He would also retain his slim build and washboard abs.
“I am just going to see if I can find Jasper. I won’t be long.”
I decided to have a look in the stables and check the horses. I still missed Billy about the place. I gave them all a kiss and a pat and I spent a bit more time with Puzzle, letting him nuzzle into me. He was such a sweet horse and I had grown very fond of him.
There was still no sign of Jasper so I headed back to the house.
The food was delivered and Scarlett and I were about to tuck in when Jasper sloped in. He must have smelt the food.
I served out a plate for Jasper as Gatsby mooched around, waiting for some food to fall onto the floor.
“Are there any bottles of lager going, Jennifer?” he asked quietly.
“Go on then, there are some in the fridge, get me one, please Jasper. Has Amy gone home?”
“Err, yes,” he mumbled, putting his head down.
“Jasper’s in love!” Scarlett said in a singsong voice.
“Shut up, Scarlett, I am not, no way!” he snapped.
“The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks!”
“Whatever Lady Macbeth!” he shouted in Scarlett’s face.
“It’s Hamlet actually Jasper!”
“Oh pardon me, Scarlett. ‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.’ Lady Macbeth, scene V. Quite fitting for you, don’t you think?”
Scarlett’s mouth hung open as he stalked out of the kitchen.
I do so love an intellectual argument!
I abandoned my food and followed him into the games room. He ignored me and busied himself setting up the snooker table. I walked over to the cue stand and grabbed one.
“Shall I break, Jasper?”
“If you like,” he muttered.
I took my shot and waited for him. His head hung down and his eyes were red and puffy.
“You okay, Jasper?”
“Not really.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
He took his shot and we continued the game in an awkward uncomfortable silence.
“Amy dumped me!” he suddenly blurted out as I was just about to take a tricky shot.
“Jasper, I’m so sorry,” I told him putting my arm around his shoulder.
“She said she only went out with me because my Dad’s loaded!”
“Well, it’s her loss, Jasper. You are far too good for her the gold-digging bitch!”
His blotchy face broke into a broad smile.
“Well, I don’t know about you, Jasper, but I am bloody starving. Let’s eat!”
Chapter Sixty
After Scarlett and Jasper had made their peace, I headed upstairs and crawled into Zack’s cold, lonely, empty bed.
I shut my eyes and tried to switch off my thoughts about the case and my overwhelming guilt that I felt by keeping such a monumental secret from Zack.
How could I be so happy and so sad at the same time?
My phone beeped with a text message.
‘Missing you, JB, I wish you were here. Goodnight. Love you Z xxxx’
I smiled at the message and sent one back.
‘I miss you too. This bed is too big without you :( Goodnight. Love you J xxxx’
I snuggled into the covers and tried to go to sleep but a morbid feeling settled over my tired body. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the knot of tension in my stomach.
After a while, I drifted off to sleep after I had rolled over to Zack’s side of the bed to get some of his heavenly scent on my body.
I could feel someone’s breath on my face softly tickling me. It must be Zack. I wondered what time it was. I must have slept in.
Opening my eyes, I turned to squint at the clock. The display read 2.35am.
I hadn’t slept in.
Looking up, I saw bloodshot brown eyes staring at me. A gloved hand clamped over my mouth before I got the chance to scream.
I thrashed around wildly in the bed and quickly realised that I was pinned to the bed by the person lying on top of me. All I could see were the brown eyes as the rest of their face was covered with some sort of mask.
What the fuck was going on? Was I dreaming or having some sort of nightmare?
“Jennifer, you need to stop poking around in things that don’t fucking concern you. Understood?” my attacker said in a low voice that dripped pure evil.
I managed to nod yes as the body sat up and straddled on top of me. A gloved hand pulled the covers down to reveal my naked form. I stiffened and tried to struggle again. My head trashed from side to side. His eyes narrowed as he pushed me further into the bed.
Oh my god! He was going to rape me!
I started to scream but he still had a hand clamped across my mouth. He climbed off me and pulled the covers back fully, looking at me from head to toe. A knife glinted and shone in the soft moonlight as he pressed it up against my jawline.