‘I know whose phone it is,’ the woman said. ‘I want to know who you are.’
There was a certain note of bellicose aggression to the other woman’s voice now. A certain sense of ownership, as though she somehow sensed that her territory had been invaded by this woman that was answering Ethan’s phone when he was meant to be here on his own.
Hayley couldn’t understand it. The woman sounded too old to be romantically involved with Ethan and, in any case, the way he had spoken of being alone with Katy, Hayley was fairly certain he was on his own in the world. He said his mother had died. His sister was too frail looking and also too young to be the woman on the other end of the line.
‘I think he’ll be at the phone in a second,’ Hayley said, hoping she sounded as though she didn’t understand the aggressive tone. This seemed the easiest way of not having to respond to it.
A moment later, the door was still closed and Hayley was still standing there. She had moved the receiver away from her ear. But Ethan still wasn’t coming.
She moved the receiver back to her mouth. As much as she had the sense that it would be better to avoid this woman, she had to speak.
‘Would you like me to take a message?’ she asked.
The woman snorted. ‘Tell him Elspeth called.’
‘Elizabeth?’
‘Elspeth.’ The woman swore. ‘That boy doesn’t get to liking them any brighter. I said Elspeth. E-L-S-P-E-T-H. Tell Ethan — that’s if you know his real name — that I want to hear back from him as soon as he…finds the time.’
Carrying a small black fabric bag, Ethan re-emerged from the other room almost as soon as Hayley hung up. He looked surprised to see her standing and her hand on the receiver.
Surely he had heard it ringing? Hayley wondered if he had trouble with his hearing.
But she was unable to stop herself stepping back quickly, as though she did feel guilty about something, although such an idea was ridiculous.
‘A woman named Elspeth rang,’ she said, just to make things perfectly clear. ‘She wants you to call her back straight away.’
There was something in his eyes that was almost laughter at the mention of Elspeth’s name. Which at least meant that this particular woman was not someone to worry about.
‘We’ll call her from the car,’ Ethan said. ‘Let’s go.’
***
Ethan drove a long, low, sporty Italian car of the kind that Hayley had only ever seen before on televised car races. He opened the passenger side door for her then sprinted around to his side and was speeding out of the garage while she was still fastening her seatbelt.
Hayley took a deep breath. The night had taken on a weird feeling of unreality. It wasn’t just the way Ethan insisted on pretending she was beautiful. It didn’t seem as though anything here could really be happening. She had been shot at. She and Ethan were rushing off into the Italian nighttime to rescue a potential kidnap victim from her nightmares.
None of this seemed like it could possibly be part of the sensible, organised life of Hayley Wolfe, wedding photographer. Perhaps she would feel a bit more like herself if she returned to the hobby she usually buried herself in when there was anxiety in her life. Thankfully, her camera bag was in her lap. She patted it and that gesture itself was comforting.
‘Do you mind if I take photos?’ she asked.
His hand on the gearstick, Ethan looked across at her. There was a puzzled expression on his face. ‘Why would you want to do that?’ he asked.
She shrugged. ‘I find it relaxing, I suppose.’
His eyes back on the road, Ethan shrugged. Hayley watched as a muscle in the side of his jaw twitched, then his arms softened. He was obviously making some attempt to keep himself calm as well. After all, it was Katy’s nightmares that had precipitated this nighttime ride. Hayley knew that nightmares are often the result of anxiety and stress. It would not do the little girl any good for her father to turn up looking worried and tense.
‘I won’t take any photos that could possibly give information to Tomasi,’ Hayley promised.
What she really wanted to do was take a photograph of Ethan’s profile right now. With his eyebrows as thick, straight lines and his jaw clenched, he was the living picture of a strong man keeping himself under closer control. The look was dangerous and sexy.
‘We won’t be passing many weddings out here tonight,’ he observed in a deep voice.
Hayley laughed. ‘That’s how I earn a living. I take interesting photos as well,’ she said. ‘It’s just hard to get anyone to pay for those.’
‘Hell, we all make livings any way we can,’ Ethan said. ‘My own work can get dangerous I’m told. Some of my colleagues have been in really tricky situations. SO far I’ve been okay.’
Then she pulled out her camera and took the photo she had wanted. Ethan, captured forever on the memory card inside her camera. Something for her to look at when she got back home. Hayley was already sure that this whole adventure was going to come to seem like one long, unlikely dream.
They reached the end of the narrow road that only led to Ethan’s villa and turned onto one of the wider country roads. At night, the trees that had shaded her scooter ride earlier seemed almost black.
‘Weddings are work,’ she said. ‘You have to earn a living doing something. Weddings are one of the few things that people will pay to have photographed these days.’
‘You’d rather do something else?’
‘I’d rather do just about anything else. I don’t even like weddings.’
Ethan tapped the steering wheel. ‘A photographer that doesn’t like weddings? I bet the brides all love you.’
‘It’s not something I tell very many of them,’ Hayley said. She turned towards her window and took a photo of the scenery speeding by outside. It was beginning to be early morning and there was a beautiful orange glow along the horizon.
‘What’s wrong with weddings?’ Ethan asked. ‘Most married people have had one.’
‘It’s more the marriage than the wedding I’m sceptical about,’ Hayley confessed. ‘I mean, weddings are fine as an excuse for a pretty dress and a big party. But marriage…’
‘Marriage…? What were you about to say?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. I just don’t think marriage is a very good idea.’ Hayley slid the camera back into its case. ‘I suspect it’s for people who can’t cope with life on their own.’
‘You said you were only married for a very short while.’
‘It was long enough for me to form an opinion about it,’ Hayley insisted. ‘The reality is that sometimes, we all just have to be lonely.’
‘Maybe it’s not so hard to be on your own if you have someone special waiting for you at home,’ Ethan said.
Hayley shook her head. ‘Being lonely is sometimes better than being with someone else. I know. I saw it with my own parents.’
Ethan accelerated further as the road broadened and the vision out the front window brightened. ‘One marriage not working out doesn’t damn the whole institution,’ he said.
‘It’s not just that,’ Hayley said. ‘People go on and on about fate, that sort of thing. I don’t believe in fate.’
‘Neither do I. That’s something we can agree about.’
‘Anyway, you’ve been married. I’m sorry to say this, but you don’t make it sound like being married to Erica was the happiest time of your life.’
Hayley stopped suddenly, her hand over her mouth. She had said too much. She was always either asking too many questions or offering too many of her own opinions.
‘I know I shouldn’t have said that!’ she wailed.
Ethan turned to smile very briefly at her. ‘No, you’re right. My marriage wasn’t a great success. But I was happier then than I am now.’
‘That doesn’t mean anything. It’s worrying about Katy that makes you miserable now.’
‘I still believe people can be married and be happy.’
‘I’ll have to see someone do
it before I have any belief,’ Hayley said.
‘Your own parents?’ asked Ethan.
‘Divorced when I was very young. My father brought me up on his own.’
‘Your father? That has to be unusual.’
‘It is.’
Hayley fell into silence. She did not like to talk about her mother. The glow along the horizon brightened and extended as they drove. Hayley had new questions she wanted answered. She wanted to know who Elspeth was. Was she the PA that Ethan said babysat Katy sometimes? What sort of personal role did she have in their lives? How long would it take them to reach Katy’s school? But she was acutely aware of the way Ethan had mocked her about all her questions.
Instead of asking, she stuck to her camera. This was a beautiful part of the world and there was some new scenic wonder that would make a wonderful image at every turn in the road.
‘Come on,’ Ethan said, when it was finally bright enough outside for it to be called day rather than night.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I said come on. I mean, spit it out. You have something you want to know. Questions you want to ask.’
‘You’re very perceptive.’
‘You’re not exactly subtle,’ Ethan observed. ‘Sitting there like that. What is it that you want to know?’
‘I was wondering about two things,’ Hayley confessed. ‘Since you ask.’
‘I suppose I should be surprised it’s only two. You’re in the wrong profession. You should have been a reporter.’
Hayley had actually considered this from time to time. But this was not the right moment for a discussion about career decisions. ‘How long will it be until we get there?’ she asked instead.
Ethan looked at his watch. ‘I’d say about twenty minutes,’ he said.
They had been travelling for over an hour already. The beautiful countryside looked different now that she was aware of some of the contemporary feuds being carried out. Machiavellian, almost.
‘Aren’t there any schools closer to your house?’ Hayley asked.
Ethan shook his head. ‘Well, there would be. I wanted Katy in the safest place. And not necessarily one that would be easy to find. That was your second question?’
‘No.’
‘Yes, it was. You asked how far the school was. Then you asked if there weren’t schools closer.’
‘I didn’t mean that to be my second question.’
‘Nevertheless…’ Ethan began. But when he looked at her, his eyes were crinkling and she knew he was joking. ‘I only agreed to two.’
‘I’ve been wondering who Elspeth is,’ Hayley insisted. ‘I mean, you said you’d call her from the car. But you haven’t. Don’t you think she’ll be worried?’
Ethan shook his head. ‘She probably got news about Katy too,’ he said. ‘She probably just wanted to make sure I had the message.’
‘If she’s worried, shouldn’t you call?’
Ethan seemed to consider it. ‘She’ll understand,’ he decided.
‘What’s her connection to Katy?’
‘Four questions!’ Ethan raised his hands in a characteristic gesture of surprise. ‘I certainly did not agree to that.’
Hayley raised her camera and took a close up photo of his fingers. Despite his jaunty tone and the light-hearted nature of what he was saying, his hands were so still they were an honest expression of how he was feeling.
‘Elspeth is my personal assistant,’ Ethan explained. ‘She helped me a lot with Katy after Erica died. A young girl needs a woman’s influence.’
‘She sounded a bit old to be a secretary.’ Hayley did not mean for her tone to sound as sceptical as it did.
‘She would be. Don’t ever mention the ‘S’ word around her,’ Ethan said. ‘It’s personal assistant or nothing. She used to work for my father. She’s a good woman but she still feels somewhat maternal towards me I think.’
‘So you do have someone who cares for you!’
‘Someone I need to escape from would be a more accurate assessment,’ Ethan said. They had reached an intersection and he turned onto a smaller road. ‘Elspeth has been warning me about women who are just interested in money since I was about ten years old.’
Hayley nodded. So that was why the woman had sounded so suspicious of her. She did not trust anyone that Ethan might have at his place. The suspicion was probably intensified because Ethan could not have mentioned her to Elspeth before.
‘Here we are,’ said Ethan as they pulled up beside another Tuscan style building, this one even larger and more grand than his own.
Hayley opened her door and climbed out from the low seat. She could hear gravel crunching as Ethan walked around to join her.
How odd it felt to be back near a school. Hayley had walked away from her own at the end of her final year with a feeling of relief and gladness that she would never had to go back. She hadn’t liked it there, where there were too many people around always telling her what to do. As no doubt happened to the poor girls who lived and studied here.
There were two wide, tall green doors before them, both of them locked. Ethan went up to one and pressed the intercom button beside it before announcing himself.
‘Signor MacDonald!’ a voice crackled back at them. It was rich with a heavy Italian accent. ‘I will be right down.’
Ethan stepped back and looked at Hayley. Once again, he was showing all the signs of tension. His shoulders were square and high, his hands clutching a wallet to one side, his mobile phone to the other. More than anything else, she hoped that when the door was opened it would be Katy herself who was there, a happy little girl excited about seeing her Daddy who would come running through and throw herself into his arms.
But when the door opened, it revealed a tall and iron-haired woman in a long green dress. ‘Signor MacDonald,’ she said, and then nodded at Hayley. ‘Signora. But you are back very soon. Was something forgotten?’
‘I told you I’d be coming,’ Ethan said. His voice betrayed the kind of confusion that Hayley felt. The two of them were quite clearly not expected.
‘You told me someone would come for her,’ the woman said. Now she was also looking confused. And not a little worried.
Why was this all taking so long? Hayley wanted to scream at the woman to tell her to hurry up, to explain what was going on. Beside her, the same emotions were radiating from Ethan.
‘And her aunt,’ the woman continued, ‘Signora Pearl. She was here to pick her up just half an hour ago. She said you sent her…’
Chapter Seven
‘What do you mean?’ Ethan demanded, stepping forward.
The headmistress took a responding step back. Later, he would think he couldn’t blame her for this. He must have looked like he was fit to murder her.
He certainly felt like he was fit to murder her.
‘Someone already came and took Katy away?’ asked Hayley, as if it wasn’t already all too obvious that this was what was going on.
‘Pearl wasn’t operating on your instructions?’ asked the headmistress. Her face had gone white.
Ethan shook his head.
‘Step inside. I’ll see what else I can find out.’
She turned and walked into a wide, honey-coloured hall. ‘Miss Morris?’ she called out, pressing one of a row of buttons beside the hallstand.
A head poked out through the nearest door. ‘Yes, Anna?’
‘Mr MacDonald is here. Katy’s father.’
‘Did you forget something?’
‘Mr MacDonald has come to collect Katy.’
‘But she already — Oh!’ The woman’s face sank into an expression of horror. ‘They’ve only just left,’ she said. ‘It took a while for Katy to pick up her stuff. Their car might still be —’
It was all the invitation and information that Ethan needed. Ethan span on his heel and raced back through the front door. The car park where he had left his sports car was twenty metres away. Even as he watched, he heard an engine revving and an expensi
ve blue car shot forward into view.
‘That’s him?’ he heard Hayley asking behind him.
‘Yes,’ said the second of the teachers. ‘They —’
What she had been about to say was lost to the wind as Ethan took off, running towards his car. He heard Hayley’s footsteps as she ran along behind him. He was glad of that, although with Katy’s safety being at stake, he would have left without Hayley.
‘Pearl doesn’t drive,’ he said, between clenched teeth. ‘She must be with someone else.’
It occurred to him now that when they first arrived here, Katy would have been just a few metres away, getting into the other car. Who ever it was who had her must have told her something to make her avert her eyes. She would have recognised Ethan’s car the moment she saw it and would have come running towards him as soon as she did. Or at the very least, she would have called out. If she had still been able to call out.
The pain that had gathered in his stomach tightened into an agonising ache.
He threw open his door and landed in his seat at the same time as Hayley landed in hers.
‘They’ve gone out the gate and turned to the right,’ Hayley said. ‘I was watching.’
For the first time it occurred to him that it was better to be doing this with Hayley. Together, they formed some kind of a team. A partnership. That was why police officers always worked together. Hayley was his partner in this. She could be his eyes and ears when there was something going on, something that had already seized his attention and he might miss out on something afterwards.
She was a good passenger too. Ethan had chosen this car because it was known to be both fast and safe and he was soon really testing both qualities as they sped towards the intersection between the driveway and the road.
‘There he is!’ called Hayley a moment later.
Trusting a Stranger Page 8