Before We Met(91)

‘Hi, it’s me,’ she said, hearing the worry in her voice. ‘Will you call me when you get this?’

She rang off and sat for a moment, phone in hand. Her mind filled with images of Nick, a confrontation, Mark hurt or . . . No: she stopped herself. It would be nothing; she was overreacting. She made herself wait for five minutes then tried again. Again, though, there was no answer.

She brought up his direct line at work and dialled. This time the call was answered after two rings. ‘DataPro.’

‘Mark,’ she said, ‘thank God. It’s me – I got in a bit of a stew: I was trying your mobile but . . .’

‘Is that Mrs Reilly?’ a voice cut in. ‘This is Leo, David’s assistant.’

‘Oh.’ Hannah was taken aback for a moment. ‘Sorry, Leo – you sounded just like Mark. Could you put me through?’

‘He’s not actually here at the moment.’

‘Has he popped out?’

‘I don’t think so – I haven’t seen him at all today. Hang on a sec, let me check with David.’ He put her on hold and Hannah got a snatch of Vivaldi before he came back on the line. ‘No, sorry. David hasn’t seen him either. He said he thought that he’d be in a while ago but he’s not here yet.’

Hannah felt another jolt of alarm.

‘Has he heard from Mark at all? This afternoon?’

‘I’ll ask.’ Another burst of Vivaldi, jarringly upbeat. ‘Mrs Reilly? No, David says he hasn’t heard from him since this morning – an email.’

‘Could I talk to Neesha, Leo?’

‘She’s not here either, I’m afraid. Hence my answering Mark’s phone. I—’

‘Could you ask her to call me when she gets back to her desk?’

‘Of course,’ he said ‘but it won’t be today. She’s taken the day off. She was pretty upset yesterday so David suggested that she . . .’

‘Upset? Why?’

Leo seemed to pause. ‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘I thought you’d probably know about it. She’s been put on a warning.’

‘A warning?’ Hannah felt herself frown.

Leo hesitated again and when he spoke, his voice was quieter. ‘Apparently she messed up some figures,’ he said. ‘Mark told David it’s happened before so . . .’

‘Oh,’ said Hannah. ‘No, I didn’t know. Look, if Mark comes in, could you ask him to call me? Straight away? It’s urgent.’



As soon as she hung up, she tried Mark’s mobile again. Still nothing. The lobby was hot but not hot enough to account for the sweat she could feel prickling under her arms. Where was he? From the newspaper Hermione stared up, her eyes now full of warning.

Increasingly alarmed, Hannah tried him once more then brought up Neesha’s mobile number. She hesitated but anxiety overrode her misgivings and she made the call. It rang and she cleared her throat to talk but then – again – she got voicemail.

‘Neesha,’ she said, ‘this is Hannah Reilly. I know you’re not at the office today and I’m really sorry for calling you when you’re off but I wondered if you’d heard from Mark at all this afternoon. If you have, could you call me? It’s pretty urgent so . . . Thanks.’ She left her number and hung up.

Perhaps she should call Wells, she thought now. Maybe it would turn out to be nothing and she’d look crazy but better that than sitting here doing nothing while . . . She shook her head to stem the images that came spilling out of the dark corners of her mind. Quickly, she stood, picked up the newspaper and made her way back across the lobby towards the lifts. Mark had left the detective’s card on the desk upstairs in case she needed it. He’d entered the number into his phone and now she was angry with herself for not doing the same.

‘Hannah!’

Spinning round, she saw Mark standing just inside the revolving door from the street. Relief swept over her.

‘What’s the matter?’ he said, drawing her to one side, away from a couple waiting to check in. ‘Has something happened?’

The relief changed to anger. ‘Why didn’t you answer your bloody phone?’ she demanded. ‘I texted you – I’ve been calling and calling. I thought something had happened to you, Mark. I called DataPro – I was on my way upstairs to call the police.’

‘Sorry . . . I’m sorry. I was driving.’

‘Driving? For Christ’s sake! Couldn’t you have pulled over? And when did you get so law-abiding? Your brother, a murderer, is out there and you just—’

‘Shhh.’ He looked around quickly.