Go ahead.’ His tone was quiet, measured. He was bracing himself for whatever it was she was about to tell him.
‘I met up with your mother yesterday.’
It was as if his face had turned to stone. She swallowed nervously at the steely glint in his eyes, the set of his jaw.
‘So you lied about having a meeting to go to?’
‘Not exactly, I just didn’t tell you who the meeting was with,’ she pointed out.
‘Why would you do that when I specifically told you not to have any further contact with my mother?’ His voice was ice-cold.
She fought to keep her voice steady. ‘She’s your mother, Phil, and she’s just found out that you almost died. I imagined how I would feel if I were her. I couldn’t just ignore her. So I unblocked her and replied to her message that she wasn’t to worry, you were on the mend, and explained that I was sorry but you didn’t want any contact with her.’
Phil stood motionless, his face like thunder, waiting for her to continue.
Freya swallowed. ‘Then she messaged back and begged me to meet her, said she had a message for you. So I did.’
‘You lied. You said you were going to a business meeting.’
‘To protect you. Like you lied about the notes to protect me.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘That isn’t the same.’
She continued quickly, before she lost her nerve. ‘She seems such a nice woman, and she’s so upset about not having any contact with you. And Phil…’ She lowered her tone, knowing that no matter how angry he was with his parents, he would be upset to hear that his father was dying. ‘Look, I don’t know how to tell you this. But your dad has cancer. And it’s terminal. He’s desperate to see you one more time before he dies.’ She reached out to hold his hand but he jerked it away from her.
‘I suppose she told you a pack of lies, said it was all my fault.’
‘She told me what happened but said she was sure you had lashed out in anger, not meaning to hurt your dad, and that she regretted telling you to go. She desperately wants to see you again, Phil.’
‘She’s twisting things, as usual, to protect her precious Graham. It was Graham who attacked me, then my father waded in. I was simply trying to get them both off me. I didn’t attack my father, they both attacked me. Did she tell you that?’
Freya was surprised at his attitude. She’d expected him to be upset that his father was dying. ‘Phil, your father is dying. And your parents are desperate to see you. They both want to make it up with you.’
Phil clenched his fists. ‘They can never make it up to me. They made their choice: they chose Graham, like they always did. I went back the next day, to apologise and ask how Dad was, but Graham told me they never wanted to see me again.’ Anger blazed in his eyes. ‘My parents have been dead to me a long time, as I have been to them. So no, I will not meet up with them. Please never mention this to me again.’
Freya watched wordlessly as he turned and walked away. He looked so cold, so distant, and she remembered times he had been like that with her too, but she had thought he had changed. Now she realised he hadn’t. His father was dying and he didn’t care. It had been nearly three weeks since the accident and Phil had shown several signs of his old anger, and now this. As soon as Phil has had his check-up at the hospital and been given the all-clear, I’m leaving him, she decided. Before he completely loses his temper.
51
Phil
White-hot rage surged through him. How dare Freya defy him when he had specifically asked her not to have any contact with his mother? Did she always do this? Is that what had caused their argument the night of the accident? Freya said he’d booked a holiday without checking with her first and was annoyed because she said she couldn’t get away from work. But he only had her word for it. He hadn’t been able to find any trace of the holiday. She could be lying, twisting things like Marianne used to do. He might not be able to remember his marriage to Freya but he could remember his first marriage to Marianne. She was always nagging, prodding him, nothing was ever good enough for her, and then he’d discovered that she’d been having an affair and the son he had loved so much wasn’t really his. Marianne had manipulated him, lied to him. Then she had upped and left without as much as a goodbye, probably moved in with her new man. He’d been well rid of her.
He walked into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water and went outside, sitting down on the bench in the garden. He felt like a stranger living someone else’s life. His wife, house and job were all the same but everything else was different. He might have been having a
n affair with his wife’s sister, who was now pregnant, and someone had tried to kill him, was still after him. And he had no idea why.
He put the glass down on the table and buried his head in his hands. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare, longed to feel like he had some control of his life again.
How do you know it’s you they’re after?
There it was again, the question that kept niggling him. He raised his head and considered it properly. As the notes had been left on his desk, he had presumed they were meant for him, even though he had pretended otherwise to Freya, but the intruder might have thought it was Freya’s desk. And the police had already said that whoever had tampered with the brakes of the car could have been intending to hurt either of them. It could have been Freya who’d got into the car and drove off that night.
He got to his feet and paced around as the thoughts took root, trying to make sense of it all.
Freya said that he had abused her, several times. But Daisy had said he’d told her that Freya was abusing him. And she seemed to have believed that until Freya had convinced her otherwise. Freya could have been lying. Phil might have turned to Daisy because he hadn’t known what to do, hadn’t wanted to hit back but couldn’t stop Freya lashing out. Even Freya’s mother had telephoned him, concerned for his wellbeing.
Maybe he did have an affair with Daisy but only because Freya had driven him to it, then Freya had found out about it and was so furious she had tampered with the brakes of his car out of revenge. The idea was taking flight now, making more sense as he explored it. He didn’t even know if there was an intruder – he hadn’t seen one. He’d found the back door open one morning, and there was the day he had gone for a walk, leaving Freya working upstairs, and come back to find the kitchen flooded. He hadn’t heard someone put a key in the lock, or seen someone out in the garden.
Freya could be manipulating him, pretending someone was out to get him. She could have left the notes. Maybe this was all payback because she had found out about the affair. And now she was contacting his parents, probably telling them how abusive he was. Telling everyone. And he had no memory of the last two years, so how could he deny it? Freya could tell him anything and he wouldn’t know if it was a lie or not.
He paced around the garden, thoughts whirring in his mind. He had to be careful, very careful. He shouldn’t just believe what Freya told him. He had no idea what their marriage had been like. Freya could be a danger to him. He had to keep his wits about him. He clenched his fists so tight he could feel his nails digging into the palms of his hands. If Freya had been lying to him, was tricking him, she would regret it. He’d make sure of that.
52
Daisy
Thursday
Daisy felt so nauseous, so exhausted, that it was all she could do to drag herself out of bed and get the twins ready for school. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep. She wished to God she had never said anything to Phil. Why the hell hadn’t she left things alone? Because he might have been faking his memory loss, or it might have come back – you needed to be sure.
Well, she knew for certain that he wasn’t faking it – the look of disgust on his face when he’d realised she’d been telling the truth about their affair replayed in her mind, making her sick to the core. She’d cheated on her husband for him, betrayed her sister, and all the time the bastard had been playing her. She wished he had died in that crash. She sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, trying to summon up the strength to get through the day.
‘Go back to bed, Daisy, you look exhausted. I’ll take the twins to school and phone up the surgery, let them know that you’re too sick to come in.’ There was such a tender look in Mark’s eyes that she wanted to weep, to get down on her knees and beg for his forgiveness, but she stopped herself because she knew that Mark could never find out how she had betrayed him. The truth would destroy him. She wished she could be sure that Phil wouldn’t tell him. She shook the worry from her mind. Of course he wouldn’t; Phil wouldn’t risk losing Freya.
But what if Freya left him? If Phil was violent towards her again, she was sure that her sister would walk out; she’d be mad not to. Freya had told her she’d have left Phil already, if it hadn’t been for his accident. If Freya did leave him, Phil would have nothing to lose then and could easily tell Mark out of spite.
God, it would have been a lot simpler if Phil had died in that crash, then she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone finding out.
‘Cheer up, love.’ Mark wound his arms around her, hugging her to him. ‘Are you fretting about the baby? There’s no need to. We can manage, I promise you.’
Daisy nestled into him. ‘We’re struggling as it is,’ she mumbled.
‘We’ll be fine.’ Mark lifted up her chin with his finger so that she was looking at him. ‘I love you, Daisy. I would do anything for you. Do you love me?’
She nodded, tears springing to her eyes. She did, so very much. She wished she had realised that before, instead of cheating on him.
‘Then nothing else matters. Do you hear me?’ His hazel eyes were holding hers, as if there was a hidden message inside them. ‘Nothing matters as long as we love each other and are together, do you understand?’
Was he saying…? No, he couldn’t be. He couldn’t know about her and Phil. Yet there was something about the way he was looking at her that made her wonder.
‘I know we lost our way a bit – we were both working so hard, and the twins… it’s been a difficult few years for us but it’s over now. The twins are at school, I’ve got a promotion and life’s easier. This baby can be a new start for us, it can bring us back together, if we allow it to.’
He seemed so earnest, so happy about the baby she almost choked on her tears. ‘Mark…’
He put his finger on her lips. ‘Shhh. It doesn’t matter. I’ve told you, all that matters is that me and you are together.’ He pulled her head into his chest, caressing her hair. ‘I love you so much, Daisy. Always have, always will. Now you go back to bed and I’ll take the twins to school and phone work for you.’ His hands moved down to her shoulders, softly massaging them. ‘I want you to take today to rest, to come to terms with the baby, to accept that the past is done and that I love you.’
He did know! She jerked her head up, staring into his face.
‘Will you do that?’ he asked softly, and all she could do was nod, tears spilling down her face.
She let Mark lead her back to bed and pull the cover over her, then he shouted out to the twins to get ready. Half an hour later he came up with a cup of tea and the twins, dressed and ready for school. He put the cup down on the bedside table then kissed her on the forehead and told her to rest. Both children kissed her goodbye and happily went off with their father.
Daisy sat up, sipped her tea and told herself that she didn’t deserve Mark, but she was going to put this right and be a good wife to him. Like Mark had said, she had to come to terms with the past and live for their future. And that’s what she intended to do.
53
Freya
Phil had barely spoken to her all evening or this morning. It was obvious that he was still annoyed with her because she had met his mother. He had that set look on his face that she had learnt to dread, so Freya shut herself in her study to work, hoping he would come to terms with it, not wanting to say or do anything to make the situation worse. She wondered if she should have done as he had said and ignored his mother’s message. They were his parents after all, not hers – how would she have felt if she had told him that she didn’t want anything to do with her parents and he had ignored her? But then she kept reminding herself that Phil’s father was dying. What if she hadn’t told him and then he found out later? He might have blamed her then, been angry that she didn’t give him the chance to say goodbye.
And if she hadn’t met Phil’s mum, she wouldn’t know the truth of what had happened, and that Phil had always had a temper. She would have still thought that it was all her fault. She was
angry about that. And angry that Phil had kept from her that someone had been sneaking into the house and leaving notes. What else had happened that she didn’t know about? Had he remembered more than he was letting on? Was he playing her, trying to keep her sympathy for him and all the time concealing something terrible that he’d done? So terrible that the person he had hurt wanted him dead? She had to have this out with him, stand her ground, she decided, instead of hiding away upstairs as if it was her in the wrong.
Daisy’s words flashed across her mind. ‘Be careful, Freya. You can’t be sure that Phil has changed. At the first sign of him being abusive, get yourself out of there.’
She would be careful. And yes, if Phil raised a hand to her again, she would leave and never come back, never mind waiting for him to get the all-clear from the hospital.
She went downstairs; no sign of Phil in the lounge, kitchen or garden, so she went to his study. He was sitting at his desk, staring at a sheet of paper. He must have heard her come in but he made no acknowledgement of that. She bit her lip as he determinedly ignored her, concentrating on reading the papers in his hand. She had to bite the bullet. Keep calm, she told herself. She coughed. Phil’s eyes remained glued to the paper.
‘Phil. Can we talk?’
His eyes slid up to her face and the coldness in them made her stomach turn to ice. ‘I don’t think we have anything to talk about, do you?’
She couldn’t speak for a moment, unsure of what to say. Don’t let him do this to you, she told herself. ‘Yes, actually, I do. I’m sorry I went behind your back to meet your mother but it was with the best of intentions. Please can we not fall out over this? There’s so much other stuff we need to figure out.’