biggest fan.
‘Where is Emily?’
His tone was clipped and arrogant, the accent advertising that he had been
educated and raised the expensive way somewhere much further South than
Coventry. As ever he wasn’t going to bother with pleasantries and expected me to just tell him what he wanted upon command so he could go back to more important business.
‘The last time I checked she was married to you. You tell me where she is?’
I wasn’t playing, especially after what she’d told me about his demeanour towards her. If she wanted to be found then she’d call him to come and fetch her as far as I was concerned.
‘She’s been somewhat…distracted recently, and we agreed to have some time apart for her to rest. Unfortunately she’s been ignoring my calls and messages since she left, which has necessitated me having to track her down.’
His body language and facial expression told me what his words didn’t. This was all a big inconvenience and an embarrassment for him and he was acting on that basis rather than out of genuine concern for Emily’s welfare. It seemed like this was merely about saving face to him, and I felt the residual anger from the earlier argument starting to rise back up to dangerous levels again.
‘Didn’t you even consider for one moment speaking to the rest of her family about what condition she was in before now? Do you even really care about her or anybody else at all for that matter?’
I was ranting a little and I knew it, but a tiny part of me wanted to provoke a response, so I could see for myself the darkness in him that Emily had spoken about.
‘So you have seen her then?’
His eyes narrowed and I found myself wishing that I’d chosen my words more carefully.
‘She’s not here now, David. I don’t know where she is. But even if I did you’d be among the very last people that I’d feel inclined to share that information with.’
I glared at him in case he was still in any doubt that I thought he was pond life.
‘That’s disappointing,’ he said, and suddenly shot out his arms, pushing me hard enough to send me reeling back into my hallway and catching me completely off guard. I tried to grab onto something for balance, but my momentum sent me tumbling to the floor and he was in before I could jam my feet against the door.
‘EMILY? IF YOU’RE IN HERE IT WOULD BE IN YOUR INTERESTS TO COME OUT RIGHT NOW.’
His shouting filled my ears in the confined space and I fought to get back to my feet until he placed his foot in the middle of my chest and pushed my back down again.
I was about to begin shouting myself when David lurched violently backwards out of my view and out through the front door, letting out a startled roar as he went. Pushing myself up into a sitting position again I caught sight of the blur of Lee’s fist as he drove it into David’s doubled up body over and over again.
Chapter 38
The cottage looked infinitely better than the prospect of rolling around on a picnic blanket in the great outdoors had been. Elizabeth admired the green wooden shutters that matched the front door and the way that the surrounding woodland seemed to embrace the small stone building protectively, and she started to imagine what it might be like to live up here away from the clutter of the town. She didn’t mind the fact that her silver haired companion had grown increasingly quiet as they had moved away from civilisation, she wasn’t a big fan of small talk at the best of times, and if he was getting nervy and thinking about backing out she was confident that she could get him back on track in a matter of moments.
He looked over and held eye contact with her as he located the front door key and opened up, standing aside like a gentleman should to allow her to enter first. She smiled and trailed her hand down his cheek as she passed, trying to compute the significance of the fierce intensity in his eyes which was at odds with the rest of his facial
‘Where is Emily?’
His tone was clipped and arrogant, the accent advertising that he had been
educated and raised the expensive way somewhere much further South than
Coventry. As ever he wasn’t going to bother with pleasantries and expected me to just tell him what he wanted upon command so he could go back to more important business.
‘The last time I checked she was married to you. You tell me where she is?’
I wasn’t playing, especially after what she’d told me about his demeanour towards her. If she wanted to be found then she’d call him to come and fetch her as far as I was concerned.
‘She’s been somewhat…distracted recently, and we agreed to have some time apart for her to rest. Unfortunately she’s been ignoring my calls and messages since she left, which has necessitated me having to track her down.’
His body language and facial expression told me what his words didn’t. This was all a big inconvenience and an embarrassment for him and he was acting on that basis rather than out of genuine concern for Emily’s welfare. It seemed like this was merely about saving face to him, and I felt the residual anger from the earlier argument starting to rise back up to dangerous levels again.
‘Didn’t you even consider for one moment speaking to the rest of her family about what condition she was in before now? Do you even really care about her or anybody else at all for that matter?’
I was ranting a little and I knew it, but a tiny part of me wanted to provoke a response, so I could see for myself the darkness in him that Emily had spoken about.
‘So you have seen her then?’
His eyes narrowed and I found myself wishing that I’d chosen my words more carefully.
‘She’s not here now, David. I don’t know where she is. But even if I did you’d be among the very last people that I’d feel inclined to share that information with.’
I glared at him in case he was still in any doubt that I thought he was pond life.
‘That’s disappointing,’ he said, and suddenly shot out his arms, pushing me hard enough to send me reeling back into my hallway and catching me completely off guard. I tried to grab onto something for balance, but my momentum sent me tumbling to the floor and he was in before I could jam my feet against the door.
‘EMILY? IF YOU’RE IN HERE IT WOULD BE IN YOUR INTERESTS TO COME OUT RIGHT NOW.’
His shouting filled my ears in the confined space and I fought to get back to my feet until he placed his foot in the middle of my chest and pushed my back down again.
I was about to begin shouting myself when David lurched violently backwards out of my view and out through the front door, letting out a startled roar as he went. Pushing myself up into a sitting position again I caught sight of the blur of Lee’s fist as he drove it into David’s doubled up body over and over again.
Chapter 38
The cottage looked infinitely better than the prospect of rolling around on a picnic blanket in the great outdoors had been. Elizabeth admired the green wooden shutters that matched the front door and the way that the surrounding woodland seemed to embrace the small stone building protectively, and she started to imagine what it might be like to live up here away from the clutter of the town. She didn’t mind the fact that her silver haired companion had grown increasingly quiet as they had moved away from civilisation, she wasn’t a big fan of small talk at the best of times, and if he was getting nervy and thinking about backing out she was confident that she could get him back on track in a matter of moments.
He looked over and held eye contact with her as he located the front door key and opened up, standing aside like a gentleman should to allow her to enter first. She smiled and trailed her hand down his cheek as she passed, trying to compute the significance of the fierce intensity in his eyes which was at odds with the rest of his facial
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