Ellerman got outside and took a deep breath before he looked at who was calling him. It was Emily. He declined the call and sent her a text message, telling her he’d phone her later. He had a text from Megan:
Hope you’re having a good day. Ring me when you get time for a chat. Miss you. M
Lisa had sent a text, saying that she was going to the police.
‘Bitch!’ he said out loud, and felt his anger ignite when he got back into the car.
Ellerman sat in a lay-by in his car and pulled his collar up. The temperature outside had dropped to freezing. Dee wasn’t answering the phone. Ellerman sat back in his seat and listened to the whoosh and spray of the passing traffic. He clenched and unclenched his hands on the steering wheel. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply from his diaphragm. He was boiling over with the feeling of injustice. How dare someone expose him in this way? His first thought was Lisa. She could have easily looked at his phone. He had been lax a few times now. He’d drunk a bit too much some evenings and didn’t remember the latter part of them. Not just with Lisa, with all of them. He could have left it unlocked. If one of them had got into his phone they could have also seen all his emails, transferred lots of data whilst he was asleep. Whoever did this, hated him. They wanted his blood. They wanted to ruin his life. It was all about the end gain. Nothing mattered but winning. When he was sitting in his Spanish home with Dee; when they were happy again and when money was coming in – after all, the deal for three yachts was so nearly signed – then all this would have been worth it. He needed to find more women with more money. The truth was that he couldn’t juggle all of them successfully without losing a few along the way. The ones that fell were casualties to the cause. It would all blow over and then he could regroup. If he lost some women along the way, then okay. But the money worried him. Lisa had been particularly vocal in her venom. Did the police know it all by now? He opened the glove compartment and took out his list. He crossed through Olivia’s and Gillian’s details. He circled Lisa and turned to the next page, ran his pen down the list until he came to Harding.
His phone rang.
‘JJ Ellerman speaking.’
‘Mr Ellerman, Inspector Carter here. I need you to come back into Archway Police Station again – we need to clarify a few things.’
‘Next week.’
‘Tomorrow morning, Mr Ellerman, at nine o’ clock. You know where to come. You’ll need to bring your lawyer with you this time, Mr Ellerman, and I want to see all your company accounts.’
Ellerman got out of the car and vomited. He held his stomach, tried to press in his guts as they heaved. He felt like he was vomiting up his insides. It took him three minutes to stop retching. He wiped his mouth as the traffic whizzed past and then he leant against the passenger side of the car as he took deep breaths and tried to calm himself. He opened his lungs, stuck out his chest and breathed in deeply through his nose.
Ellerman looked into the passenger footwell for some water and couldn’t find any. He rummaged round in the boot and found a plastic bottle half full of water. He drank it a few gulps at a time.
Back in the car he rang Lisa.
‘I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the way things have turned out.’
‘I don’t believe you. You’re a liar through and through.’
‘Well, if that’s the way you feel about things then there’s no altering it. I am sorry that you prefer to believe the words of a malicious trouble-maker instead of someone who has supported and loved you for the last year and a half, but I cannot stop you believing what you will.’
‘Give me my money back now.’
‘Yeah – that’s right – stick the knife in, why don’t you? You’re a petulant bitch. You can go and whistle for your fucking money. You bore me stupid anyway.’ He hung up.
Lisa took a few deep breaths. She felt so angry she badly needed to calm down. The letter shook in her hand. She picked it up and put it down several times before settling down to read the list of names again. When she was ready she picked up the phone.
‘Who is this?’
Dee Ellerman was in the kitchen when she answered the phone. She was watching the gardener pick up the rest of the debris he hadn’t been able to fit in his van the week before.
‘My name is Lisa.’ Lisa’s words stuck on her tongue. ‘Look… I just wanted to say that I’ve been seeing your husband but he told me that you knew all about it and that you were cool about it – you had your own life… hello?’
‘Yes, I’m listening.’
‘Look – I just rang to say I’m sorry. It’s not my style – married men. He told me he was separated, just stuck living in the same house as you. And he told me he had to stay because of your son.’
‘He’s dead.’
‘Yes. I heard. I’m truly sorry.’
‘Thanks for calling. Goodbye.’
‘No, please, please wait just a minute. I need JJ to give me back the money I gave him for the Spanish house we were supposed to be going to live in.’
‘I think you’ve lost your money.’
‘No, well, I’m sorry and all that, but that’s where you’re wrong, because I will take him to court if he doesn’t give me it back.’
‘How much is it?’
‘Twenty thousand.’
‘Why did you give him such a lot of money?’
‘I didn’t give it to him. It was a loan. He said the house needed urgent work before the winter; he said he’d pay me back and then it became an investment in our future.’
‘I can’t help you.’
‘Look – I don’t like to cause you more problems but I need you to impress upon him that he either pays me or I’m going to sue him and you, both of you. I’m sorry.’
‘Do what you must.’
Chapter 42
Later that day, Lisa was sick of thinking about nothing but JJ Ellerman. She needed a run. She needed to think about everything and decide what to do. She headed out of the house, back out through the alleyway. The weekend traffic was noisy as it drove over the wet road, the swish of tyres on Marine Drive – the coastal road that ran over the top of the cliffs from Black Rock to Saltdean. The cliffs shone luminescent as the last rays of sun fell across the Channel.
She got into a good pace and ran for further than she thought she would. It was dark when she doubled back along the top of the cliffs. As she ran she heard her own breath, her lungs beginning to burn with the cold air. Her legs were tiring on the homeward stretch and her sweat cooled ice cold on her skin as the air temperature plummeted. She glanced behind at the sound of another runner. The thud of trainer on tarmac. She felt reassured. She never liked running late and it was already gone nine. To her left the ocean was now a vast expanse of pitch-black. To her right a lonely stretch of road now, with just the odd car passing. In the darkness she was aware of the other runner gaining on her. Lisa sprinted a little. The coastal road was a long one. Her legs were already weary. She didn’t have a lot left in the tank. The other runner was now just a step behind her but just out of her vision. Lisa thought about stopping, pretending to have stitch, letting the other runner pass her, but they were alone on the road and beside them was the long cliff drop. Lisa put on another spurt. The runner caught up. Lisa turned to look again and she saw that the runner’s face was hidden beneath a hood. They were coming close now and matching her speed. Now the runner’s arm was brushing hers as her arm moved with the running motion. Now their breath was on her neck and she felt herself panic. She stifled a scream as she tried to run faster but the runner pressed even closer. She went to turn away but she felt her legs buckle and a pain in her shins as she fell over something hard and rolled towards the cliff edge. She was lifted and pushed and, screaming, she felt her body twist in the air as she fell.