The One You Love (suspense mystery)

by Pilkington, Paul

  She held the phone close to her ear, breathing hard, waiting for the pick-up.

  It came on the sixth ring.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Dad?’ Emma said, completely dumbfounded. ‘I don’t understand.’

  36

  ‘He found it below the letter box,’ Emma said to Lizzy, trying to eat a piece of toast, but without much appetite. ‘Dan must have posted it through. Miranda heard it ringing and called dad. He picked it up.’

  ‘But why?’ Lizzy asked. ‘It doesn’t make sense. Why would he post his mobile phone through your dad’s letterbox?’

  Emma shrugged.

  ‘And that text message. It’s so strange, Em. Not just what he said, but the fact that he must have sent it whilst he was standing outside your dad’s house. Do you think Dan’s okay? Mentally I mean? You hear about people suddenly having some kind of breakdown, then walking out and spending the rest of their lives wandering around, hanging around bus stations.’

  ‘Don’t,’ Emma said, not wanting to think about Dan suffering like that. ‘Anyway, he seemed okay when he cancelled the wedding dress.’

  ‘You did say his voice was a little strange.’

  ‘Yes, but not that strange. I just want to know what he meant by that message. Does he think I hurt him? Have I hurt him?’

  ‘Not unless you’ve had an affair that you’re not telling me about,’ Lizzy said.

  Emma pondered some more.

  ‘Could the police do anything with the phone?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I don’t know, Lizzy said. ‘Check who he’s called since he went missing? He might also have some text messages saved in there too.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Emma said, ‘hadn’t thought of that. I’ll check it when I go round to Dad’s this afternoon.’

  ‘I meant give it to the police really.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘You really don’t like the police do you?’

  ‘I don’t trust them,’ Emma said. ‘Anyway, even if they did take a look at the phone, they’d have to ask me about the numbers. I’m saving them the bother.’

  ‘Your call,’ Lizzy said, holding her hands up. ‘So, are you looking forward to lunch at your dad’s?’

  ‘Not particularly,’ Emma admitted. ‘He’s probably going to go mad when I tell him I’ve met Stuart. He really hated him for walking out on me – made me promise that I’d never take him back.’

  ‘You’re going to tell him?’ Lizzy said.

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Will you see him again? Stuart, I mean?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Emma said, thinking back to the contact card he had given her, and the way she had just walked away.

  ‘You don’t sound so sure any more,’ Lizzy noted. ‘You’re not still in love with him are you?

  ‘No way…no way.’

  ‘Okay,’ Lizzy said. ‘I’m convinced.’

  But she didn’t sound convinced, and Emma knew it.

  ‘The other reason I’m not particularly looking forward to the meal,’ Emma said, changing the subject, ‘is because Miranda’s going to be there, and I’m not sure I can take all that talk about the new baby.’

  ‘Your new half-brother or sister.’

  ‘I know,’ Emma grimaced. ‘Don’t get me wrong; I’m happy for dad if he’s happy. But I can’t help thinking that it could be too much for him. It’s a long time since he had a small baby.’

  ‘Are you sure you’re not just a little bit jealous? I mean, it would be understandable.’

  ‘Jealous of a baby?’

  ‘Jealous of his new family,’ Lizzy said.

  Just hearing the phrase Emma stopped in her tracks – maybe Lizzy had got it dead right.

  ‘Maybe,’ she admitted.

  ‘How do you feel about Miranda now?’

  ‘I don’t know really. My instinct is still not to like her very much.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t know, because she’s taken my mum’s place really,’ Emma admitted. ‘And because she makes me feel…jealous?’

  ‘Maybe you should give Miranda a chance?’ Lizzy ventured. ‘Your dad’s going to need all the support he can get, and it’ll be so much better for him if you two are getting along. And Will, when he gets back.’

  ‘Maybe you’re right,’ Emma conceded. ‘Anyway, enough about me. How are your nerves for tonight?’

  ‘Shot,’ she said. ‘Why do you think I’m throwing all my energies into solving your problems? It’s a classic distraction technique.’

  ‘You’ll be fantastic,’ Emma said. ‘I can’t wait to see the finished article.’

  ‘These shows never get finished,’ Lizzy said. ‘We’ll be tweaking it for a while yet. Knowing the director, we’ll be changing things right up to curtain call. Today is going to be a long day.’

  ‘A challenging day for both of us then,’ Emma said. ‘I’ll see you at the theatre.’

  ***

  ‘Will there be anything else?’ the newsagent said, an aging Asian man with a patchy white beard.

  ‘No, that’s it,’ she said, picking up the newspaper. It wasn’t until Emma saw the London Daily News placard that she remembered about the newspaper reporter from the previous night. With all the events that followed – Stuart’s appearance, Dan’s text message, and the mystery of why he posted the phone through her dad’s letterbox – she had forgotten all about it.

  He handed her the change and smiled. ‘I don’t understand why people read that newspaper. Full of silly stories.’

  ‘I know,’ Emma said, feeling embarrassed for buying it. ‘It’s for research.’

  ‘Good luck with the research,’ he said. ‘Have a nice day.’

  ‘You too.’

  She stopped outside the newsagents, leant against the roadside barrier and opened up the paper.

  Her worst-case scenario was a small piece in the gossip column.

  The story was there, covering half of page seven.

  Secret torment of movie beauty.

  Fiancé hunted by police.

  Brother attacked and in coma.

  “Emma’s devastated by what’s happened,” said a family friend.

  “No-one suspected a thing,” said another.

  But no matter how bad the feature-length article was it was the accompanying photos that made the most impact on her.

  One was of her in her jogging trousers and had been taken on the morning before the launch party. It must have been one of the photos taken by Eric, the guy she had chatted with. She had swallowed his lies about not selling photos to newspapers. How naïve and stupid was she? Would she never learn?

  But it was the second photo that really shocked her to the core.

  It was a photo she knew well. It was the one of Dan and her in Rome – the photo that until last week had been on their bedside cabinet.

  37

  ‘Have you seen it?’ Emma said, thrusting the newspaper into her dad’s hand as he stood at the front door. He just looked at the front headlines, his brow knotted; confused as to what he should be looking at. ‘Page seven,’ Emma directed. ‘The story on page seven is about me and Dan.’

  ‘What?’ he said, aghast. He turned through the pages. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said, scanning the article. ‘Who gave them this photo, of you and Dan?’

  ‘It was the one missing from our bedroom,’ Emma explained.

  ‘But then how did it get here?’

  ‘Dan must have given it to them. I don’t like to think that he would, but there were no other copies of that photograph.’

  ‘And these quotes,’ he said, visibly disgusted. ‘Who are these quotes from?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Emma admitted. ‘They might have just made them up.’

  ‘How did you know to look for this? You don’t buy this paper.’

  ‘There was a reporter at the boat last night, asking me about Dan.’

  ‘Why didn’t you mention it last night?’
/>
  Emma shrugged.

  ‘What’s up?’ Miranda said, appearing at Edward’s shoulder. ‘Hey,’ she said, ‘that’s you.’

  She looked up at Emma then back down at the paper.

  ‘Oh my God,’ she said, as she read the article. ‘Emma, that’s terrible.’

  ‘Let’s get inside,’ Edward said. He led them into the lounge whilst shaking his head. ‘I can’t believe how I misjudged Dan. I never would have thought he’d do something like this. Take a seat,’ he said, pointing to the table. ‘The meal’s nearly ready. I mean,’ he continued, sitting down himself, ‘what the hell is going on inside that head of his? As if it wasn’t bad enough running off the week before you were supposed to be getting married, he goes and does this,’ he said, his anger rising, slapping the offending article.

  Miranda stood behind him, twirling the hairs on the back of his head through her fingers. ‘Try and stay calm, dear. You know what the doctor said.’

  Emma’s ears pricked up.

  ‘Doctor?’ she said. ‘You’ve been to the doctor?’

  He waved away her concern. ‘It’s nothing. He just said I should make sure I try and stay relaxed, that’s all.’

  Emma looked at Miranda and caught a flicker in her eyes that told her it wasn’t quite that innocuous. But she wouldn’t push it any further, not for now.

  ‘Don’t talk to any other reporters,’ he advised.

  ‘I won’t.’

  ‘And if Dan tries to contact you again, tell me.’

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Right,’ he said, tearing the newspaper in two. ‘Let that be an end to it.’

  ***

  ‘Have you heard from Will?’ Edward said, tucking into his salad as the three of them sat around the dining table.

  ‘No,’ Emma said. ‘Have you?’

  He shook his head.

  ‘I never realised Will was so bad,’ Emma said. ‘I thought he was fine.’

  ‘He’ll be okay. He just needs a break.’

  ‘When are you going to tell him about the baby?’ Emma asked.

  ‘As soon as he gets back,’ he said. ‘I hope that he’ll be happy about it. Not at first maybe, but eventually. Are you happy about it, Em?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Emma said, glancing at Miranda and smiling. ‘Of course – it’s great news.’

  ‘You never were a very good liar,’ he said bitterly, pushing his plate away. ‘I need to get some air.’

  ‘Dad, wait,’ Emma pleaded. But he walked out of the room.

  ‘I’m really sorry,’ Emma said, looking across to Miranda.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘It isn’t just you - he’s been tetchy for the past week or so. Better just to let him go and cool off.’

  ‘I am happy for you both,’ Emma said.

  ‘You don’t have to be. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated my guts, like Will obviously does. I’ve taken your mum’s place. I know I wouldn’t like it if the situation was reversed.’

  ‘Okay,’ Emma said, ‘I admit it was hard. It still is. But it’s not personal, Miranda. I actually think you’re very nice. It just takes time, that’s all. And Will – he’ll come around too. It’s just that my mum dying hurt him more than anyone.’

  ‘I didn’t plan to fall in love with your dad, you know,’ she said. ‘I don’t have some kind of fetish for older men. It just happened. My parents still think I’m crazy for being with someone not much younger than they are. But you don’t choose who you fall in love with. You just go along with the ride and see where it takes you. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.’

  ‘Like me and Dan,’ Emma reflected. ‘And me and Stuart.’

  ‘If there’s anything I can do to help.’

  ‘I’d like to look at the phone,’ Emma said. ‘Dan’s phone.’

  ‘Sure, I’ll go and get it.’ She rose from the table.

  ‘Miranda,’ Emma said, ‘I am sorry for everything.’

  Miranda smiled and went to get the phone.

  ‘Here it is,’ Miranda said, handing the phone to Emma. ‘It isn’t locked, so you should be able to go through all the messages.’

  Emma scrolled through the menus to bring up the list of previously called numbers. He hadn’t made many calls, but one number caught her eye.

  ‘Found anything interesting?’ Miranda enquired, as she watched Emma just staring intently at the mobile screen.

  ‘It’s your number,’ Emma said, looking up, stunned. ‘He phoned here.’

  ‘Dan?’ Miranda said, ‘He often calls, checking if you’re around when he can’t get hold of you on your mobile. He’s done it a few times when I’ve been here.’

  ‘No, he called here after he disappeared.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Miranda said, looking confused.

  ‘I’m sure,’ Emma said. She turned the screen towards Miranda. ‘Look, the phone lists all the calls in order. Your number comes after the number here, which is for the wedding shop, and he called there two days ago. It means he called here in the last couple of days.’

  38

  ‘I’m sorry about just blowing up like that,’ Edward said as he entered into the living room. ‘I’m just a little touchy at the moment.’ He looked at Emma, then at Miranda, who were both sitting on the sofa, stone-faced. ‘What’s happened?’ he said, his face deflating. ‘Is it Richard?’

  Emma shook her head.

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘Emma found our number on Dan’s mobile phone memory,’ Miranda explained.

  ‘Is that important?’ Edward said. ‘I mean, he’s called here loads of times.’

  ‘He called here in the last couple of days,’ Emma said. ‘But Miranda says that she hasn’t spoken to him.’

  ‘And you think I have?’ he said. ‘You think I’d speak to Dan and not tell you about it, with all that you’re going through?’

  ‘I just need to ask.’

  ‘I haven’t spoken with him,’ he said, his voice cracking with emotion. ‘I promise I haven’t.’

  ‘I believe you,’ Emma said, wanting to retract the accusation and saddened by the hurt expression on her father’s face.

  ‘I would never do anything to hurt you, Em,’ he said. ‘I know things haven’t been easy for us, but I always want the best for you, and your brother.’

  ‘Okay,’ Emma said, ‘just try to keep calm.’

  ‘Dan must have called when no-one was home,’ Miranda offered.

  ‘It just doesn’t make sense,’ Emma said. ‘Why doesn’t he just call me?’

  ‘I don’t know why he would have called us,’ Edward said, still sounding like someone on the defensive. ‘Just like I don’t know why he put that phone through the letterbox. Nothing about this makes sense, Emma.’

  ‘I met up with Stuart the other day,’ Emma said suddenly.

  ‘Pardon?’ Edward said, ‘you spoke with who?’

  ‘Stuart,’ Emma repeated. ‘Stuart Harris.’

  ‘What?’ he said, his face flushing crimson. ‘I…I don’t understand. Why would you want to speak with him, after all that happened? After everything that man did to you? This wasn’t something just to get back at Dan, was it?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Emma protested. ‘I wouldn’t do that. It wasn’t planned,’ she added, now feeling defensive herself.

  ‘Then why?’

  ‘I found out that he’d recommended me for the role in the film.’

  ‘He recommended you?’

  ‘The casting director told me,’ Emma said, ‘so I wanted to speak with Stuart to ask him why.’

  ‘And you met up with him?’

  Emma nodded.

  ‘So, what did he say?’ he said, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice.

  ‘Not much. He said that he recommended me for the part because he knew I would be good in the role. He said it wasn’t a way to get me back – he didn’t even want me to know that he’d recommended me.’

  ‘And you believed him?’

  ‘I think so,
’ Emma said.

  Edward turned his head slightly, rubbing at his face like he was trying to wash away the images of Emma and Stuart meeting up again.

  ‘Dad,’ Emma said, ‘I’m okay. It was fine.’

  When he looked back at her, the sight was shocking. Although it was impossible, he seemed to have aged ten years in those few seconds of contemplation. He looked drained, defeated and broken.

  ‘Promise me that you’ll never see him again,’ he said softly. ‘Just that one time – never again.’

  Emma paused.

  ‘Emma. You might have forgotten what that man did to you, but I haven’t. And I won’t let him just walk back into your life, when you’re already feeling so vulnerable, and risk it happening again. I won’t allow it.’

  ‘I have met him again,’ Emma admitted.

  Edward closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He stood up and walked towards the bay window and held onto the window ledge as if needing support.

  ‘It was at the casting party last night,’ Emma explained. ‘I didn’t know he would be there.’

  ‘Will you see him again?’ Edward said, still looking out of the window.

  ‘I…I don’t know.’

  ‘For God’s sake,’ he shouted, turning around. ‘Haven’t you had enough of being messed around?’

  Emma flinched. Her father never lost his cool.

  ‘Edward,’ Miranda said, standing up and moving to intercept him as he approached Emma. She placed a hand on his chest. ‘Please, calm down. We can all discuss this calmly over a nice cup of tea.’

  ‘I don’t want a fucking cup of tea,’ he bawled, straight into her face. ‘I want my daughter to stop ruining her life.’

  This time Miranda was the one to flinch.

  Suddenly Edward’s face contorted with pain and he thrust a hand to his chest.

  ‘Edward!’ Miranda said, wrapping an arm around his back.

  ‘I’m okay,’ he said, letting Miranda sit him down on one of the straight-backed chairs. ‘Just get my spray. It’s in my coat.’

  ‘Spray?’ Emma said. ‘What’s the matter? Why do you need spray?’