"I'm sorry, Faith. Believe me, if I knew where he was, I would tell you. I don't like the fact he's missing any more than you do."
Faith's head shot up at my words, and Sam stiffened.
"You do still love him, don't you?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
I took Faith's arm from Sam and turned her to face me. "I've had enough. I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired. I'm cold, and I want to go home. But I can't. None of us can. All we can do is try to sort this mess out and make the most of what we have right now. When Jake turns up—and he will—you have to stop this. He married you. You won. Got it? Or do you really want to lose him? Because Jake is a good-looking guy, and I'm sure there will be a queue of women waiting to fill your shoes."
Faith's tears spilled over her lashes, and she fell forward into me, nearly knocking me over. Well, I hadn't expected that.
"I love him so much," she sobbed.
I patted her on the back awkwardly. "There, there," I said, in an attempt to comfort her.
"Are you sure he will turn up?" she asked in between sobs.
"Yes." I really needed to stop making promises I wasn't sure I could keep.
Sam and Matt seemed to be looking for the exits. I think this was all too much emotion for them.
"Ummm… Why don't you take Faith back to the studio, Alex," suggested Matt. "You can get some sleep too. I have something I want to chase up, and I can manage it without you."
"I'll help you," added Sam quickly, looking at Matt. "In fact, I think I should get my camera and change the battery again."
I didn't think either of them actually had anything they needed to do other than get some distance from a crying Faith.
"Okay," I said, letting them off the hook. "Will we be okay on our own, though?"
"You don't have far to go, so just stay together."
"All right. Come on, Faith. Let's get you some sleep."
I steered Faith away toward the nearest staircase, taking the shortcut back to the studio from where we were. I flashed Sam a grin as I left and stuck out my tongue. I meant it in good humor, but the look he gave me back was much more serious. I figured he would much rather be taking a nap as well.
The staircase we used brought us out at the front of the station, near reception. This was the closest to us, and it was the one I steered Faith toward.
Faith broke the silence. "I'm not the only one who has been following you all night," she said.
My heart skipped a beat. "Pardon?"
"Someone else has been following you as well. I tried to see who, but every time I got close, whoever it was saw me and disappeared—like a ghost or a phantom."
"Ghosts and phantoms don't exist."
"I'm just telling you what I know."
"Faith, you did believe me when I said I didn't hit you?"
"Yes. I didn't then, but I do now. I thought you'd done it to get rid of me and get close to Jake, but if that were true, then you would be with him."
As Faith stepped down the stairs ahead of me, I felt the hair on my neck rise. I grabbed her arm to make her stop. Halfway down, the stairs curved around a corner and continued in the opposite direction. Intuition screamed at me to go back up and not turn that corner.
"What?" asked Faith. "Why have we stopped?"
I heard the stairs creak. Faith's head snapped around to see who was coming, but I had an awful feeling I didn't want to see who it was. Why? I didn't really know. Maybe tonight had creeped me out way too much.
I made a quick decision to turn and go back the way we came. Faith followed behind me as I took the stairs two at a time. It was only as she screamed that I stopped.
I turned just in time to see her fly backward, landing against the far wall with a sickening thud. Her screams stopped as I felt the almighty blow hit my temple. My head exploded, and the world turned black.
* * *
In the distance, I could hear someone calling my name. I tried to open my eyes to see who it was, but the pain searing through my head made me close them tighter. I had no idea why my head was hurting so much or why someone was incessantly calling my name.
I felt the slap to my cheek and snapped my eyes open. Ooh, that hurt. I really wished I hadn't done that. I slammed them shut again and winced at the pain.
I put my hand up to where I'd been slapped and felt the warm sticky liquid on my fingers.
"Alex!" I heard my name being called. "Alex!"
I struggled to open my eyes, slowly this time, and moved to see who was calling me.
"Oh, thank God, you're alive. I thought you were dead for a minute there." The voice was deep and gravelly and belonged to Jake. Jake!
I sat up quickly, the world swaying as I did so. My stomach churned, and I had a moment where I thought I might throw up. I think Jake thought the same thing. He moved away from me pretty quickly then handed me a wastepaper bin.
I took some deep, calming breaths and slowed my heart rate back to somewhere around normal. Well, normal for tonight anyway.
"Jake! Where have you been? We've been worried about you."
Jake looked tired in the dim light. His clothes were dirty, and his eyes were dark.
"We couldn't find you, and we've been looking and looking!"
I felt the tears sting my eyes as they filled behind my lashes. I swiped at them with my fingers as they escaped and ran down my cheeks. I continued, ignoring the fact Jake was trying to stop me from wiping my tears. He stood, and I looked around the room for the first time. I had no idea where we were.
The room was small, less than three meters square. There was a single overhead bulb giving the room very limited light, a closed metal door, and a cement floor. The walls were covered in photos of I don't know what, and there was an armchair and a desk. Stuart was slumped in the armchair, his eyelids fluttering open and then closing again. Jake moved back toward me, carrying a tissue box from the desk.
"Stuart!" I said. "Oh my God! Is he okay?"
"Sort of," said Jake.
I noted the large gash on Jake's forehead, the dried blood crusting on his skin.
"He keeps dropping in and out of consciousness. I tried to stop the bleeding, but it's a bit hard to do when he's bleeding from the back of his head."
"What are you doing in here? Why don't you get him some help?"
Jake gently pulled a tissue from the box and used it to wipe my face. Only when he threw the tissue in the bin did I see it was covered in blood. My blood.
I felt the world sway once more, the smell filling my nostrils.
"We're stuck in here, Alex. There's no way out. I've looked."
"Where are we?"
"I don't really know. All I know is that I was hit on the head and woke up here. Stuart was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. I've been trying to help him, but we've been in here for hours."
I felt my own head and the lump that was now forming. My memory flicked to the stairs and someone hitting me.
"I don't know who hit me. I didn't see their face, but they looked like me. Same hair, the same clothes. So at least we know it's a female."
Jake shrugged. "A damned strong female." He sounded frustrated. "I was wandering around the grounds looking for Faith when I saw a light coming from around the back of the old house. I made my way over to it. It was a flashlight, and it was shining straight into my eyes. I thought it was Faith, so I called to her. Then, whoever it was hit me."
"Why did you think it was Faith?"
"I shielded my eyes against the light, and I saw blonde hair. I couldn't see her face either though."
I moved to stand. Jake held my hand and helped me to my feet. The dizziness started, and my stomach rolled.
"Here, sit down," said Jake, reaching for the desk chair and rolling it toward me.
I gratefully sat. And that was when I noticed the walls and what exactly the photos were of. There were photos of me. There were photos of Jake. There were photos of us both together. Everywhere.
I su
cked in my breath as my heart stuttered, and my mind tried to comprehend what I was looking at.
Jake sat on the edge of the desk. "Scary, hey?"
I couldn't speak. My mind just couldn't seem to find any words. Instead, I stood, Jake holding my hand to steady me, and looked around the room.
The walls were almost wallpapered with photos of us taken at various times, past and present. There were photos of me working in the traffic department, laughing with Georgie. There were photos of me getting into my car, at the beach, at the shops. There were even photos of me walking into the dentist.
The desk held my photo album, my MAC eye shadow, and my tampons. A plastic basket was filled with old pens, a broken mug, my old phone case with Minnie Mouse on the back—all of which I knew I had thrown in the garbage bin.
Over the back of the chair Stuart was slumped in were my old jeans with the hole in them, and three T-shirts I'd donated to charity. Stuart was covered with a blanket from my bed—the one I thought I'd lost.
In fact, looking around me, I could see a lot of things I thought I had lost. Mum always said I would lose my head if it wasn't screwed on. Well, she was wrong. All of this had been taken.
Then I looked at the photos of Jake. Some were of the two of us together. Some were much more recent. Some were taken when I'm sure he thought was alone. But the only photo he had with Faith was on their wedding day. And Faith's face had been cut out of the picture and mine glued in its place.
I was in shock. I shook my head, hoping this was all a bad dream and that I would wake up at home, and we'd all be safe. Instead, all the shaking did was kick my headache up a notch.
My knees buckled as I spun, looking around the small room. I picked up the stuffed teddy bear Jake had given me on our first date at the Westport Show. It still had the missing ear and wonky eye that had made me love it. I stroked its soft fur as I continued to look around.
I stopped when I saw the photo of my twenty-first birthday party. It was similar to the one I'd had earlier, except this one was of me standing in the middle of my group of friends. My head was back, and I was laughing like I didn't have a care in the world. If only I could rewind time.
Jake stepped up next to me and looked at the photo.
"You don't think I had anything to do with this, do you?" I asked, quietly.
He shook his head. "When I first saw it, I wondered. But Stuart has been mumbling a name all night. I can't make out what he's saying, but it's definitely not Alex. And if you'd done it, you wouldn't have been thrown in here after being hit on the head. I also don't think you would have plastered the walls with your own photo. You're not that conceited."
I nodded, relieved. Looking at that wedding photo, it would be easy for him to think I had.
"I don't know who's behind this, but I think they've been setting you up," he continued.
It sure looked that way. "But why keep all these things belonging to me? And if they're obsessed with you, then why glue my picture onto that photo? Why not their own?"
"I have no idea," he said, sinking to the floor.
"Are there any clues in here as to who did all of this? Is there any way out?" I asked, hysteria bubbling to the surface. I wasn't going to cry. It wouldn't change anything.
"Nope." Jake hung his head low. "I'm sorry, Alex," he said quietly.
I shook my head as the tears once again started, and I gave in to the emotion. This time, however, they quickly descended into deep heart-wrenching sobs. Within seconds, I could no longer breathe. Jake stood, pulled me back to the chair, and sat me down. Pushing my head down between my knees, he rubbed my back. It brought back memories of how he used to comfort me when I was sad.
Crouching down next to me, he encouraged me to slow my breathing while he continued to rub my back. Up and down. Up and down. The sensation calmed me, and it didn't take long for me to regain control of my breathing. Once I had that under control, he pulled me in close and held me tight.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I wasn't sure how long we sat like that. It should have felt uncomfortable, but it didn't. It was only when I felt Jake kiss the top of my head that I stiffened. Sam's words came flooding back to me. Faith thinks Jake's still in love with you. Could he be?
I pulled away and looked at Jake. His dark eyes were no longer looking at me like I was his enemy. Not like they had earlier in the evening. Now they held compassion, friendliness. Maybe even regret.
"I'm sorry, Alex," he whispered.
"What for?"
"For the way I treated you all those years ago. It wasn't right, and I've never forgiven myself for what happened."
"All I wanted was an explanation as to why."
"I know. And I should have given you one. But Faith and I…" He turned away from me, unable to look me in the eye.
"I know what happened, Jake. I know about the baby," I said quietly.
He gulped, and I noticed his hand shake as he ran it through his hair. "I'm sorry, Alex. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…you know. It just happened. And afterward I felt so guilty. When you came back from your grandparents', I couldn't even look at you. I knew that if I did, you would know what I'd done."
"I remember. At the time, I thought I was the one who'd done something wrong. And you wouldn't tell me what it was. I wanted to fix it. To make things right between us again." Old anger stirred in my belly. I tried to repress it as it wasn't doing me any good now.
Tears filled Jake's eyes as he nodded his head, looking only at the floor. "I was going to tell you. To find a way to make you forgive me, but Faith called and told me she was pregnant. I didn't know what else to do. I'd caused this mess. I couldn't leave her to handle it on her own, but I didn't want to leave you. In the end, I did what I thought was right."
"But you never told me why!" I yelled, making Stuart jump.
Jake moved to him and checked that he was okay. When he was satisfied Stuart was as comfortable as he could possibly be, he sat on the floor with his back against the metal door. Silence filled the air between us.
"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked, annoyed. Annoyed at Jake, annoyed at our situation, hell, I was just annoyed in general.
Jake stared at me, his eyes soft and vulnerable. "In case we don't get out."
His words felt like a blow to my chest. Yes, on a conscious level I knew we were stuck in here, but hearing those words made me realize Jake thought this was it. We were going to die. There was no way out of it for us.
I didn't like the sound of that, and the panic once again threatened to take over. I couldn't let that happen. If it did, Jake would be right. We would die in here tonight. I attempted some deep, calming breaths and tried to bring my mind back to our previous conversation.
Eventually, I said, "So, what happened to the baby?"
"There never was one. It was what the doctors called a phantom pregnancy. Faith had all the symptoms, but there was no baby growing inside her. She was devastated, convinced they were wrong and that she had lost it, but all I could think was how that meant I now had a chance to be with you again. I went looking for you. I would have done anything to fix things. But Georgie told me you had moved on, you had a new man in your life, and you were very happy. So I gave up."
This was the second time tonight I'd heard that Georgie had made a decision like that for me. She had no right. Only I had that choice to make.
"I never stopped loving you," Jake continued quietly.
His words shocked me out of my thoughts about Georgie. I sat up straight and looked at him.
"I was worried about coming here tonight. I didn't know what I would feel when I saw you. Part of me thought that maybe I would realize that what I remembered we had was just a fantasy in my head."
"Was it?"
"No."
I didn't know what to say. All I knew was that my feelings for Jake were not what they once were. I knew I didn't hate him anymore, but I was definitely not in love with him.
"Don't worry," he continued. "I k
now what you're thinking. And I know what I had with Faith is real. It took me nearly five years to figure I was never getting back what I had with you and that I needed to move on. Tonight though, when she went missing, I thought it was my fault. I just had my life on track, and then I went and messed everything back up." Tears filled his eyes.
"In what way?"
"Faith and I had an argument earlier," he said, sniffing.
"I know. She wanted to know if you ever slept with Rachel. Did you?"
"No," replied Jake, his dark eyes looking at me. I felt my stomach flip as memories of those eyes looking down into mine filled my mind. "She saw the way I looked at you. She was so upset. But what could I say? This time I had the chance to do what was right." Jake jumped to his feet and started to pace the small room, pulling at his hair. "I could tell her the truth, and we could work through it. Like a proper married couple would."
"But she didn't like that idea?" I asked sarcastically.
"No," sighed Jake, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "She stormed off to the toilets. To be honest, she's been accusing me of being in love with you for years. I didn't think she'd be so shocked at the truth."
"Yeah, funny that. Women don't usually like being told that their man is in love with someone else." All of a sudden, I had sympathy for Faith. Even though I still thought she was a little bit unbalanced.
"Then you told me that she was dead." Fatigue filled his voice as his head hung low. "I realized then how much she really meant to me. She couldn't be dead. I just had to find her, and everything would be okay." Jake looked up at me as he dropped to his knees on the floor. "I do love her, Alex," he said as the sobbing started. "And I wanted to make a life with her."
Tears silently fell down his cheeks, and I realized he didn't know. He didn't know that we'd found Faith, and she was okay. I jumped off my chair and quickly moved to him. Falling to my knees, I took hold of his shoulders and forced him to look at me.
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