Kate wondered whether his whore knew he simply rotated them, only sending them to the dry cleaners once every couple of months.
Dangling down from the single hook on the back of the bedroom door, by virtue of one of the belt loops, were his trousers. Kate reached into the right pocket, but only fished out his card wallet, and a search of the left proved similarly fruitless; only yielding some loose change. Starting to panic, she crossed the landing with the intention of going back downstairs to check his jacket, which he always hung up by the front door, along with his coat.
But she stopped mid-way; horror dawning.
‘Ah, you caught me,’ Scott said as Kate peered around the bathroom door. ‘I promise, I’ve just got two more emails to send and then I will start relaxing.’
Kate suddenly found her mouth too dry to speak properly. ‘Why don’t I wait, and I can remove temptation from you once you’re done,’ she croaked, before wagging a finger as she regained her composure. ‘I know what you’re like.’
‘Look, I promise you can punish me later but I need to keep it with me because the boss…’
Kate’s mind tuned out the rest of the sentence, such was the fury that coursed through her system. Sure, she might be able to find other opportunities to get his phone that evening, but it was just so fucking typical that, like with the shower this morning, Scott had managed to inadvertently conjure another stay of execution.
‘I think I can smell the onions burning,’ she lied weakly, heading back to the stairs and muttering various curses under her breath as she returned to the kitchen.
The sight of the pan’s contents invoked an entirely different reaction this time, and it was only after hanging her head in the sink for a moment that she began to feel the nausea subside. The anger from upstairs had been replaced by disgust of what she might have to go through before she got another chance to find the proof she required to confront Scott. This whole romantic evening ruse had been deliberately constructed to highlight what he would be missing as a result of his abominable actions. It was only meant to serve as a cruel contrast to the perfunctory intercourse of the morning, and at no point had Kate contemplated that she might have to see the evening through.
But what choice did she have now? It would be one thing to hit him with allegations as soon as he had walked through the front door, but she would appear entirely crazy if she confronted him now, without having discovered anything in the meantime. Not only would he fiercely deny his infidelity but he could use the events so far this evening to claim that she was having some form of a breakdown, and that her accusations were a delusion stemming from it.
As Kate slumped down onto the kitchen floor, she bit her arm to stifle the sounds of her sobbing.
Chapter Fourteen
‘Let’s grab a pint in here,’ Lexie said as they approached The Duke of Marlborough pub at the bottom of Holywell Hill. She wanted to use the vantage point of the benches at the front to scope out St. Albans Abbey station and knew her companions would relax more if she could get a couple of beers in them.
‘In a few days we’ll be sat outside drinking somewhere far warmer than this,’ she said cheerfully but only receiving a few murmurs of agreement in response. ‘I bet it’s still well into the twenties at this time of year on the Spanish coast.’
‘What’s stopping us going right now?’ Cole piped up after taking a long, slow draft of his lager. ‘I mean, we have enough to get us there and rent us a place for a while.’
‘And then what? We’d be in the same position as we are here, and everything we’ve done will have been for nothing. Unless you plan on getting a job or something?’
‘Fuck that for a laugh,’ Jordan responded, lighting a cigarette; his drink as yet untouched. ‘You think I’m going to be out there pulling pints for some pissed up Brits. Not unless I own the bar, that is, and what goes in the till is mine.’
‘How much do you think it would cost to buy a place? I hear property’s dirt cheap out there?’ Taylor asked.
‘More than we’ve got, but that’s my point,’ Lexie answered. ‘If we can do this last job and do it well, there’s nothing to stop us getting set up out there. I think a bar is a brilliant idea, assuming that we don’t just end up drinking the profits.’ The laughter this provoked indicated to Lexie that they were starting to be won round. Not that she had any intention of doing any such thing, at least not with these losers. In fact, the idea of ripping them off once all this was over was becoming increasingly attractive. The question was whether she should do it here and risk Cole grassing her up, or do it out there and have Jordan hunting for her. It wasn’t just his size, and the ease with which he had subdued those people they’d robbed that scared her; lately he was showing far more in the way of brains than she had given him credit for. Perhaps electing not to scam him wouldn’t just be about self-preservation; there might be something to be gained from having him tag along.
As well as using the next few days to plan the job properly, she would need to give him something that would make him reconsider where his loyalties lay. As Lexie studied Jordan across the table, the more she thought about it, the less unappealing the idea became. ‘Let’s have one more here and then head back to the house.’
Chapter Fifteen
‘I’ll open another bottle of wine,’ Kate said, already heading to the kitchen.
‘We’ve both got work in the morning’ Scott replied, draining the last of his glass. ‘Besides, I thought we were going to have an early night.’
Kate did her best to hide her shudder. She had started drinking whilst Scott had still been in the bath, in an effort to calm herself down. Continuing at a steady pace since then, she had consumed the majority of the two bottles that now sat empty on the coffee table. Her suggestion they begin a third was as much about buying herself some more time as it was dulling her senses. Perhaps she could pretend to pass out on the sofa. Even if Scott carried her to bed, she would have the perfect excuse for not having to engage in the sort of activity which, along with the combined effects of the disgusting stew she’d made and the wine beginning to sour her stomach, was likely to see her vomit. ‘Why end such a lovely evening so soon?’ she responded as cheerily as she could.
‘Is anything the matter?’ Scott asked, now standing in the kitchen doorway.
Such an innocent sounding question; caring even, but one that Kate dare not answer. All the alcohol had done was conspire to amplify the feelings of hatred towards her husband and it would take all her strength not to blurt out what she knew to be true. The process of unburdening herself, irrespective of his reaction, would be enough to justify her impatience. But then what? a voice in her head demanded. He’s hardly likely to leave whilst he can still effectively deny your claims. What will you do then? Go and sleep on the sofa like this is just some tiff?
‘Fine then!’
‘Excuse me?’
Kate looked at Scott in horror, realising that she had answered the voice out loud. ‘I said I’m fine,’ she replied nervously, wondering whether she was going mad after all, and seeing that he was similarly unconvinced. ‘Perhaps you’re right and it’s best we turn in for the night.’
‘Atta girl,’ Scott responded enthusiastically. ‘I promise you, I can take your mind off whatever is bothering you.’ He held his hand and, helplessly, Kate took it.
* * *
Scott was already asleep by the time she returned from the en-suite. With the towel still wrapped around her, Kate got back into bed, praying that she wouldn’t disturb him. He had tried to make good on his claim that he could put her at ease, being more attentive to her physically than he had been in months. The appreciative noises she had made were initially fake, in the hope it might speed up the process, but her body began to conspire against her; deepening her sense of powerlessness and, after shuddering her way through an orgasm over which she had no control, it became a race between who would purge themselves first. Fortunately, Scott won and Kate had dashed to the bathroom whil
st he lay panting on the bed, having the foresight to switch on the shower before throwing up the contents of her stomach.
She had prepared an excuse for when she came out, sure that he would find her apparent need to wash immediately upon concluding their union concerning, and the relief with which she had greeted his gentle snoring had conspired to see her forget his phone.
Until now.
Kate crept around the bed to Scott’s side table. As sleepy as his exertions had made him, he still had found time to plug the phone into its charger. Silently decoupling it, she ensured she caught the cord as it fell to the floor, but her efforts to be as discreet as possible only increased her shock when the home screen lit up.
Her involuntary cry may have been little more than a whisper, but in the confines of the previously silent bedroom it sounded to Kate’s ears like a shout. She regarded Scott’s face, lit up in the glow of his phone, with horror – sure that his eyes would spring open at any moment. Much as this wasn’t part of the plan, Kate was ready for when they did. Being caught red handed would render any excuses on her part useless, but she would dash to the en-suite and lock herself in, and she would only emerge once she had found the evidence she now craved.
But Scott didn’t open his eyes, nor did he even stir, and Kate tiptoed out of the bedroom. If he’d elected to protect his phone’s contents with a passcode it might have caused some doubt in her mind, were it not for her eagerness to get into his messages.
Donna.
Kate had always hated the name, reasoning that there were few things worse to be named after than a kebab. If being top of the list, and thereby the person he had contacted most recently wasn’t enough to confirm she had been right all along, viewing the first message did. If Kate had not vomited recently, its contents would have seen her scrabbling for the bathroom, such was the explicit description Donna had given of what she would be doing to herself in Scott’s absence that night. But as distasteful as Kate found it, that was only the tip of the iceberg. Scrolling up through the messages flying back and forth, it seemed that Scott was similarly happy to enter into graphic discussions of a sexual nature.
‘Oh this is good,’ Kate muttered to herself, her disgust forgotten as she found an example where they had described a liaison on the office premises. Not only did it confirm that Donna was a colleague of his, but it would provide a useful bargaining tool should Scott try and make things difficult. Kate was about to start taking screen grabs when she noticed some messages from earlier that she had skipped past because they were so short.
I think I’m falling in love with you. Donna had written.
I feel the same.
Why don’t you move in with me then?
I want to but I need to find the right time.
Kate slid down the wall to sit on the floor. She was stunned. Whilst she had been certain that Scott had been having an affair, she never for one moment thought it was serious, especially with his recent appetite for rekindling their physical relationship. Rather than confirm her fears, searching his phone had shown things to be far worse than she could ever have imagined. She had wanted to kick him out but only to punish him; he deserved it, with him screwing around merely proving that he hadn’t put enough into their marriage. But now Kate knew that, far from punishing him, telling him to pack his bags would only be giving him what he wanted; something it seemed he was too cowardly to do of his own volition.
As tears began to fall silently down Kate’s cheeks, she had never felt more lost; more alone. Worst of all was the lack of control – on a night that was meant to be about her wresting back the power in their relationship. As far as she could make out; either way she was screwed. If she didn’t confront him about it now, then she would have to spend each day wondering whether she would come home to find his bags packed and him gone. Maybe if she begged him to stay, and promised that she would be a better wife to him, he would end it with Donna and they could try again.
But Kate wouldn’t do that now, she was too drained; too exhausted to put on the performance that was required. Instead she slipped silently back into the bedroom, reattaching Scott’s phone to the charger before getting into bed. Perhaps enticing him into having another lie-in might buy herself enough time to figure out how to ensure Scott never suspected her intentions. For it to work she would need him to believe that his affair remained a secret and it was only for positive reasons that she had resolved to make their marriage happier than it had ever been.
Resolving what to do may have brought Kate a shred of comfort as she drifted off into a sleep plagued with bad dreams, but that was more than outweighed by the disgust she felt with herself at having to be the person to turn this situation around.
Chapter Sixteen
‘Cooper, Knight – in here!’ DCI Nelson barked across CID barely ten minutes into the start of their working day.
What now? Ruby mouthed to her partner once Nelson was safely back within the confines of his office. The shrug this prompted from Cooper, an uncanny imitation of her previous partner’s standard gesture, provided some reassurance that they hadn’t done anything wrong, for which they were about to be admonished.
‘Parasites, the lot of them!’ Nelson stated from his chair.
‘Who do you mean, guv?’ Cooper asked, the conversational tone to his voice betrayed by the glance he shot Ruby; a look that suggested he had done his part and now it was her turn to take over.
‘The press, that’s who!’ Nelson shouted back. ‘That weasel Fincher has been sniffing around, claiming he wants to give us the heads-up on a story they’re considering running when all he really wants is to furnish it with a juicy quote from the Chief Information Officer.
‘You’ve still lost us, guv, what’s the matter?’ Ruby piped up.
Nelson sighed and rubbed his temples. ‘It’s as we feared; the similarities between the burglaries hasn’t gone unnoticed.’
‘Perhaps a public appeal will help catch them,’ she ventured hopefully.
‘You don’t believe that, do you?’
‘Like I said yesterday, if it were me, I’d go underground now.’
‘We’ll just hope you’re wrong then,’ Nelson responded flatly. ‘I’ve managed to buy us twenty-four hours. DSI Robson wasn’t exactly thrilled but…’
‘I bet not,’ Ruby interrupted. ‘Whilst it might give us one final opportunity to catch them in the act, if there is another attack and we haven’t stopped it…’ She didn’t finish her sentence because she could see from the look on Nelson’s face that he fully understood the risks involved.
‘We had just better make sure we get them then,’ he said solemnly before brightening up. ‘I did ask Robson if he could spare some extra resources, but he’s worried a big operation will only add fuel to what the press will say.’
‘Perhaps Ruby and I will make any operation tonight irrelevant,’ Cooper said, standing up.
‘Hmmm,’ Nelson responded, waving his hand dismissively.
‘What did you do that for?’ Ruby said once she and Cooper were safely out of earshot. ‘Raising his expectations when we are nowhere near to identifying any suspects.’
‘He did seem rather stressed, didn’t he?’
Ruby was less taken back by the words themselves, more the gleeful way they were delivered. ‘I don’t understand,’ she confessed.
‘Well, firstly, see how quickly I managed to get us out of the office and, second, I reckon he’s going to leave us to get on with it in the hope we might uncover something.’
‘Okay,’ Ruby replied uncertainly. ‘But I need to text Danny before we get started. Call me pessimistic but I reckon we’re going to be spending this evening sat frozen in a car somewhere near the station.’
Chapter Seventeen
Lexie could hear one of the house’s occupants in the kitchen below. She had been awake for over an hour but had remained in bed; wishing to avoid her housemates until she had managed to think everything through. Another pint in the Duke of Marlborough
had turned into five and she had just about managed to get the boys out of there before things got too raucous. But compared to what had happened later, some course language and the odd broken glass was the least of her worries. Figuring she would make her move on Jordan, Lexie had suggested they go home via the off-licence to stock up on supplies. She had little intention of drinking any more but trusted that Taylor and Cole would get smashed enough that she would have Jordan all to herself.
Everything seemed to be going according to plan until Taylor made a pass at her, leaning in to snog her. Lexie thought she could deal with it with minimal fuss and, crucially, without denting Taylor’s ego too much, but Cole had witnessed it and proceeded to rip the piss. What had started out as drunken banter had turned into a punch-up once Cole suggested that Taylor cosying up to Lexie was symptomatic of what a jumped-up prick he had become lately, and it had required Jordan’s intervention to prevent one of them becoming hospitalised.
Even if the incident hadn’t left Lexie feeling far from amorous, she didn’t want to risk shattering the group dynamic by getting together with Jordan. She just needed them to hold together for a little while longer and, having insisted they all turn in for the night, had set about accelerating her plans for one final job.
Daring not leave them to their own devices any longer, Lexie found not one, but two of her housemates in the kitchen. Taylor and Cole were moving around as though the other wasn’t there and when they reached for the milk at the same time there followed a stand-off that Lexie feared might result in a resumption of last night’s hostilities. ‘I’ll have it then, you pair of twats,’ she said venomously, reaching between them and grabbing the carton.
Lexie risked leaving them for a moment to holler up the stairs. ‘Are you up yet Jordan? I need you down in two minutes so we can sort a plan of action.’ The creaking of floorboards above confirmed that if he wasn’t awake before, he was now. ‘You two, grab your shit and follow me,’ she ordered, turning back to Taylor and Cole.
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