by Liz Bower
Marco frowned down at me as I pulled away, but I shook my head at him, not wanting to cause a scene in front of Alex.
Instead, I twined our fingers together. A perfectly acceptable PDA.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Things had been … off between Marco and I for the last couple of days. Ever since I’d pulled away from him at the restaurant the other night, he’d been quiet. I glanced over at him from where I was curled up on the sofa, lost in the world of Pinterest. I didn’t know how to bring it up because I wasn’t sure why he was acting that way.
He shifted on the sofa, pulling the blanket over him too. As he plucked at a loose thread, he avoided looking at me. “We need to talk, Jo.”
I dropped my iPad onto my lap; no conversation that started with those words could be good. Is that it? Is he ending this? Clearing my throat, I asked, “About what?”
“I didn’t want to say anything to you but I think … I need to. And I should report it to the police. I got a letter earlier this week.”
When I didn’t say anything, he slid his gaze from the blanket to my face. I tried to look calm as I waited for him to explain. “I think whoever sent them to your boss sent one to me too.”
The blood drained from my face until it probably matched the colour of the paper the letter had been written on. I dropped my head against the cushion. “Why? What makes you think it’s the same person? What did it say?”
“It’s not so much what it said, more how it was said. It just seems too much of a coincidence not to be related, and you told me about Carol too. I have to take this to the police.”
“Did they threaten you? Or imply it was me?” I leaned towards him, gripping his hand with both of mine. “Is this my fault too?”
“None of this is your fault. Unless you’re telling me you sent the letters?”
My face flushed and I scrambled from underneath the blanket. Standing, I planted my feet in front of him. “You really think I sent those letters? You really think I’m capable of threatening my boss, threatening you?”
As he stood, I stepped back from him. He dropped his hands onto my shoulders to keep me in place, looked straight into my eyes and then paused for a moment. “I know you, Jo, better than you think. I know you didn’t send those letters, so you need to stop blaming yourself.”
The fight fled from me before I dropped my head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him. I relaxed into his embrace, letting his warmth and familiar smell surround me. Comfort me.
I straightened my spine and pulled back from him. “I’ll call DI Jones and tell him we have more information.”
When the knock on the door came, I let DI Jones and DC Pickering in, offering them tea or coffee. It was the polite thing to do but it seemed so surreal, carrying on with social niceties when someone was out there threatening those close to me. What would I do if someone tried to harm Marco because of me? It didn’t bear thinking about.
Gabi would be devastated. As much as she argued with Marco and wanted him off her sofa, I knew she loved her brother. Would she blame me?
I was pulled from my thoughts when I saw Marco hand over his letter to the police. Damn, I won’t get a chance to read it now, and I doubt Marco will tell me what it said. “Do you think this could be linked to the ones Alex—I mean Mr Danver—received?”
DI Jones scanned the letter before putting it in an evidence bag and removing the latex gloves he wore with a snap that sounded loud in the quiet room. “It’s possible, but we won’t know for sure until we run some analysis on it. We’ll need to take fingerprints from anyone who has touched the letter so we can rule them out.”
“I’m the only one who touched it. When I opened it,” Marco said.
“Okay. We’ll just need yours, then. We’ll be in touch when we have any new developments. In the meantime, Miss Waters, we would appreciate you not mentioning this to anyone at your office. Until we know the two are definitely connected, we don’t want to cause more speculation than necessary.”
“Of course,” I said.
He slid a card with his contact details onto the coffee table as he rose. Marco went to see them out, and I wondered why I would be the common link. Who would feel the need to threaten my boss, Carol, and now Marco? It made no sense. No sense at all. The only people who remotely crossed my mind were Amy or Toby, yet I couldn’t bring myself to believe either of them would be capable of those things.
But maybe it was about time I did start believing. Time I tried to find out if it could possibly be either of them.
***
The following day, rather than immersing myself in work, I kept studying my colleagues as they sat behind their desks. Was it possible one of them was responsible? Were they doing the same? Were they looking at me and wondering if I were capable of such a thing? I spent a lot of time that day thinking, coming to the conclusion that the threats had to be related to me. Whoever sent them wanted Carol to leave, but if that had been enough, then the threats would have stopped. Yet they hadn’t.
Who else was I putting in harm’s way? If I locked myself away, alone, would that keep the ones close to me safe? Maybe I should take some time off work. Let things calm down without me around. I rose from my chair to make my way to Alex’s office to discuss it with him, turning straight into someone as I rounded the desk.
“Toby!” I pressed a hand against my chest. What was he doing just standing there? “Did you need me for something?”
He shook his head and thrust his hands into his pockets, took a step closer to me, then glanced around the office. “They’re all talking about what happened upstairs.”
I clutched the back of the chair and wondered if he meant they were all talking about me. He tilted his head to the side and an unruly curl fell over his forehead. His gaze swept over me, and I shuffled back from him until I was pressed against the back of my chair.
“I told them it wasn’t true.”
I frowned at his words. “You told them what wasn’t true?”
He glanced around the office before leaning closer to me. I had to crane my neck back to look at him. It made his eyes look even smaller than usual, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze.
“That you and Alex aren’t …”
I leaned away from him and knew my cheeks had flushed red. God, did everyone in the office think I was carrying on with Alex? They probably thought I was sleeping with him to try and get the job. “Of course it’s not true. For one thing, he’s happily married. Plus I have a … boyfriend.” Wow. That didn’t sound convincing even to my own ears. But announcing the fact I had a boyfriend right then didn’t seem wise.
Toby pressed his thin lips together so hard they almost disappeared. “I knew you and Alex weren’t. I said you weren’t like that. Don’t worry. I’ll put them straight.” He shook his head and wandered back off towards the stairs.
Tears pooled in my eyes as I watched him walk away. Great, I was the talk of the office. I blinked the tears away as I gazed at the ceiling, not wanting to give them anything more to gossip about.
The day only got worse when I was contacted by the police and asked to go to the station. They asked the same questions they’d already asked me until they finally let me go an hour later. When I walked into the waiting area, Marco was headed my way.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
I leaned back to look up into his face. “You didn’t know I was here?” I asked as my eyebrows lowered and I caught my tongue between my teeth.
“No. Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Why are you here, then?”
He dropped his arms, took a step back and shoved his hands into his pockets. He scuffed his toe against the floor, seemingly mesmerised by his foot.
“Marco?” I placed my hand on his arm and gently squeezed it.
His foot stopped and he lifted his head to meet my gaze. He scraped a finger along his eyebrow, and then let out a sigh. “I got a surprise package this morning. Thought t
he police might be interested in it.”
My gaze darted to where he had been sitting. A cardboard box rested on an empty seat. Apparently this day could get a whole lot worse. The blood rushed from my face. Feeling dizzy, I took a step back.
Marco reached for me. “Are you okay? You’ve gone paler than my dad. Come over here and sit down.”
“I’m fine. I’m fine. It was … just a shock.”
When he scrubbed a hand across his face, I took his hand in mine and turned to face him. I could see the worry in his eyes, the frustration in the set of his mouth. It was my fault. It didn’t matter what he said; the fact that I cared about him was why he was involved. “I’m sorry, Marco. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, mio cuore, and I’m not sorry.”
My eyebrows shot up. How could he not be sorry about all the shit that was going on?
“I wish all this wasn’t happening, but I’m not sorry. If this is because we’re together, then I still wouldn’t change that for the world.” Gently he placed his lips on mine.
It was the sweetest kiss, filled with comfort. My eyes stung with emotion and I squeezed them shut. It was lousy timing that we ended up together at this point. I pulled away from Marco and took a moment to gather myself. “What’s in the box?”
“It’s not important.”
My temper flared and I bit the inside of my cheek until I calmed slightly. “Of course it’s important. What’s in it?” I hated the fact that he was trying to keep this from me when it so obviously involved me. Didn’t he trust me? Did he think I couldn’t handle it? “Tell me what’s in it, Marco.”
He shut his eyes and let out a resigned sigh. “I’m not a hundred percent sure, but it’s some sort of … tongue.”
“What?”
“A tongue. Maybe from a cow, but I’m not sure.”
I swallowed hard, trying to fight the lurching feeling in my throat. “Anything else?”
He looked up at the ceiling. “Yes.”
“What?”
“A note.”
God, could he make this any more difficult? “What did it say?” I fought to keep my voice even, but I could hear the frustration colouring my words.
He ran his hand through his hair and fisted his fingers in the long strands on top as he pulled at them.
“Marco.” That time I said it quietly, without the frustration.
“Oh God. It said ‘A little warning. Unless you want yours to end up this way, I suggest you keep it in your own mouth from now on.’ See, that’s why I didn’t want you to know what it said.”
Whatever he saw on my face, he didn’t like it. I tried to rearrange my expression to look neutral but wasn’t sure I succeeded.
He stood and pulled me into his arms. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. I promise,” he said as he pressed a kiss against my forehead.
He released his hold on me as an officer interrupted us to speak to Marco. I told him I would see him at home later.
Marco needed to report the threat and I’d argued that I was perfectly capable of making my own way home. I needed the walk, wanting the fresh air, time to think. As I stepped outside of the police station, I lifted my face towards the sun. Closed my eyes, and took a deep, cleansing breath. I could smell autumn in the air—wood burning, rotting leaves.
I didn’t relish the idea, but I had some time off work due. It would leave me with too much time on my hands, but it would also put some distance between me and Alex. It might stop the threats he’d been receiving.
As soon as I got back to work, I headed towards Alex’s office. Before I could knock on his door, Toby called out to me as he ran down the stairs.
“Jo. I wanted to check you were okay.”
As his feet reached the bottom step, I furrowed my brow at him. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
Toby leaned against the handrail and wrapped his fingers around the wood. His gaze darted from Alex’s office back towards my desk.
“Er … Nicola said the police wanted to question you again. Is everything okay?”
Bloody Nicola. “Everything’s fine. I need to speak to Alex though,” I said, turning towards his office door.
“Jo?”
I looked at Toby over my shoulder. He was standing right behind me.
“If you, er …” Toby glanced up the stairs. “If you need someone to talk to … well, you can talk to me. I wanted to make sure you knew that.”
I stared after him as he ran up the steps. It wasn’t like we were that close, so I was surprised by his offer. And yet he seemed to be aware of what was happening to me. Perhaps he was too interested …
Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts aside and knocked on Alex’s door.
Alex agreed to my time off, and I started to pack my things away on the desk. My thoughts returned to Toby.
“Anything for you, Jo.”
“I said you weren’t like that. I’ll put them straight.”
All the times I’d caught him watching me.
“Bye, Jo. Be careful.” Toby’s voice broke me from my musings.
“Bye.”
As he reached the reception doors, I grabbed my handbag and hurried after him. I wasn’t sure what I was doing but I was sick of doing nothing. Sick of the police doing nothing but asking the same questions over and over.
I followed Toby through the streets until he disappeared round the back of a cafe. The sound of footsteps on metal rang through my ears as I peeked around the corner of the building just in time to see Toby disappear through a door at the top of the metal staircase.
I leaned back against the rough brick wall, my hair catching against it. Great, so I knew where Toby lived. How exactly did that help? What had I been expecting, to find some more dismembered animal parts ready to be sent out as warnings?
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath, pushing off the wall as I opened them again. Toby might not have anything to do with this at all. What was I going to do, follow everyone from the office home?
I headed back towards town feeling stupid and useless.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I headed for home and ended up taking the long way around along the river path. But seeing mums in the park with their kids happily going about their day just highlighted how far from happy my life was.
I veered off the path, heading down towards the river and winding my way through the trees to take a seat on a stone by the grassy bank. I stared across the brown murky water, the water that, no matter what, just kept moving in the same direction. Tucking my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and leaned my head on top of them.
Nature had no doubts, didn’t question the best thing to do; it had only one path to follow. A slight breeze started up, making me shiver. Orange leaves fell from the branches of the trees along the river, floating gently on the air until they reached the water that carried them away. I wished I could be carried away with them to a place where I had no problems.
“Stop it.” Great, now I’m talking to myself. Lifting my head from my knees, I gazed downriver until the water disappeared from sight. Maybe that’s what I needed to do. To disappear.
But what about Marco? I couldn’t avoid him, especially if I wasn’t working. We shared the same house. Had shared the same bed, even. I couldn’t kick him out, so that left me with one choice—I would have to leave for a while. No work, no home, just disappear for a while? If it meant keeping Marco, and possibly even Gabi, safe I had to do it. I knew Marco wouldn’t be happy about it, but I wasn’t about to let something happen to him just because somebody knew we were together.
I couldn’t take that risk with somebody else’s life. Couldn’t wait to find out if they would take it past threats with Alex. And definitely not with Marco.
If I weren’t around, then there would be no reason for any more threats. Whoever was sending them would stop if I didn’t see Alex … or Marco.
I pushed myself up from the grassy bank and dusted my hands over my black trousers. I
t was time to take action instead of just waiting for the next threat to appear. I climbed back up the bank and hurried towards home.
When I reached the steps that led up to the house, I heard raised voices. A woman’s voice.
I peeked through the window into the living room to see Marco standing with his back to me. Then I saw Lily. Her voice had dropped and I couldn’t hear what she was saying to him, but I saw her lift a hand and wrap her fingers around Marco’s jaw. He dropped his hands onto her shoulders but didn’t push her away. Not even when she stepped in closer to him.
I turned away as my stomach tried to climb up my throat. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I ran back down the steps and around the side of the house. My chest rose and fell rapidly as I closed my eyes and tried to take a breath. I opened my eyes again when all I could see behind my closed eyelids was the two of them.
A wave of coldness swept through me, and my body felt numb. I couldn’t believe Marco would get back with Lily. That Marco would do that to me. But if he wasn’t … then what had they been doing?
***
When I opened the front door later that day, I was greeted by silence and headed straight for my bedroom. I dragged my suitcase out from under the bed and laid it open on top of the covers. Starting with my dresser, I yanked open the drawers, throwing clothes towards the suitcase.
“What are you doing?”
“Jesus!” I jumped at the sound of Marco’s voice. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you or scare you. You didn’t answer my question though.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I threw a jumper into the suitcase and pulled open another drawer.
“Okay, let me rephrase it, then. Why are you packing?”
“Because I need to leave. I don’t care what you say. This wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for me. I need to get away from you. From Alex, and Gabi even. If I’m not here, then maybe the threats will stop.”