Single (ARC)

by K. L. Slater

  ‘I told you about those photographs at the trampoline centre… do you think that could be her? And the mess on my car?’

  ‘I’d bet my life she’s behind it, and I agree that it’s creepy and it annoys the hell out of me. But again, there’s no cast-iron proof it’s her, and as far as the police are concerned, it’s hardly life-threatening.’

  I give him a hard look. ‘Why did you try and pass those things off as being something innocent, George? You must have known how unnerved I felt but you came up with some excuse for both of them.’

  George looks sheepish. ‘I’m sorry. I suppose I panicked a bit because I had to explain all this in the right way. I couldn’t just come out and say that I have a stalker; you’d have run a mile and I kept telling myself there could well be another excuse. That it wasn’t her.’

  He has a point. I have my own secret that I need to tell him about, but it’s easier to put it off than bite the bullet.

  ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was happening before now, Darcy.’ He hangs his head. ‘I did think about it, several times. I swear. But nothing has happened for weeks or so I thought, until the photos and the car. I thought she’d finally got fed up, and I didn’t want to scare you off.’

  I hesitate. ‘I’ve noticed other strange things happening over the last few weeks, George. Stuff I can’t put my finger on and so I’ve not mentioned them to you.’

  His forehead creases with concern. ‘Like what, exactly?’

  ‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched. During routine tasks like dropping the boys off at school, or once it happened at the supermarket: I felt certain someone was shadowing me, but when I turned around, there was nobody there and’ – I laugh because it just seems so petty – ‘someone signed me up to an organic veg box company.’

  But George doesn’t laugh.

  ‘Sounds like Opal’s signature all right. A couple of months ago, there was a slew of anonymous patient complaints about me at the hospital. Fortunately, there were no hard facts, just information anyone could have found out, and the administration board decided to discount them.’ He shakes his head. ‘I knew exactly who was behind them, but I couldn’t tell the board what was happening.’

  ‘Why not? If Opal is making a nuisance of herself, your employers ought to know.’

  He looks pained. ‘Nobody knows, and it has to stay that way. If they challenge her, she’ll probably come right out and tell them about the complication in the operating theatre, which would be devastating for my career.’

  ‘But you can’t let this keep happening; our kids might be at risk. I think you should speak to your bosses, George, take her power away.’

  His expression darkens.

  ‘You have to trust me, Darcy. The hospital board like to appear very visible in supporting staff, but privately they’d be thinking, “How on earth did he get himself into this mess?” They’d start asking questions about my personal life, question whether I can be trusted in a more senior position. That’s if they even believe me; after all, it doesn’t sound like much when I say it out loud, does it? A woman walking past a restaurant window, or texting me when we’re no longer seeing each other.’

  ‘No, but trying to gain entry to your house when you’re not there and attempting to abduct your daughter outside just now sound pretty worrying.’

  ‘We don’t know it’s definitely her out there. And anyway, I can’t drag the hospital into this, Darcy. I’ve worked too hard for too long and my big chance of promotion is coming up very soon. Surgeons are supposed to be immune to scandal of any kind; that’s a well-known fact, even if it’s never actually stated.’

  I think he’s probably right. The management of professional organisations are well known for raising a collective eyebrow if someone in a senior position becomes embroiled in a personal scandal. But still… what price is he willing to pay for his promotion?

  ‘Can I see the picture of her?’ George’s expression is blank. ‘Opal, I mean? So I know what she looks like if she… Well, you know, if she’s hanging around here.’

  He shakes his head. ‘I can’t bear to talk about the woman, never mind keep her photograph to hand. I’ve got one on my phone somewhere, probably take me ages to find it. But we can talk about all this later and I’ll find out a picture of her. There’s nothing for you to worry about, Darcy, it’s me she wants to annoy. Any problems, let me know, but the last thing I want is for you to involve yourself.’

  ‘If it’s her who’s hanging around in the woods trying to tempt our kids away, I’d say it’s a bit more than just an annoyance.’ A thought occurs to me. ‘Let’s get Romy in here and show her Opal’s photograph if you can find it. That will clear up any ambiguity once and for all.’

  George looks at me and presses his lips together, and I almost feel like taking out my phone and looking her up online right now.

  ‘Let’s just leave Romy to recover for a while. She clams up when stuff bothers her, and sometimes it can last days. That’s not going to make for a very happy Christmas.’

  I feel boxed in at every turn. Some of what George is saying just doesn’t add up, but the last thing I want to do is have a massive row when we’ve just got here. If it is Opal out there, nothing would make her happier than ruining our Christmas.

  ‘I know I should have warned you before, should’ve come clean so you had all the facts, and I’m sorry about that.’ George touches my arm. ‘But I thought Opal had stopped all this nonsense, truly I did, and… you and the boys are the best thing that has happened to me in a long, long time. I didn’t want to scare you off. But I’ll understand if you want out.’

  A tangled ball of emotion begins to unravel inside me. I feel hot and tearful and I reach forward and grasp George’s hand.

  ‘I’m in it for the long haul,’ I say. ‘It will take more than Opal Vardy’s silly little games to put me off, but I can’t just ignore the fact that she might be out there.’ I look fearfully out of the window. ‘I’d feel better speaking to someone in charge here at least, so they’re aware of what just happened. I have the boys to think about, George. She might try and get to you through them.’

  ‘Look, I’ll go and speak to the management now, OK? If anything else happens, I promise we’ll go straight to the police, but she’s probably long gone now and hey, it’s Christmas! I want more than anything for us all to have a lovely time. I don’t want the shadow of that woman spoiling our family time and I don’t want the kids nervy and scared.’ He hesitates. ‘We’re only here for a few days; let’s make it count. After all, we can’t be certain it was Opal out there.’

  Daniela’s face flits into my mind’s eye and a dull ache starts up in the bottom of my stomach. Maybe it’s her out there and I haven’t said a word about that possibility to George.

  He lets out a long breath and squeezes my hand when I nod.

  ‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘Now. I’ll make you and the kids a hot chocolate and then I’ll go and speak to the manager. OK?’

  ‘OK,’ I say quietly, but the tightness in my throat tells me it’s not OK at all.

  Thirty-Three

  Steph glanced at her watch and frowned. They had arranged to meet at ten o’clock but the person she was meeting was already ten minutes late.

  She turned as the door to the coffee shop opened and an attractive, well-groomed woman wearing a black leather-look mac and tight leggings with heels tottered in, heading straight for her table.

  ‘Hi, Steph, sorry I’m late, my Uber didn’t turn up, I had to order another one.’

  ‘That’s OK, shall we skip coffee and get going right away?’ She laid a hand on the woman’s arm. ‘It’s good to see you again, Daniela, you’re looking great.’

  * * *

  They walked down the road together and turned into a side street. Steph took the key out of her pocket and thirty seconds later they were in Darcy’s house.

  ‘Bit of a dump, isn’t it?’ Daniela wrinkled her nose. ‘You said it was a nice little Victor
ian terrace.’

  ‘It is! Well, sort of. It’s a Victorian terrace and it’s small,’ Steph remarked. ‘Let’s face it, you’re not planning on living here, are you? Soon as you’ve got her out you can flog it again.’

  ‘Seems like a whole lot of trouble just to get even.’ Daniela pulled a face. ‘I wouldn’t have even looked at a place like this as a sound investment.’

  Steph’s mouth felt dry. The last thing they needed was Daniela losing interest. It would be so much harder to achieve their aim if she did so. When Darcy had told her the landlord was selling the house, she immediately thought of Daniela who’d told Brenda she’d bought one or two buy-to-let properties in the Manchester area.

  ‘If Darcy struggles to get somewhere else, Mum can put her up. That way we can make sure the boys are OK, see if she’s coping.’ Steph hesitated. ‘You said yourself you’d get revenge on her one way or another, after Joel.’

  She still didn’t seem that keen. Perhaps it was time to avail Daniela of Darcy’s troubling pastime.

  ‘There’s something you ought to see,’ Steph said, walking into the kitchen. Daniela followed. ‘I wasn’t going to show you but… well, I think you should know.’

  Steph opened a wide narrow drawer and pulled out Darcy’s laptop. She opened it up on the kitchen counter and keyed in some numbers. ‘Password is Harry’s birthday.’ She smirked.

  Daniela looked uncomfortable. ‘Are you sure she’s out of town? If she comes back and catches us—’

  ‘No fear of that. I told you, she’s in North Yorkshire, playing happy families with her new boyfriend and his kid.’ One side of Steph’s mouth twisted down as she opened the photo of the lodge that Darcy had sent her on her phone and slid it over for Daniela to see. ‘She couldn’t resist boasting, of course. Those poor boys will be calling him “Dad” soon and my brother’s memory will be non-existent. Mark my words.’

  Daniela looked at her, sliding the phone back. ‘As you know, there are parts of Joel’s memory I’m quite happy to let fade into oblivion.’

  ‘Hmm. Well let’s keep focused on the job in hand,’ Steph said hastily just as the computer screen leapt into life. ‘The best way to avenge the past is to stay on the path we’ve agreed.’

  Daniela glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘I haven’t got long and I want to see the rest of this dump before I instruct my solicitor to go ahead with the purchase.’

  ‘And you will. But first, look at this.’ Steph turned the laptop so Daniela could clearly see the screen.

  Steph smiled when Daniela took a sharp intake of breath.

  ‘I haven’t touched anything.’ Steph held her hands in the air. ‘I opened it up and your profile was the last thing she looked at.’

  ‘That’s impossible.’ Daniela frowned. ‘My Facebook account is locked down and I’m certainly not friends with her.’

  ‘You’re not friends with Darcy Hilton, but you’re friends with this person… who is also Darcy Hilton.’

  Steph double-clicked on the image of a pair of glossy lips and Daniela’s mouth fell open.

  ‘Meet Tana Philips, aka Darcy Hilton. She’s used a false profile for years,’ Steph told her. ‘She got drunk one night and told me she spends most of her waking hours tracking your every move online.’

  ‘That’s crazy!’ Daniela’s face fell. ‘And actually quite sad.’

  ‘Don’t go feeling too sorry for her,’ Steph remarked. ‘She used to watch your house before you moved to Manchester. And take a look at this.’

  Steph tapped around the keyboard and Darcy’s photos loaded. ‘Look, you even have your own album, tagged with your initials.’

  Daniela bent forward, squinting her eyes in disbelief when Steph double-clicked on the album entitled ‘DF’ and hundreds of Daniela’s photographs downloaded from her social media accounts filled the screen.

  ‘But why?’ Daniela shook her head. ‘Why would she even do that?’

  ‘Because – and I’m sorry to be so blunt – she hates your guts, Daniela. She blames you for everything and at the same time is obsessed with you.’

  ‘She blames me? What about Joel? What about her own behaviour?’

  ‘You don’t have to convince me.’ Steph shut the laptop, eager to get the subject away from Joel and back to the reason for her asking Daniela over here. ‘The point is, she’s obviously unstable and we’ve got the evidence of that right here. You’ve seen how obsessed she is with you and it will only get worse. Who knows what she might do?’

  Daniela swallowed and hugged her shoulder bag closer.

  ‘We’ve got a chance to stop all this now, Daniela. You’ve seen for yourself that she’s not right and there have been signs recently that she’s slipping back into her old ways. She’s been distancing herself from us and lying to cover up why she’s not around to care for Kane and Harrison. She’s not fit to look after the boys and what she’s been doing to you, basically stalking you online, it’s got to stop.’

  Daniela raised an eyebrow. ‘Let’s hope it all works out as you have so meticulously planned.’

  ‘We just need to push her a bit, that’s all.’ Steph’s voice brightened. ‘The boys need stability and routine and you need your privacy and a sense of justice done. I’ll show you around the house and then you can get cracking with the purchase.’

  Thirty-Four

  True to his word, after making hot drinks, George shrugs on his big padded jacket and pulls on his wellies before leaving to go to the lodge park reception. I lock the door behind him, and while he’s away, I go back twice to check it’s still secure. Then, while the kids watch a bit of television, I sit by the window and wait.

  When he returns, he looks relieved.

  ‘I spoke to the manager, a Mr Romano, and he says the children might have been entirely mistaken,’ he says as he slips off his wellies at the door. ‘He says there are actors in costume all over the park to entertain the kids, pretending to be characters.’

  I frown. ‘This was a woman was in a hoodie. Hardly a Disney character!’

  ‘Well, anyway, I explained the situation, said the children were adamant, and he’s sent an army of security guards to comb the wooded area immediately. He’s also assured me that there’s twenty-four-hour security in the park, including on Christmas Day, and he’s arranging for a nominated officer to hang around our lodge in particular.’

  ‘That’s good of him,’ I say, relieved. ‘Did you tell him about Opal?’

  ‘I didn’t go into detail.’ George walks over to the couch and sits down. ‘He didn’t ask. When he saw how concerned I was, he offered the extra support.’

  I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest, reassured that George has taken action. I stand up and peer out of the glass sliding doors to the wood beyond. I can’t see any security officers out there, but nonetheless, I feel comforted.

  We turn the television off and all have a game of snakes and ladders, and I’m pleased that the children seem relaxed. I think the excitement of Christmas and a visit from Father Christmas is overriding any anxiety over what happened out there.

  When they are snuggled up in bed and George and I are alone at last, he mixes two gin and tonics and brings them through to the lounge.

  ‘Peace at last,’ he says, taking a big gulp of his drink. ‘It’s quite nice here when there are no kids around,’ he quips.

  ‘You’re so good with them, always making them laugh, like that story of the potty getting stuck on your patient’s head you told them at the trampoline place.’

  He gives me a strange look as if I’m simple. ‘Obviously that wasn’t true, Darcy.’

  ‘What? You said—’

  ‘I’m know what I said, but that was just for effect!’ He shakes his head. ‘Honestly. What are you like?’

  I might be gullible but I believed him! And actually, I’d never lie to the boys like that, even if it was just light-hearted fun.

  I try and push my irritation away. I’m being over-sensitive, I’m stupid to
have believed his silly story. And anyway, there’s something niggling at me. Something I need to get out of the way, because it feels like the right moment.

  Just do it, the voice in my head says.

  ‘George, I’ve been waiting to tell you something since before we came away.’

  ‘OK.’ He puts his drink down and looks at me. ‘I’m all ears.’

  ‘Before you told me about Opal Vardy, I thought the person lurking around in the woods might have something to do with me. Someone who has an axe to grind.’

  He pulls down the corners of his mouth, surprised.

  ‘Go on,’ he says, edging forward a little on his seat.

  ‘During Joel’s last days in hospital, the nurse let on that there’d been a woman visiting him. Someone called Daniela Frost.’ Just saying her name out loud makes me shiver. ‘I’d never heard of her and Joel had certainly never mentioned her. But after he died, it became apparent that he’d been living a double life.’

  ‘What?’ He looks genuinely shocked. ‘You mean like one of those men who have two families on the go? I’ve read articles about that before, couldn’t quite believe the wife never smelled a rat!’

  I give him a hard look, and he looks a bit sheepish, realising he’s spoken out of turn.

  ‘Turns out Joel was effectively living half the week with me and half with her. His real family was me and the boys, of course. She didn’t have any children with him, had no right to be with him.’

  ‘That’s terrible, Darcy,’ he says, his tone softer now. ‘I can’t imagine how you dealt with that.’

  I didn’t, I feel like saying. I still haven’t dealt with it. Not really.

  Then I explain that Daniela has returned to Nottingham.

  ‘The news has made me feel… I don’t know, unsafe, I suppose. Like the ground is shifting beneath my feet. I hoped never to set eyes on her again.’