He strode into the hallway to make his call. Nina sat with her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands. Not two weeks ago she had been grieving about the senselessness of Claire’s death. Now she was a victim of blackmail and threats – not to mention childhood abuse. Talk about changed days.
David Mallony came back while she was trying to work up the energy to phone Paul and Sam.
‘Sabine’s on her way and she’ll stay with you for the rest of the day. She’ll appear at the front door in about half an hour and you’ll greet each other like long-lost friends. And if anyone at all asks, Nina – friends, family, anyone – you say that she’s a friend from university.’
‘Okay,’ said Nina. ‘I did secretarial studies in Glasgow.’
‘Fine,’ said David. ‘Now, when she arrives the two of you should hang about in front of the house for a minute to give the rest of us time to go out the back. Be noisy, move about so that anyone watching will keep right on watching. Sabine will stay with you till she leaves to go to the park.’
‘What about the money?’ asked Nina.
‘The two of you will take a bag to the bank this afternoon. You have to do that in case he’s watching you. You’ll be shown into a small room and the bag will be filled with money. Then you bring it back here.’
‘Real money?’
‘Fake money.’
Nina almost gasped. It sounded too incredible to be true. ‘I don’t think I’m cut out to be James Bond,’ she said, and David laughed.
‘You won’t need to leap across the rooftops. We’ll get him, don’t worry.’
He nodded reassuringly and left her still clutching her phone. Nina glanced at the time. Twelve fifteen. The number she had for Paul was a landline, but there was maybe a slight chance he went home for lunch.
Luck was on her side, for Paul’s phone was lifted on the fourth ring. Nina explained what was going on, omitting the detail that it would be Sabine who went to the park. Unsurprisingly, Paul sounded weary and upset.
‘Oh God, Nina, I don’t think it was a good idea, telling the police. They’ll never prove anything and it’s my word against my father’s now. It all sounds very dangerous to me.’
Nina swallowed hard. She was lying by omission here and it was so not what she wanted. She’d only just found Paul and here she was endangering their relationship by telling him fibs. But what else could she do? David’s instructions had been clear.
‘The police’ll be watching all the time. I don’t like it either, but we need to catch him.’
‘Right. I’ll come by again after work if that’s all right,’ said Paul, breaking the connection without saying goodbye.
Nina pursed her lips. It was clear he wasn’t happy, and who could blame him? And now she would have to explain what she was doing to Cassie.
Rather to her surprise Cassie took the news in her stride. ‘Make sure you do exactly what the police tell you, Nina. I’ll tell Naomi you can’t come till tomorrow because of business, will I? Oh, and is it all right if we take her to the pool this afternoon? We would both be in the water with her.’
‘She’ll love that,’ said Nina. ‘Thanks a million, Cassie. Tell Naomi I’ll call her later, and I’ll phone you tomorrow morning.’
Was she being too casual with her daughter, leaving her with Sam’s folks for such a long time? But it would be impossible to have Naomi here in the middle of all this, and the Harrisons were lovely people. As was their son, who was next on her list to call, and something was telling her Sam might not be quite as cool about what was going on as his mother was. And rats, his phone was taking messages.
‘Sam, it’s me. I’ll catch you later,’ she said. It was horrible having all this going on and Sam unaware of it. They’d parted on bad terms after yesterday’s call, and she didn’t want to be on bad terms with Sam. Either as a friend or her lawyer.
When the doorbell rang David Mallony gave her a little push.
‘On you go. It’s going to be fine. Remember this is your old friend, now – shrieks of joy, big hugs,’ he said.
Nina had never felt less like shrieking joyfully, but Sabine had obviously missed her vocation in the police force. She threw herself into her role with such enthusiasm that Nina responded almost as if she was meeting an old friend for the first time in years. They hugged fondly on the doorstep, then Sabine stepped back and pointed up to the top of the house, walking up and down the gravel, asking about the rooms. They remained outside, pointing and talking, for several minutes.
‘Okay. Shall we go in?’ said Sabine at last, grinning at Nina.
Inside, Nina watched as the young woman pulled a package from her bag and placed it on the living room table beside the photographs.
‘My wire,’ she said. ‘You’re doing really well here, you know. Let’s make coffee and then we’ll get off to the bank. The boss’ll have the fake money there by that time.’
Nina breathed out shakily. How normal it all sounded. Coffee and then the bank. There must be hundreds of people doing something very similar right this minute.
If only she was one of them.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nina’s feeling of unreality persisted throughout the afternoon. It was difficult to drive the short distance into town and park behind the library, impossible to walk into the bank as if this was any old shopping trip, her and her old friend and everything hunky dory. She felt conspicuous with the empty sports bag – not something she usually carried for an afternoon in town – but at least they wouldn’t meet anyone she knew; she didn’t have to pretend this was normal. At the bank she and Sabine were shown into a small room with ‘Manager’ on a blue sign on the door. Nina’s sports bag was taken away and returned considerably heavier.
‘What’s to stop the blackmailer accosting us and stealing it?’ said Nina, hugging the bag to her chest as they left the bank. She should try to act normally here – but how impossible was that when her gut was performing somersaults like something from the Moscow State Circus.
‘He won’t,’ said Sabine cheerfully. ‘He’s made his arrangements for his own good reasons, and he’ll stick to them.’
Her heart in her mouth, Nina cradled the bag in both arms till they were back in the safety of the hired car. Stupid, she thought. It wasn’t as if it was real money, and even if it had been, money didn’t matter. Naomi was the only important thing and it was unbearable that circumstances had split them up like this. The lump in her throat, never far away since she’d left Naomi with the Harrisons, swelled painfully.
Back at the house, Nina shut herself into the study to try Sam’s number again. This probably wasn’t the best time to phone him, bang in the middle of the afternoon, but she could try. She listened as the tone pinged out then broke off immediately as he took the call.
‘Nina? How weird, I had the phone in my hand to call you!’
‘Sam, hi. I’m not disturbing you, then?’
‘Nope. We’re having a short break before the final settlement. Nina, I’m sorry about yesterday. Is everything all right?’
‘I’m afraid not.’ It was a struggle not to break down and howl as she told him about Paul’s visit and what she now knew about her father’s treatment of her, and about the latest blackmail letter and the police in the house. Like Bethany, he was silent while she spoke.
‘That’s all,’ she said at last.
‘All! Dear God, Nina – are you coping with this – should I get Dad to come and be with you – I’ll come straight back now, I – shit, this is awful.’
Nina closed her eyes. His concern was like Beth’s – warming. ‘Sam, it’s okay. The police are being great; Sabine Jameson’s here with me all the time,’ she said, realising as she spoke how very alone she felt in spite of Sabine’s presence. This assignment was simply another job to the young detective, who was whistling cheerfully as she washed coffee mugs in the kitchen. Sabine would do her work here and at the end of her shift she would go home and take up her own life.