Tamara hastily excused herself, moving into the living room, and set about gathering her things. Alice came with her and the two of them walked to the front door together, reaching it just as the bell sounded again. Alice opened it to find Tom standing on the step. His eyes flicked between them, clearly surprised. He focussed on Tamara.
"What are you doing here?"
Tamara and Alice exchanged a glance. "Girl stuff," she said.
Tom's eyes narrowed and he looked at Alice, who smiled. "Like she said, girl stuff."
Tamara stepped past them both and onto the path beyond. She looked back at Alice. "Don't worry. Things will right themselves," she said, remembering their earlier words and added, "Everything is salvageable."
Alice appreciated the sentiment, smiling her gratitude. Tom looked even more confused.
Tamara reached out and gently tapped Tom's forearm. "I'll see you in the morning." She then set off for her car, parked in the street.
Tom turned to Alice. "Seriously, what did she want?"
Alice shrugged. "I'm not sure to be honest. But it was good to talk. I think it's time you and I did, too, don't you?"
"I got your message," he said. "I should have called but…"
"Come in," she said. The longer we stand out here, the more the neighbours will be gossiping."
She stepped back, beckoning him inside.
Tamara watched the end of the exchange from the car, feeling a heavy heart when they disappeared from view and the door closed. Her mobile rang and she answered it without looking at the screen.
"Tamara, where have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you all evening!"
"Yeah, sorry. I see you've left a message—"
"Three messages," Cassie countered.
"Three. Yes, so I see. What's up?"
"We've had forensic analysis back on the fibres found underneath Adrian Gage's fingernails."
"And?" Tamara sensed the magnitude of the results due to the tone of Cassie's voice. "What is it, Cass?"
"They've matched the fibres to a jumper recovered from the search warrant… executed on Alice Gage's house." Cassie waited patiently for a response. Moments passed. "What do you want to do?"
Tamara looked back at the house, running her tongue across the outside of her lower lip.
"Tamara?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm still here."
"What do you want to do?"
Tom closed the door behind them. Russell appeared at the top of the stairs and barked excitedly before charging down them and almost losing his footing on the way. He leapt up at Tom repeatedly. Tom dropped to his haunches, patting him, and ran a hand over his head. The dog kept leaping up, growling playfully. Saffy's voice carried from her room, calling for her mum.
"For heaven's sake, take him into the kitchen," Alice said, hurrying to the stairs. "I don't want Saffy coming down to find you here."
He looked up at her, his joy at the dog's welcome dissipating at what she just said. Alice smiled, lowering her voice.
"I didn't mean it like that. It's just that she misses you and I don't want her to wake up in the morning and find you're not here again." Alice’s manner shifted from stern to nervous in the blink of an eye. "And you won't be here in the morning, will you?"
Tom exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "No."
Alice looked away from him and made her way upstairs. "I'll just check on her."
Tom thought he heard her voice crack, but he wasn't sure. He encouraged the dog, who was still nipping at the foot of his trouser legs, into the kitchen.
"Do you want to go out?" Tom asked, walking to the French doors, but Russell sat down where he was, his tongue out, lolling to one side. "Guess not," Tom said. He caught sight of the open letter from Adrian that Tamara had put down on the breakfast bar. He scanned it, not paying much attention to the words written on the page. It was the paper itself that had caught his eye. Momentarily confused, he then took out his mobile and snapped a couple of shots before hurriedly stepping away from the breakfast bar upon hearing Alice descending the stairs.
He couldn't quite believe what he'd just seen. And he didn't know what to do about it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alice entered the kitchen.
"She wasn't really awake. I got to her in time—" Her face dropped when she saw Tom's expression. "What is it?"
He looked at her, his brow furrowing as he glanced at the note on the breakfast bar. Her eyes followed his and her mouth fell open. She stepped forward, reaching for him. Tom shook his head and took a step back from her.
"It's really not what you think," she said.
"No, no," I'm sure it isn't."
"I can explain."
Tom held up both hands. "No, really. It's okay… I just have to go and check something out."
"But you've only just got here."
"I know," he said, moving past her. "It can't wait."
He brushed against her as he passed and she took a hold of his forearm, forcing him to meet her eye but he immediately looked away.
"It's not what you think, Tom. Adrian and me… we were over a long time ago." She angled her head so that she came into his eye line. "He still hadn't come to terms with it, that's all."
Tom turned to face her and she released her grip on his arm.
"And you? Had you come to terms with it?"
"Yes. For a moment I wasn't sure. Ade… has a way of pushing my buttons. He always did. But I never cheated on you, Tom. I wouldn't do that. Please don't leave. Not yet."
"I have to." She broke away from his gaze, looking to her hands clasped in front of her. "But not because of what's written in that note," he said, indicating the paper with a flick of his head. She looked at it, biting her bottom lip. "When did he leave that for you? Was it recently?"
Alice looked confused. "What difference does it make?"
"It matters, yes."
She thought about it. "Last week. Maybe Tuesday or
