by Helen Warner
‘That’s what they say . . .’ Liv said in a flat voice, as she stared unseeingly out of the window.
‘But you’re not sure?’ Charlie prompted.
Liv shrugged but didn’t reply.
‘I’m really surprised,’ Charlie admitted. ‘It looked like something physical rather than something mental.’
Liv looked at him sharply.
‘Sorry,’ Charlie mouthed, glancing again at his son in the rear-view mirror, but by now Felix was engrossed in his DS game and didn’t appear to have heard.
They drove the rest of the journey in silence, up the winding, pot-holed roads, until they reached the house. Liv pressed the remote control for the automatic gates, which slid open noiselessly, and Charlie drove up the sparkling white driveway, which was illuminated by lights embedded in the ground. He stopped the car and looked at Liv, suddenly unsure what to do. The whole situation had changed now that Martha was no longer there to ease the atmosphere between them.
‘So what do we do now?’ he said.
Liv, who was still staring glassily out of the window, seemed to snap into life. ‘Sorry! What did you say?’
Charlie sighed. ‘Well, maybe it would be better if I went and checked into a hotel? I mean, with Martha gone . . .’
Realisation dawned in Liv’s eyes. ‘Martha? Oh God, I didn’t even ask . . . Where’s she gone?’
‘She’s at the hotel. With him,’ Charlie almost spat as he spoke.
‘Don’t go to a hotel!’ Felix cried suddenly, surprising them both. ‘Stay here. With us. Please?’
Charlie locked onto his son’s pleading stare and then looked questioningly at Liv. ‘I think that’s probably up to your mum.’
Liv nodded and smiled vacantly, before opening the car door and climbing out. ‘Fine by me,’ she said, as she swung the door shut behind her.
Charlie closed his eyes for a few seconds. He felt churned up and sad about Martha, and he wasn’t sure that being with Liv in her fragile state was the best place for him because he felt so irritable with her. But he didn’t want to desert Felix either, so he exhaled loudly and opened the car door.
Once inside, he put Felix to bed and then told Liv that he was tired and was going to bed himself, although it wasn’t yet nine o’clock. Liv didn’t seem concerned and had already opened a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass. He suddenly felt like he couldn’t bear to be around her. He knew she was struggling and seemed as if she was on the brink of some kind of meltdown, but he couldn’t cope with being her support at that minute either. Worse, he resented her for what he saw as her wallowing in self-pity. If he had given in to his own desperation when she left him four years ago, he probably wouldn’t be here now, but he had fought his way through it. He hadn’t started drinking heavily or collapsing all over the place and frightening Felix with his dramatics.
He took a quick shower and climbed into bed, already knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about Martha. It seemed ridiculous after such a short time but she had got right under his skin.
He thought back to the previous night when they had gone to Martha’s room in the hotel. He had known that she wouldn’t sleep with him but Christ, he had wanted to. It was torture just kissing her when he was desperate to do so much more. But in a world where women threw themselves at him all the time, the fact that she had resisted only made him want her all the more.
He picked up his phone and stared at it, willing it to ring and for it to be Martha. He wanted to talk to her. To hear her voice. He thought about calling her but stopped. What if she was with him? Charlie felt a bubble of hatred for Jamie welling up inside. The man had an amazing wife and he had treated her like crap. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness, but because of their kids, Charlie had a horrible feeling he was going to get it.
Still, Charlie reasoned, at least he would be able to continue to see her because of the book. He smiled to himself with satisfaction, knowing how hard it would be for Jamie every time Martha came to meet him. Good, he thought. Serves him right.
As if on cue, his phone beeped and his eyes darted back to the screen.
What are you up to? Need to see you.
Charlie found himself beaming at the phone, as if it was actually her.
He looked at his watch. It was only nine, but people didn’t tend to stay out late in LA. They were all in bed by 10.30, due to early starts on location and early-morning yoga or Pilates classes.
Let’s have dinner at a place I know. Shall I come and pick you up now? he texted back, his excitement mounting.
OK x
Charlie leapt out of bed and threw on a white shirt and a pair of jeans, before heading towards the front door.
‘Where are you going?’ asked Liv, making him jump in surprise. He had assumed she was in bed because the house was almost dark, but she was sitting on an easy chair in the day room, with a glass of wine in her hand, which was tilting dan-gerously to one side.
Charlie hesitated. ‘Er, I’m going out to meet Martha. I thought I’d take her out for dinner as she’s going home tomorrow.’
Liv nodded wearily. ‘How nice,’ she slurred and her eyes drooped shut.
Charlie watched her for a minute, weighing up whether he should go or not. Was she in a fit state to be left alone with Felix? But then, he reasoned, Felix was asleep and wouldn’t wake up until the morning. It was highly unlikely he’d need anything before then, and anyway, Charlie wouldn’t be too long.
‘Maybe you should get yourself to bed?’ he suggested, eyeing the wine glass warily.
Liv’s eyes blinked open again, as if she’d been taken by surprise. ‘Hmm? Oh yes, you’re probably right,’ she agreed, getting up and staggering over to the breakfast bar, where she deposited the glass beside the almost-empty bottle of white wine.
Charlie nodded to himself. ‘I’ll see you later?’ He scooped up the house keys Liv had given him on his first day there.
‘Have fun!’ she trilled in a falsetto voice.
Charlie closed the door behind him and waited for a few moments for the feeling of unease to subside. Then he opened the car and climbed in.
Chapter 31
Jamie could hear a phone ringing somewhere in the distance. He was shouting for Martha to answer it but still it kept ringing. He sat up with a start. It wasn’t a dream. It was the phone beside the bed in the hotel room. He snatched it up and spoke gruffly into the handset. ‘Yes?’
‘Hello, this is reception here. We have Liv Mason on the phone, trying to contact Charlie Simmons. Do you know where Mr Simmons is?’
Jamie frowned in confusion. ‘Er, no, I don’t. But my wife might know. She’s in room 604, along from me . . .’ For a brief moment, Jamie wondered if he might, in fact, still be dreaming.
‘Yes, we have tried her room but she’s not there . . .’ The receptionist hesitated and Jamie instantly knew why.
‘Ah, you think she’s out somewhere with Charlie Simmons?’
There was another fraction of a second’s hesitation. ‘Er, yes, I believe they have left the hotel together. I was wondering if you might know where they are?’
Jamie swallowed back the jealousy that was rising in his throat. Martha had told him she needed to say goodbye to Charlie, but he hadn’t realised she meant she was going to meet him. When they got back to the hotel earlier, Jamie had gone to bed and immediately fallen into a deep sleep. Clearly, she hadn’t done the same. ‘Uh, no, I don’t know where they’ve gone,’ he replied wearily. ‘Do you know what she wants?’
‘No, but she sounds quite, er, distressed.’
‘Put her through to me,’ Jamie said, before he’d had a chance to think. In the split second before the receptionist transferred the call, Jamie remembered that Liv Mason was a famous film star who didn’t know him at all, and there was absolutely no reason why she would want to speak to him. ‘Hello?’ he said tentatively.
‘Charlie?’ Liv yelled, and Jamie could hear immediately that she was drunk
.
‘No, er, this is Jamie, Martha’s husband. I don’t know where Charlie and Martha have gone, but can I help?’
There was a loud groan at the other end of the line and it sounded like the phone had been dropped. He could hear Liv repeating, ‘Oh God, Oh God,’ over and over again.
‘Liv!’ called Jamie, trying not to shout but aware that he needed to make her hear. When there was no response, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and, with his heart pounding, yelled as loudly as he could, ‘Liv!’
After a brief pause, during which he could hear her scrabbling for the phone, she came back on the line. ‘Oh God,’ she groaned again, and he could hear that she was starting to hyperventilate.
‘OK, Liv,’ Jamie said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. He had a horrible feeling that something terrible had either happened or was about to. ‘Take a deep breath. Breathe with me, Liv. Can you do that? Breathe in deeply through your nose, see, like I’m doing? Then slowly out through your mouth.’ He started to take exaggerated deep breaths, to try and encourage her to follow suit, all the time speaking to her in the soothing voice he used for the children when they were upset. Gradually, Liv started to follow him until she had calmed down slightly.
‘Right, that’s really good, Liv,’ Jamie said when he felt that she could listen to him. ‘Now, can you tell me what’s wrong?’
Liv shrieked and Jamie cut in again. ‘Listen to me very carefully, Liv. I am going to help you. Whatever’s wrong, we’ll sort it out, but I need to know what’s happened for me to be able to help. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ Liv whimpered. ‘Felix . . . he’s . . .’ she managed to say, before she had to take another series of deep breaths to calm herself again.
Jamie listened to her breathing with a rising sense of panic. What had happened to Felix? ‘Take your time, Liv,’ he said, belying the incredible sense of impatience that he was feeling. If the child was sick or injured, they needed to get to him as quickly as possible. They didn’t have time for his mother’s histrionics.
‘Felix . . .’ she croaked again in a small voice. ‘. . . he’s gone.’
Jamie’s eyes widened in alarm. He didn’t know that much about Liv Mason’s private life, but he knew the child wasn’t very old.
‘Gone where?’ He was glad that his voice sounded less panicky than he felt.
‘To find Charlie. He got up and saw that Charlie had gone and that I was . . . oh God,’ she groaned again, sounding as if she was in agony.
‘I’ll call the police,’ Jamie said, now desperate to get her off the phone and enlist some proper help.
‘No!’ Liv screamed, suddenly panicky again. ‘Please don’t call the police! They’ll take him away from me . . .’
‘But we need to find him!’ Jamie shouted back.
‘I know, but please will you come and help me look? He won’t have got far . . . I’ve been calling Charlie non-stop but he’s not answering his phone!’
Jamie stared at the handset in shock. He didn’t know LA. He didn’t know Liv Mason and he didn’t know the kid. How the hell was he supposed to find him? ‘Give me your address,’ he groaned, groping for the pen and pad beside the bed. He scribbled it down. ‘Check every room in the house and check the garden,’ he said, panting slightly. ‘I’ll be there as quickly as I can.’ He hung up and called the front desk. ‘I need a taxi, really urgently,’ he said, before gabbling out the address.
Where the hell was Charlie and, more to the point, where was Martha? He called her number and listened as it went to voicemail. ‘Call me!’ he said, when prompted to leave a message, before he hung up and scrambled out of bed, throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He felt dazed and slightly stunned, as if he might still be dreaming. He splashed his face with cold water, grabbed his wallet, phone, the piece of paper with the address on and his keycard, then raced to the lifts. At the entrance to the hotel, one of the besuited bell-hops approached him. ‘Mr Smith? The house car is coming for you now.’
‘What?’ Jamie gaped in confusion, as a sleek black Rolls Royce glided up and pulled to a halt in front of him. The bell-hop opened the back passenger door and motioned for Jamie to get in. ‘But . . .’ he stuttered, before deciding that he didn’t have time to argue. He climbed in and waited while the door was closed with an expensive thunk before he spoke to the driver. ‘I need to go to—’ he began, squinting at the piece of paper with the address written on it.
‘I have the address, sir,’ the driver said smoothly and politely. ‘And I will get you there just as quickly as I can.’
‘Thank you,’ Jamie breathed. ‘But can you go as slowly as you can when we get a bit closer, as I believe there’s a little boy out wandering around in the dark and we need to find him.’
If the driver felt any kind of alarm at Jamie’s words, he certainly didn’t show it. ‘No problem, sir,’ he replied calmly.
The Phantom slid through the surprisingly quiet streets until they turned off the main drag and began to climb up into the Hollywood Hills. ‘You might want to start keeping an eye out about now, sir,’ said the driver, again with exquisite politeness. ‘May I suggest that you look out of the right-hand side and I will watch the left-hand side. What age is the child we are looking for, sir?’
‘Uh, I don’t exactly know, but I think he’s around six or seven,’ Jamie replied, shaking his head at the surreal nature of the whole evening. He peered out of the window, straining to make out anything as the car continued to climb the dark, winding roads. There was very little in the way of street lighting and Jamie thought how scared any child would be out here on his own. He thought about his own son and his heart went out to the little boy who had decided to run out into the night looking for his dad.
After about ten minutes, Jamie’s shoulders were sagging. There was no sign at all of Felix. A feeling of dread started to take root in his stomach, as he began to worry about what he would find when he got to Liv’s house. He wished he had ignored her pleas and called the police like he’d wanted to.
‘I think this might be him, sir!’ said the driver suddenly, his voice finally betraying some excitement in place of his usual stilted politeness.
The car slid to a standstill and Jamie leapt out. Up ahead of him on the dark pavement he could make out a small figure walking quickly down the hill towards him. As he got closer, Jamie could see that he was still wearing his Toy Story pyjamas.
‘Felix!’ Jamie shouted.
The boy looked up in alarm and hesitated, glancing around nervously as Jamie approached. Suddenly, he turned around and headed back up the hill, running.
‘Felix!’ Jamie repeated, jogging after him. ‘There’s nothing to worry about. I’m a friend of your mum and dad. They asked me to come and find you.’
The boy hesitated and looked back at Jamie over his shoulder, before he resumed running again. ‘I’ve never seen you before!’ he cried.
‘I’m Martha’s husband, Jamie . . .’ he called, struggling for breath as he shouted and ran at the same time. He was gaining on the boy easily, though, and within a few strides he had pulled level with him.
‘Martha, daddy’s girlfriend?’ Felix glanced suspiciously up at Jamie as they ran along side by side.
‘Can we stop running for a second, please?’ Jamie pulled up and put his hands on his knees to get his breath back. ‘I can’t run and talk at the same time.’
Felix slowed to a halt slightly further up the hill and looked back at Jamie. ‘Isn’t Martha daddy’s girlfriend?’ he repeated.
Jamie felt his jaw tighten. ‘Well, she’s a friend of your dad’s and she’s a girl, so I guess that might make her his girlfriend,’ he said, finally understanding the expression ‘the words stuck in my craw’. ‘But I’m her husband. Listen, Felix, you have nothing to be scared of. I’m just going to take you home to your mum because she called me and she’s worried sick about you.’
‘What if you’re lying?’ Felix looked around as if searching
for back-up.
Sharp kid, Jamie thought. Of course, with high-profile parents like Liv and Charlie, kidnapping must be a constant threat. He considered what to do for a minute. ‘OK, well, how about you call your mum before you get in the car? Ask her if it’s OK if Jamie gives you a lift home.’ Jamie fumbled in his back pocket for his phone and held it out towards Felix. ‘Here, take it.’
Warily, Felix inched his way down the hill until he was within reaching distance and stretched out his hand to take the phone. Keeping his eye on Jamie the whole time, he edged a few feet back up the hill.
Jamie wanted to laugh; the whole situation was so ridiculous, especially now that he knew the child was safe.
‘Do you know your mum’s number?’ he prompted.
Felix nodded and, finally taking his eyes off Jamie, began to tap out Liv’s number. After a few seconds, he spoke. ‘Mom? It’s me. Is it OK for me to get into a car with this English guy?’
Chapter 32
‘Wow, this is gorgeous!’ sighed Martha, as Charlie led her into the restaurant. It certainly lived up to its name – Little Door – as the only indication it was there was literally a small door in the middle of a wall on a nondescript street. But inside it was like stepping into a twinkling, Italianate wonderland. Fairy lights winked from the lush canopy of dark green foliage and a pink glow hung over each of the candlelit tables, giving the whole room a slightly mystical and romantic atmosphere.
‘I knew you’d love it,’ Charlie smiled back at her as a female maître d’ guided them to a discreet table in the corner.
Martha followed, feeling several curious pairs of eyes on her. She kept forgetting that Charlie was recognised wherever he went. The thought made her feel strangely territorial and possessive of him, and she realised with a jolt that she already thought of him as her Charlie.
Once they were seated, Martha picked up her menu and tried to focus on what to order, but after a couple of minutes she put it back down. ‘I can’t concentrate. We need to talk.’