by Meg Buchanan
Yes, she dared. She didn’t want Mason to have it and it would only take a moment.
She nodded at Adam. “My mother gave me my grandmother’s jewellery when I left to come here. My grandmother wanted me to have it on my wedding day. I would like to take it with me.”
“Where’s it kept?” he asked, looking hopefully at the safe again.
She sighed. That would have made it so easy if it had been kept here. But when Mason said she should store it in the safe, she’d said she wanted to have it near her, so he’d had a small safe installed in her walk-in wardrobe upstairs.
She hesitated again. How important were those pieces really to her? Were they important enough to risk being in the house any longer.
“If you really want them we’ll go and get them.” Adam waited for her to decide.
Of course she wanted them, “They are upstairs,” she said. “If we hurry it won’t take long.” She piled all Mason’s things back in the drawer, fitted the drawer back in place and then shut it. She looked around. He wouldn’t even realise she’d been in here. Now to go and get the ring and chain her grandmother left for her and then she’d leave this house forever.
“Come on,” she said to Adam, and went back into the foyer with him following.
“You two ready to leave?” asked Luke, he glanced out the window beside the door.
“Just getting something from upstairs,” she heard Adam say.
Geneviève raced up the stairs with Adam following close behind. Mason just had to stay away another ten minutes and they’d be gone without him knowing they’d even been here.
She pushed open the door to the bedroom. She looked around. Nothing about it brought back happy memories. The room was as sterile and antiseptic as Mason’s lovemaking had been. Everything still the same as when he first brought her here. The dark grey linen duvet with the lighter grey curtains was sophisticated, but his taste. She liked colour and profusion. Any time she suggested changing anything he’d refuse. He’d said he employed the best interior decorator to get this look and he liked it.
And Mason had sex with her like he owned her. What they did in bed was all about what he wanted. She glanced back at Adam. He smiled at her and she felt her heart quicken. She loved the way he looked and acted, so gentle and caring, but he’d stood up to Mason at the flat earlier and he’d agreed to do this even though he seemed very law-abiding generally. And when he made love to her he wanted her to enjoy it as much as he did.
If she wasn’t careful she could fall in love with him.
But she’d fallen in love quickly with Mason and look how that turned out.
She shook her head at the thought and went into the bedroom. She could see the bed had been slept in since she left here on Saturday night. Mason had pulled the sheets and duvet back up, but it didn’t look the way it did when she made it. So, he had been home.
Adam had followed her in and stood with hands on his hips looking around.
She went over to the walk-in wardrobe where her clothes were. “My jewellery is in here.” She slid the door back and gasped at what she found. Her clothes were strewn all over the floor, the rails ripped from their fittings, the drawers had all their contents tipped out and lay in amongst the clothes. Mason had destroyed everything.
She stepped back her hand to her throat. Was he looking for something specific or just so angry he destroyed her things? He must really hate her. His anger and violence frightened her even more now than before.
Chapter Twelve
Adam watched Geneviève open the wardrobe door and then recoil, her hand to her throat again.
“What is it?” Adam went over. “Fuck,” he said when he saw the mess in the wardrobe. “I guess this is Mason’s work.”
Geneviève nodded. “He’s pulled everything apart. I think he was looking for my passport.” She turned to him and Adam wrapped his arms around her.
“Is this where he thought you kept it?” He could feel her shaking again.
“I guess so. We never talked about it.” She looked at the open safe. “That is where my jewellery was kept. He must have known the combination.”
He wasn’t surprised Mason knew that. From what he’d seen Geneviève used the same pin for everything. Probably her birthdate or something else easy to guess.
She pushed herself away from him and went into the wardrobe again. She hesitantly stepped over the clothes and things spread on the floor. “I don’t mind if Mason’s destroyed or taken the things he’s given me. But what if my grandmother’s jewellery isn’t here?”
Adam watched Geneviève push the safe door further open and look inside. He hoped Mason had just been looking for the passport and wouldn’t have cared about the jewellery.
“Is it there?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It’s empty. Nothing. Not the new jewellery or the beautiful old pieces my grandmother left me.” Geneviève dropped to her knees and searched frantically amongst the mess, pushing and throwing everything around as she searched so it all turned into an even bigger jumble. Getting more and more upset. She looked stricken.
“Is it there?” He could see jewellery boxes in amongst the clothes and drawers on the floor.
“Don’t know.” The search became even more frantic.
He stopped her. “You’re not going to find it like that. Let me help you. What are we looking for?” He couldn’t help her if he didn’t even know what she was trying to find. He held her tight again.
“A ring and chain,” she sobbed into his chest. “They are very old and very beautiful and have been in my family for generations.”
“Okay, we’ll shake everything and put it over there once we’re sure nothing is tangled up.” He pointed to an empty space on the floor.
She nodded, and he tipped anything still in the drawers onto the pile and handed the drawers to her. She slid them back into position. Then one by one they carefully picked up the items of clothing, gave them a shake and then piled them into the corner.
Every now and then an earring or a chain would fall to the floor but when he looked over at Geneviève she would shake her head. He picked up the pieces of jewellery and put them on a shelf. Slowly the little pile of gold and silver grew, but none of it looked old.
Finally, once they’d gone through all the clothes Geneviève turned back to Adam. “It’s gone.”
“Is your grandma’s jewellery all he took?” Adam asked.
Geneviève nodded. “I think so. Everything I remember him giving me is here.” Mason might have been an arsehole, but a generous one. The pile of jewellery on the shelf looked expensive.
Geneviève shrugged. “He liked me to look nice, so he gave me expensive jewellery.” Then she looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears again. “What am I going to do? It is all I had that belonged to my grandmother.”
He held her again. This was taking too long. Mason could still come back. It didn’t seem likely anyone this angry would calmly go off to work just because it was Monday.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But it is just stuff even if it does have sentimental value. Let’s get out of here before he comes back. You’ve got what you need to get away from him.” He nodded at the pocket she’d put the passport in.
Geneviève sighed. “You are right. Let’s go.”
Adam held her hand. He felt shocked by the violence of what Mason had done to the wardrobe. He’d destroyed everything in it. There was no way he wanted to run into someone capable of doing that.
They started down the stairs, back to the foyer where Noah and Luke were waiting for them.
A sudden crash and a yell came from downstairs. Mason’s voice filled with outrage floated up at them. “What the hell are you doing in my house.”
Adam wasn’t sure what the crash was, but something had hit the ground. “Stay here,” he said to Geneviève.
“No,” she said. “I’m not hiding in my own house.”
“Okay.” He took her hand again and they took the stairs two at a time.
&n
bsp; More crashing and the sound of a scuffle came from the foyer. Maybe Mason had attacked Luke or Noah. Or maybe he had someone with him and they were all fighting. Luke and Noah should be able to take care of themselves and they should be enough to control Mason, but he didn’t know if they could fight.
At the bottom of the stairs, he could see Luke standing back from the door of the foyer. And Noah holding a struggling and angry looking Mason in a bear hug.
“Let me go now,” Mason yelled.
“Not likely,” said Luke. He looked up at the staircase. “What the hell are we going to do now?” he asked. “We’re going to finish up in jail.”
How would he know what to do now? thought Adam. He didn’t break and enter.
“Let him go,” he said to Noah. Mason had backed off last time he realised it was three against one. The crash had been an expensive looking piece of pottery falling off the hall table and shattering on the tiles. He guessed that must have happened when Noah went for Mason, or maybe the other way around.
Noah released Mason. Probably he’d never tried restraining anyone in their own house before.
What now?
Mason looked up at him and Geneviève coming down the stairs. He had his phone in his hands.
“I’m ringing the police,” roared Mason. “There’s no way you’re getting away with breaking into my house. And that cheating bitch stole money from me.” He nodded at Geneviève.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Adam held onto Geneviève’s hand and went down the last few steps. He knew he had a few seconds to convince this idiot it wasn’t in his best interests to call the police or they were all in the shit.
“Why the fuck not?” asked Mason. But he did hesitate.
“Because it will go worse for you than it will for us.” He turned to Geneviève. “Where’s your phone?” he asked her.
She stopped, dug in the pocket of her hoodie. Found the phone and handed it to him. Mason stood there watching them, still not making good his threat to dial 111.
Adam hit the recorded messages icon on Geneviève’s phone, put in pin and hit speaker. It seemed take ages for any message to decide to play.
Then Mason’s voice saying clearly, I’ll find you bitch and then you’ll regret this, echoed loudly across the foyer. He played another couple of messages, as threatening and as incriminating as the first one.
“Do you still want to call the cops?” Adam asked.
Mason lowered his phone.
Adam breathed a sigh of relief. Even Mason could hear how incriminating that sounded, and combined with the mess in the wardrobe, the police probably wouldn’t be too sympathetic towards him.
“I don’t know if you remember leaving these messages but there are plenty more.” He hit the icon again and the next threatening message played. “And a lot of texts along the same lines, and the bruise on your wife’s cheek. We just came to get her passport and her grandmother’s jewellery and nothing else. Any damage done to this house, you did. So, I suggest you move aside and let us out.” As he talked, Adam, still holding Geneviève’s hand walked across the foyer towards the door.
“And make any trouble we’ll help Geneviève go to the police and lay a complaint about the abuse. She’ll use the messages and the bruises as evidence.”
By now he’d reached Mason who still looked angry but didn’t look like he planned on ringing the police anymore. A good thing.
“Now,” said Adam. “Where is this jewellery?”
Mason hesitated. Adam wasn’t too sure whether he’d even admit to knowing what he was talking about.
Geneviève tightened her grip on his hand. “Please, Mason,” she said quietly. “I don’t want anything else from you, but I would like my grandmother’s jewellery.”
Mason looked at her. “Don’t think this is over bitch.” Adam could just about see the hate radiate from his eyes.
He dropped Geneviève’s hand and stepped toward her husband. “At least have enough sense to be civil when you’re outnumbered four to one. Now where’s the jewellery?”
Mason stared at him, then Luke and Noah.
“Four?” he asked. The man obviously didn’t even count Geneviève as being there.
“Just get the jewellery. I’m sure you want us gone as much as we want to leave.”
Mason gave in. He nodded at the door that led to the office.
“It’s in the safe in there.”
That seemed reasonable. “Lead the way,” said Adam. “You two come too,” he said to Luke and Noah. They’d all go into the office in case Mason tried something. He still seemed like the sort of arsehole who might have a gun stashed somewhere.
“Unlock it, then stand back,” he told Mason, still worrying about a gun and where else would it be but in the safe?
Mason did it, and Geneviève opened the safe door. Laying there on top of all the papers and cashbox you’d expect to see in a safe were two small black velvet boxes.
Geneviève carefully took them out and opened them.
“That them?” asked Adam and she nodded. “They all right?” She nodded again.
Then they walked past Mason and out the door. Luke and Noah followed. Heard another crash as the door slammed behind them.
They walked down the driveway past the silver Mercedes parked there now.
Geneviève still felt sure Mason would do something to stop them getting away. He had to feel humiliated. He wouldn’t want to leave it like that.
She looked up at Adam. He’d been amazing. He’d helped her get the passport and the jewellery and they hadn’t all finished up in jail. What would have happened if he hadn’t thought of using the messages Mason had left on her phone?
She let his hand go, hugged his arm and lay her head against his shoulder. “My white knight.” she said.
Adam gave her a wry grin. They were at the gate and she punched the numbers into the keypad hoping Mason still hadn’t thought to change the code. The grinding sound of the gate opening started. In moments she’d really be free. She clutched at her passport to reassure herself, then looked at Adam. He still had the two little velvet boxes in his hand.
Had they been worth risking a confrontation with Mason?
“Mate,” said Luke to Adam. “That was bloody impressive. And as for Noah here, who knew he knew how to restrain someone? You lot have hidden depths.”
“What happened when we were upstairs?” asked Adam.
“The bastard just appeared. We didn’t hear him coming, the door opened and there he was yelling and swinging at us like a maniac. Next thing Noah had him in a choke hold. But what he planned on doing next is beyond me.” Luke shook his head. “How did you come up with threatening him with those messages? How did you know he’d care?”
The gate ground shut once they were through it and they headed for Luke’s car.
“Lucky guess.” Adam looked down at Geneviève. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “I am now.”
Chapter Thirteen
They got back to the flat and had lunch. Hard to believe it was only midday when so much had happened. Tessa and Keira had gone to whatever they did during the day.
Luke wandered into the lounge with a plate of sandwiches and a mug of coffee. “I’m heading home after this,” he said. “I’ll swing past the pub and check the crates are gone, then head back and spend some time with the olds.”
Adam watched Luke perch on the arm of the couch and put the mug on the floor. From what Isaac said, things were pretty strained between Luke and his parents over this trip to Australia. Tessa really must have ditched him for him to leave the flat now. No way would Luke be spending time with angry parents if he and Tessa were on good terms.
Adam checked again to see if it made any difference.
No, he wanted to be with Geneviève.
“I’ll head back Wednesday,” said Noah. “I’m staying at Dana’s place for the next couple of days.” That was the way someone with a girlfriend spent the last few days before they left
. With the girlfriend.
“What about you two?” Noah asked Adam.
“I’m not sure yet.” Adam kept his arm around Geneviève. They still had to talk about that.
“What now?” asked Adam once they were alone in his room. She had been trying to decide what she wanted to do. She wanted to be with Adam but what would happen it Mason found her? Adam had surprised him with the threats to use the recordings on her phone, so he’d backed off but right now he’d be very angry and trying to work out a way to get back at them.
She sat down on the bed and looked up at Adam. “You are leaving in a few days, so I think I should book the tickets to go home as soon as possible.”
“Okay.” Adam sat down at his computer and fired it up. “Do you have a credit card or something you can pay with?”
Geneviève shook her head. She went over to where he was sitting. “I have checked my phone. I don’t have access to my accounts anymore. That must have been the first thing Mason did.”
“We’ll use my credit card then.” Adam fished in his back pocket for his wallet.
“I can give you the cash.” Geneviève leaned over his shoulder and watched Adam swipe through the airline’s website.
After a few false starts with the website he got to the schedule of flights then looked up at her.
“Wednesday is the first flight available with a spare seat. Is that all right?”
“Then I have two days to wait?”
Adam nodded. “Two days isn’t very long.”
Geneviève shook her head. “It is a long time if we stay here, Adam. Mason knows where you live. Noah and Luke will be gone, and I think you should leave too. I will find somewhere else to hide.”
She saw Adam frown a little at that and then tap his fingers on the desk.
“No,” he said after thinking for a moment. “Stay with me until you leave.”
“Where?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I should go home and say goodbye to my parents. We go there. We stay on the move together.” He smiled as he suggested it, then looked up at her again.