But what if the door was open already? I banished the thought immediately. There was a simpler explanation. For Meg and for Jackson.
‘How easy is the CCTV to get to?’
‘I can see the live feed on my screen, but I can’t get into the archive. Besides, the camera at the entrance is faulty. That’s why Bob was in such a mood with me – among many other things. I forgot to mention to him that the camera is on the blink. I never look at it, why would I? The police asked him about it earlier today, and then I had to admit that it’s been broken for a while.’
We were stuck. Meg had gone AWOL, so had Jackson. The CCTV was on the blink, so that wasn’t going to be any help whatsoever. I needed to get my phone charged, try to contact Meg again, then get my story straight with Ellie. All of a sudden a weekend of social media strategy seemed to be the least of my problems.
I don’t think I’d ever really thought about how much I hadn’t told Meg until circumstances forced me to think it through.
There was Alex for starters. Meg knew we’d had a relationship, she’d sensed our closeness. Of course, she was intimidated by the celebrity factor with Alex. Who wouldn’t be?
To me, Alex was just a normal person, to Meg, I guess she must have been a threat. I understood that.
Meg wasn’t aware that Alex and I had some form of online interaction on most days. Why was I hiding it? Was it because it would have been insensitive to flaunt it? I’m not sure now, but I was caught in my own silence, I would never have admitted to her that we’d lived together for so long. It never came up. I talked about those times in terms of work and where I lived, it was easy to airbrush Alex out of the picture. It made my life simpler too. I could feel the hackles coming up whenever I mentioned it, so it became a no-go area in our relationship.
I never mentioned the miscarriage either. If I’d been more open about Alex, the miscarriage experience would have been discussed long before Meg and I started having our problems. It was too late to share when we found that we were going to have difficulties conceiving. What was I going to tell Meg? ‘Oh, by the way, I got that woman you hate on the TV pregnant by accident a decade ago!’ I can imagine how well that would have gone down.
It was all in the past for me – Alex, the miscarriage – they were part of another life, one that took place before I met Meg. My life started again when I met her, and I’d loved every minute of it before things started to get difficult for us. I’d been with Meg longer than I’d been with Alex, and when Alex and I went our separate ways, we drifted apart. Neither of us fought for it, we just let it slip through our fingers.
I was ready to fight for Meg. I was battle weary, that was for certain, it’s why I’d been tempted by Ellie. But I was ready to resume the struggle and push forward to a victory. I loved Meg with all my heart, it was our situation that I hated. Yet I’d realised, thinking again about my life with Alex, that it was fear that was making me so unsure about trying for a baby. I was scared. What happened with me and Alex was still having an impact on me over ten years since it had occurred. I’d pushed the thought of having children to the back of my mind. That was quite a shock to me. I’d just seen our marital situation with more clarity than ever before. Maybe I was more at fault than I’d cared to admit. And my dislike of Martin? Well, he was a prat, there was no denying that, but I’d shut him out, right from the start. Was it because of my previous bad experiences with counselling?
A mixture of guilt and fear made me crave Meg’s presence. I wanted to see her there and then. It was a two-hour drive back home. Could I get there, spend the night with her, then be back in Newcastle in time for part two of the working weekend?
The decision was made for me. As I began to head out of the reception area, a police officer walked through the door.
‘Are you Peter Bailey, sir? Room 123?’
I nodded. I was expecting this, but I hadn’t thought that they’d seek me out first.
‘I’m afraid we can’t allow you to re-enter your room at the moment, we’ve had to gain access as part of a preliminary investigation.’
‘Oh?’ was all I could offer. My journalistic abilities failed me at that moment.
‘Nothing to worry about, sir, but we will need to have a chat with you at some point. You’re not planning to leave anytime soon are you?’
‘No, no, I’m here for the night. I was thinking about popping home overnight, but I guess that’s out of the question now. What’s up? Is anything wrong?’
I was getting increasingly concerned about Meg. I could feel Jenny’s eyes burning into me at the reception desk, she looked petrified. We both had something at stake here, it was all beginning to feel a bit precarious.
‘Do you have somewhere you could go, sir, while we’re making our checks of the rooms? We won’t be long. It’s just routine. I’ll need to send a colleague to have a quick chat with you and make sure that we have your contact details.’
‘May I borrow a pen and paper, Jenny?’ I asked, keen to be as helpful as I could. Jenny scurried around her desk, tearing a page off a memo pad and handing me her pen. I wrote down my mobile number, my home number and work phone details. I added my email address, then scribbled it out. The police wouldn’t be sending me email updates any time soon. I added my home address too; if they needed to speak with me again, they might dispatch someone local.
‘Thank you, sir. Will you be in the hotel all night?’
‘Yes, I’ll stay in the bar area. My mobile is dead by the way, I’ll see if I can find a charger and get it topped up. I’ll eat in the hotel this evening. How long until I can get back into my room?’
‘No more than two hours, sir. The room has been made up by housekeeping since this morning, there’s very little that we need to look at in there.’
‘Are you looking for anything in particular? Can I help?’
‘No, no need, sir, so long as we can speak to you this evening we’ll trouble you as little as we can. If this young lad shows his face, it’ll all be over anyway. But until he does, we have to make sure everything is taken care of.’
The police officer took the sheet of paper from me and returned to the corridor which led towards my room.
I turned to Jenny. ‘How much are they searching?’
‘Everything from the final fire door and up to the fire exit,’ she replied. ‘That’s seven rooms and a store cupboard. It’s only you and one other guest affected, everybody else checked out this morning. They’ve been collecting guest names for the entire hotel. Can you see why I’m so scared now?’
‘It’s okay, Jenny, just stick to what I told you and keep chasing Jackson. You’ll need to make sure he has his story straight when they find him. And give him a kick up the arse from me when they do.’
Jenny made a face. She was in no mood for anything remotely resembling humour.
‘I need to find a friend’s room. She has the same phone type as me, I need to borrow her charger. Can you tell me which room she’s in?’
‘I’m not really supposed to do that, but yes, what’s her name?’
I stopped dead in my tracks. How embarrassing. What was Ellie’s surname?
‘First name is Ellie,’ I blustered. ‘She might have registered as ...’
What was Ellie short for? Eleanor? Ellen? Elisa? I wasn’t doing a very good job of covering my tracks, I’d have to perform much better when I spoke to the police.
‘Try Ellie. She usually prefers Ellie.’
‘I’ve got her. Ellie Turner?’
‘Yes, that’s Ellie!’ I confirmed, relieved that Jenny had found her.
‘Room 403, use the lift, it’s to your left as you walk through the door.’
‘What’s that app you use to speak to Jackson, Jenny? Maybe we should connect on there ... in case you need to ask my advice again?’
‘It’s Erazerr, it’s free. I’m JEN1995, you’ll see my picture. I’m easy to find.’
1995. How could an adult have been born in 1995? That was a couple of ye
ars before I’d met Alex.
‘Thanks, Jenny. Look, let me know if you hear anything about what’s going on along the corridor. I’ll get connected on Erazerr as soon as I can get some charge on my phone. I’ll let you know when I’m back downstairs in case the cops need me. You okay?’
Jenny nodded. We were in collusion, but we weren’t guilty of anything, at least anything that the police would get excited about. So long as we told them the truth about our movements and what we’d seen, we’d be in the clear and it wouldn’t mess up whatever they were up to.
I forced a smile for Jenny, then headed up to Ellie’s room.
I had to get some charge on my phone and start making calls. And I needed to see what Alex was talking about on Facebook. It was unusual for Alex to send a message like that. And about Meg too.
As I headed upwards in the lift, I did a sense-check on going to see Ellie. I hoped that I could get to her room without anybody seeing me, that might complicate things. Normally I’d have sought out Jem, but Ellie and I needed to get our stories straight. Who’d seen us together the previous night? Only that nerd guy who wouldn’t make himself scarce at the end of the evening. I hadn’t even seen him that day, he must have been in one of the other working groups.
I stepped out of the lift and tried to figure out the numbering on the rooms. The corridor was quiet, that evening lull when everybody is back for the day but it’s too soon to hit the pub or go for a meal. It would usually be the time that I’d check in with Meg, see how her day had gone, ask about that day’s post.
I found Ellie’s room and gently tapped at the door.
‘Hang on!’ I heard her call. There was some movement in the room. I saw the shadow underneath the door as she went to open it from the inside. She paused, I saw a flicker as she peered through the spy hole. Clever girl. After what I’d seen of Dave earlier that day, that was a sensible thing to do.
She opened the door in her towel, I’d obviously caught her just out of the shower. Had it been any other time and any other circumstances, I might have tried my luck again, but she obviously felt the same. Sex was off the cards, this was business. She quickly let me into the room.
‘Everything okay with Dave?’ I asked, genuinely concerned about what had happened to her earlier.
‘Yes, thanks. What a pillock! They took him to the cells for a while to let him calm down, I haven’t heard anything from him since.’
I spotted her phone charging on the desk. I was right, she was Android, like me, no iPhone for Ellie.
‘Can I borrow your charger? I’m completely flat.’
The connection lead fitted into my phone and the charging icon appeared. I tried to switch it on, but it was too dead. I’d have to give it a few minutes.
‘Have you seen the police activity downstairs?’ I asked.
‘Yes, something to do with a kid who went missing after the fire alarm last night. Seems to be a big deal about nothing to me. I suppose they have to go through the motions, though.’
‘Well, it looks like I’m going to get involved in it. Something was happening in the room next to mine last night. They’re in my room now.’
‘Oh shit, was it anything serious?’
Ellie looked immediately concerned, she’d clocked the implications for the two of us straight away.
‘I don’t want to get all CSI about it, but the room was refreshed by housekeeping this morning. The sheets and towels will be at the cleaners by now. No one is going to stumble across the fact that we slept together, but we’ll have to get our story straight.’
‘Yes, yes, I agree. Do they think it’s anything serious? Why are they doing the full Poirot if it’s only a missing person?’
‘They’re just going through the motions at this stage. There is a bit of a complication, though. Apparently there were signs of trouble in the room, according to Jenny in reception. Did you hear anything?’
Ellie smiled. It was a weak smile, but it was there nevertheless. Like me, she was thinking back to the previous night’s activities.
‘I seem to remember you were going down on me at the time. I wasn’t really thinking about anything else. I did notice that the ceiling needed painting, mind you ...’
I smiled back. It was equally weak. I liked Ellie, she was funny. But I wasn’t in the mood for it, I needed to get some answers. I tried my phone again. It had 5 percent charge, but it was enough to bring it back to life.
‘Bloody thing! Excuse me, I need to get an app loaded on this.’
‘Mind if I get dressed?’ Ellie asked.
‘No fine, I’m sorry to barge in on you like this.’
I went to the apps area and searched for Erazerr. It was easy to find, but I needed a wireless connection.
‘Jesus, they don’t half make it hard to get connected in these places. Do you have a code?’
Ellie had gone into the bathroom to get dressed. I guess it would have seemed strange to do it in the room in front of me, even though we’d spent the previous night in bed together. She poked her head round the door. I caught sight of her. She was wearing green briefs, a lovely colour, I’d not seen that before. I liked it. I caught the curve of her breast through the gap in the door. I pulled my gaze back to her face, she’d clocked my interest.
‘It’s on a scrap of paper by my bed. It’s good for three devices, should be fine.’
I tapped in the code, confirmed the connection and downloaded the app. While that was chugging away, I saw that I had text messages on my phone. Nothing from Meg. One from Jem. Was I going out for drinks later? One from Alex wondering where I was.
Erazerr confirmed that it had successfully installed, so I registered for an account as quickly as I could. PBailey03, name and birthday, nothing fancy. Confirm email address, more buggering about, and I was in.
Ellie came out of the bathroom wearing figure-hugging jeans and a tight-fitting T-shirt showing the shape of her breasts. I could see the green of her bra straps too, the same green as her briefs. Matching underwear again. Damn it, Pete, focus on what’s important!
I connected with Jenny via the app, then turned back to Ellie. Her long hair was still wet, and she was towelling it gently. How can that be so sexy when a woman does it?
‘I’m not going to mention that we were together last night, we can’t admit it. You’ve got to think about Dave, and I have to think of ... ’
I hadn’t even mentioned Meg. I felt ashamed for the first time. Ellie knew, though, she’d known the score.
‘I have to keep what happened away from Meg.’
She didn’t ask for an explanation. She simply accepted it. Thank you for that, Ellie. Thank you for not making me feel like even more of a shit.
‘I’m going to tell them all my movements, everything that happened, exactly as it took place. Only, when we walked through reception last night, you went to your room, I went to mine. We saw no one. Is that okay?’
‘Well, it’s true. I don’t see that it changes anything. It was only the usual noises in the corridor. A few knocks, doors being opened and closed, the fire door slamming shut. Nothing unusual. Did you hear anything?’
‘Nothing! There’s no CCTV in this place and there was nobody in reception. We’re not messing up what the police are doing. I feel okay with this. Do you?’
‘Yes, it’s fine. So long as you tell them exactly what you saw and heard, nobody needs to know about what we were doing. It’s fine, Pete, I’m as keen as you to keep this quiet. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, you understand?’
She smiled. I smiled back. It hung in the air for a moment. The silence was interrupted by an unfamiliar beep from my phone.
It was Erazerr. Jenny had sent me a message. I clicked on the icon and read what she’d sent me, expecting to see a welcome note. It was nothing of the sort. I felt the colour draining from my face as I read it: They’ve found a body. They want to speak to you.
Chapter Ten
‘Shit!’
Ellie looked at me, sensing straigh
t away that it was something that involved both of us. Maybe it was the way I was looking at her. Horrified and scared.
‘They’ve found a body in the room next to mine.’
‘You’re kidding me.’
‘Jenny on reception just messaged me. She said she’d let me know what was going on downstairs.’
‘You’re connected to Jenny on your phone?’
Ellie seemed surprised by that. I sensed a touch of jealousy – not jealousy exactly, but it was territorial. It felt like a ‘WTF, you’re chatting up the receptionist already?’
I ignored it, she was barking up the wrong tree and we had more important matters to consider.
‘Jenny doesn’t know much about what’s going on, but she’s upset and they’ve found a body. Her colleague, Jackson, has been missing. I hope to God it’s not him.’
‘You seem very friendly with everybody who works at the hotel.’
Again, the territorial questioning. I hadn’t put Ellie down as somebody like that.
‘I’ve been getting on well with Jenny. We chatted on my first night here and she’s shared some stuff that’s been going on in the hotel. I’m just some old git to her, but she’s been seeking my advice.’
I wondered about the old git line. Jenny and I liked each other, but was there any spark? Put it back in your pants Pete, there’s a dead body to think about.
‘This could mean problems for us, Ellie. We need to think this through. We can’t pervert the course of justice – but I don’t want anyone knowing that we slept together last night either.’
‘I don’t want Dave to know anything about it, not after he was kicking off like that today. It won’t help anything.’
‘Agreed,’ I replied. ‘We need to keep it away from work too. I don’t want the newsroom to know what’s been going on!’
‘Yes, if that bunch of tossers find out what we’ve been up to, they’ll never let us forget it.’
Don't Tell Meg Trilogy Box Set Page 12