Matt looks like his head is about to explode as he tries to put all the pieces together. ‘Are you honestly expecting me to believe that Jess is the same girl?’ he asks, clearly struggling with the admission. ‘Why would you think that? I mean, how have you come to that conclusion?’ He’s beginning to pace the floor, which means he’s unable to comprehend what Kate’s suggesting.
‘Because I’ve seen her,’ she says. ‘And because that’s her name.’
Matt laughs in a way that Kate can’t help but find patronizing. ‘Do you find this funny?’ she asks incredulously. She’d thought, hoped, that when she eventually told him who Jess was, he’d immediately try to help her solve the problem. But he seems to find it more amusing than worrying, and Kate feels bitterly disappointed.
‘So, you’re putting two and two together and coming up with five.’
‘Do you really think I’m that stupid?’ she yells, unable to hold her frustration in. ‘Do you honestly think I haven’t checked her out?’
‘And what did you find?’ he asks, with what Kate’s sure is the tiniest of smiles playing on his lips.
‘That the woman you hired – the woman who says she went to Bournemouth University – did no such thing. She doesn’t have a degree in journalism – in fact, she has never even studied journalism.’
‘What are you even talking about?’ says Matt, an air of impatience to him now. ‘Of course she did. I’ve got her CV – I’ve seen her qualifications, I’ve got her references.’
Kate allows herself a wry smile. ‘But did you think to actually check them out? Did it occur to you to call the uni up and make sure she was a bona fide student?’
‘Not yet,’ he says, clearly affronted by her accusing tone.
‘Well, maybe if you had, it would have saved us all a lot of trouble . . .’
‘Are you insinuating that this is somehow my fault?’
Is it? If he’s sleeping with her, then yes, he damn well needs to take responsibility for his actions. Whether Jess is her half sister or not.
Kate looks him in the eye. ‘Are you . . . are you having a relationship with her?’
‘What?’ he squeals, throwing his hands in the air.
‘I want to know . . . are you sleeping with her?’
His pace quickens and he runs a hand through his hair. ‘This is fucking insane.’
‘I needed you last night,’ she says, refusing to let the tears that are prickling her eyes fall. ‘I was trying to get hold of you all night, but it seems you were otherwise engaged.’
‘Hold on a second,’ he says, as if sensing the seriousness of the situation for the first time. ‘You were mightily pissed off when I did speak to you, and after that I couldn’t take your calls.’
‘And why couldn’t you take my calls?’ she shouts.
‘Because I was tied up with other things,’ he says.
‘Oh, I bet you were.’
‘Let me tell you about last night,’ he says, his jaw clenching involuntarily. ‘I was promised an interview with the PM at ten, which got pushed back to midnight, which then got moved to one a.m. And at the same time, I’m trying to schedule talks with the Home Secretary and Education Minister. I’ve had no sleep and I feel like shit, but you think it’s because I’ve been . . . I’ve been . . .’ He laughs sarcastically, unable to finish the sentence. ‘And to top it all off, you’re now telling me that she’s your sister.’
‘It’s not a coincidence,’ she says, letting the first tear fall onto her cheek.
‘What isn’t?’ says Matt irritably.
‘All this!’ she exclaims, throwing her arms up. ‘Jess turning up at Mum and Dad’s after supposedly being reeled in by Lauren, and then ending up working with you.’
‘Does she know who I am?’ asks Matt. ‘Does she know who you are to me?’
‘I honestly don’t know,’ says Kate. ‘I’ve had all these mad conspiracy theories going around in my head, thinking this is all part of a bigger picture. That she’s somehow out to get me. I can’t help but feel that she’s after something from us.’
Matt stops pacing and sits down beside Kate on the edge of the bath. ‘But why would she be doing that? Surely this is just a huge coincidence.’
‘I want it to be, but I can’t help thinking it’s something more.’
‘Like what?’ asks Matt.
She wants to tell him about the bizarre set-up she’d found at Jess’s flat, as if she’s waiting for a baby to arrive. But what it might mean, and how it might involve her and Matt, makes it difficult to put into words. It also means she’ll have to admit to breaking in, and that’s a new low, even for a journalist.
She shivers, as if someone’s walked over her grave. ‘What she’s doing is premeditated and intended to cause me maximum hurt and distress.’
Matt looks at her as if she’s completely mad. ‘Are you serious?’ he says. ‘You think this is all about you?’
‘Who else is it about?’ says Kate, her hackles rising.
‘Might it be that she’s just a confused young woman who’s trying to make the best of the unfortunate situation she finds herself in?’
Kate looks at him, open-mouthed. ‘Are you honestly going to stand there and defend her?’ she asks incredulously.
As if sensing the minefield he’s about to stand on, Matt takes a physical step back and runs a hand through his hair. ‘I just think we need to take stock,’ he says. ‘She’s a nice girl and I can’t see any reason why she would have any ulterior motive here. I agree that it seems hugely coincidental that she’s wound up working with me, but it’s a bit of a leap to suggest that it’s got anything to do with you.’
‘She shows up at my parents. She appears at my office. She’s going out on day trips with my sister. She’s working with my husband. What fucking part of this sounds like it’s got nothing to do with me?’ A vivid image of the wardrobe
