‘That’s not the way she tells it,’ Rupert says, thinking of the fear on Emily’s face as she told him what Harry had done to her.
‘Oh? Whatever her story is, let me tell you the truth.’ Harry drags a hand through his unruly hair before sipping at the coffee in front of him. A delaying tactic, Rupert thinks. ‘Emily and I worked together in IT. It sounds like a cliché, and it was I suppose. I was the boss, the director, and she was the new girl. Emily was – she was talented, enthusiastic, like a breath of fresh air. It was like she cast a spell on all of us, and yeah, I’m guilty of letting her get under my skin.’
Harry stops for a moment, as if catching his breath. ‘We started an affair… It was only a couple of times, but then I broke it off. I loved Liv, my wife. Emily was a mistake. Emily wouldn’t accept it. She hounded me day and night, broke into our house, things went missing – silly things like Liv’s necklace that I bought her for her birthday, my favourite tie. Emily reported me to the police for stalking her – as if I couldn’t get away from her if I tried. Obviously, Liv found out, and she was devastated. She took the children and left. Emily thought that meant that we would be together, and I came home to find her in my bed.’
Rupert says nothing, waiting for Harry to finish.
‘That was the final straw. I’d lost my wife, my children, and that day I’d found out I had lost my job because I had taken so much time off with the stress of dealing with Emily’s behaviour. I dragged her out of the bed and threw her out of the house. I’m not proud of myself, I behaved in an appalling manner. I grabbed her by the throat, and I told her if I ever saw her again, I would kill her.’
Harry presses his fingers to his lips, as if pushing the words back inside. ‘She hacked into my bank accounts and stole every penny Liv and I had saved together for the children. I tried to get her arrested, but she’d covered her tracks so well she’d made it look like I had taken the money myself. I haven’t seen her since, but neither have I seen Liv or the children.’
Rupert doesn’t know what to say. ‘Harry, I’m sorry, I really am, but this doesn’t sound like Emily. She’s nothing like that.’
‘Don’t you get it, Rupert? I’ve lost everything because of that woman. Everything.’ Spittle flies from Harry’s mouth as his face contorts in anger and he slams a fist down on the table making Rupert jump. ‘I’m trying to warn you – to help you – and you’re so infatuated with her you can’t see what she’s like! I know where you live, Rupert, I know exactly where she is, and I could destroy her anytime I wanted to.’
‘So, why haven’t you then?’ Rupert says, starting to get his things together. It looks like Emily was right after all about Harry, he is mad. ‘Why haven’t you come to our house and demanded that she repay you every penny?’
Rupert leans down and touches Harry’s badly knotted tie, a tiny threat.
A look crosses Harry’s face that Rupert can only describe as fear, and a shot of adrenaline pumps through him. He pushes the knot further up the tie.
‘Why, Harry? Why haven’t you come after her?’
‘Because…’ Harry swallows, and Rupert realizes the fear isn’t aimed at him, it’s because of Emily. ‘She… she’s fucking crazy. I don’t ever want to see her again.’
Rupert shoves him back into his chair and snatches up his jacket. He doesn’t need to sit here and listen to Harry’s lies. Emily was right to be afraid of him, the man is insane.
‘Bullshit. I don’t believe a word you’ve said – stay away, Harry. If it’s you that’s been sending her letters and trying to frighten her then just stay away. Because if you don’t, I’ll come after you, understand? I’ll kill you.’
Harry scrambles to his feet, his face flushed a bright, unhealthy pink. ‘You’re welcome to her. I tried to tell you, but you’re just as crazy as she is. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, when the truth comes out about her.’
Rupert sits motionless, his heart thundering in his chest as he watches Harry leave, waiting a few moments before he makes his exit.
As Rupert strides towards the train station, he keeps seeing Harry’s face change as anger consumes him and he shakes his head. He’s never seen any sign of Emily behaving the way Harry has just described. In fact, he can’t marry up the Emily presented by Harry to the Emily he knows at all. The Emily he knows is fragile, loving, maybe even a tiny bit broken by what has happened to her in the past, and yes, they have their problems at the moment, but his Emily is nothing like the woman Harry has described. What he can picture though, is Emily cowering in fright as Harry’s meaty fist comes down on her body. Emily’s face, fear written all over it, as she tells Rupert that someone is watching her, she’s sure of it.
Rupert pushes back his chair and pulls out his phone. ‘Emily, it’s me. I will be back for dinner after all. Meet me at the Italian on the corner, you know, the one… where we went last time.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I clear away the dead bird, without any mention of it to Rupert, and I fix a smile on my face and make sure my handsome husband’s shirt is ironed for work, without any mention of his possibly not-dead wife, and I make sure to be as sparkly and normal as I possibly can, while all the time in the back of my mind is the possibility that Caro is behind
