Within a few minutes, we’re pulling out of the car park. I glance up at the window to my room and I see Leonard standing there, looking down at us. Tom puts his foot down and, in a flash, we are gone, yet the weight of Leonard’s stare bears down on me, filling the car with menace.
‘What will Luke say when he finds out you’ve done a runner?’
‘Luke’s gone to his parents. He’s taken the girls with him.’ I rest my head back against the seat, wondering what he told Hannah and reminding myself to call a bit later. The dark clouds look to be settling in for the night and the tops of the trees sway in the strong wind. As we head towards the sea front, the wind feels even stronger, battering the side of the car.
I pull the sun visor down and look at myself in the vanity mirror. ‘Can we stop at a shop, please?’
‘Sure. What do you need?’
‘A clean dressing.’ I pick at the tape, which is currently holding my crepe bandage turban together. Eventually, I pick enough to get a good grip between my finger and thumb and manage to prise it away. Then, rather unceremoniously, I unwind the bandage, allowing it to spool like spaghetti in my lap, until it reveals a rectangular dressing of about two by three inches. The middle of the dressing has a dark-red, dried bloodstain.
‘Are you sure you should be taking that off?’
‘I’ll be fine.’
Tom draws the car up outside a mini convenience store and runs in to get a clean dressing for me. He returns a few minutes later with a complete first-aid kit. He shrugs. ‘Better safe than sorry. I wasn’t sure what you wanted.’
I smile. ‘Thanks. No doubt there’s something in here that will be useful.’
As we near Tom’s apartment, my phone rings. ‘It’s Leonard,’ I say, showing Tom the screen. I go to answer it, but Tom puts his hand over mine.
‘Don’t give him any clue as to where you are or what you know. We need to work this all out in our heads before we speak to him. You know what he’s like. Before we know it, he’ll have us convinced we’re the insane ones.’
‘Good point.’ I switch the phone to silent. ‘Maybe I should just text to say I’m okay, though. I don’t want them to call the police or anything like that.’
‘It’s up to you.’
I tap out a reply to Leonard saying ‘just gone out with Tom for some fresh air’, with a reassurance that I’ll speak to him later. ‘He was going to sit with Hannah today while the police interviewed her about the accident. Maybe I should speak to him. Just in case.’
‘No!’ The force of Tom’s voice startles me. ‘Later. You can do that later.’
His eyes fix on the road ahead and I sit back in silence, aware that Tom is rather more anxious about it all than he’s letting on. I can see a line of sweat prick above his upper lip. He draws the car into the underground car park and switches off the engine. I can just make out his face in the soft yellow glow from the wall light. He looks at me. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. Just a bit jumpy about Leonard, that’s all. Let’s get inside. We can talk properly there.’
I exit the car and follow him over to the lift. I’ve known Tom a long time and his nerves are like steel, so to see him flustered gives me a deep sense of unease.
We enter the lift and, as I rest my hand against my shoulder bag, I feel the vibration of an incoming text message. For some reason I don’t want Tom to know.
When we get upstairs to his apartment, I make my excuses to use the loo, taking my bag and the first-aid kit with me. ‘I’ll just put a new dressing on this cut while I’m at it,’ I call back over my shoulder. I make sure I lock the door and then set about running a bowl of water. I take my phone from my bag and check the message. I’m not surprised to see it’s from Leonard.
Don’t trust him. Phone me. I need to tell you something important.
Chapter 28
‘You okay in there?’ calls Tom from the other side of the door. I almost drop my phone in panic.
‘Yes. Won’t be a moment!’
I delete the message and shove the phone back into my bag.
A few minutes later we’re sitting in the living room and Tom is handing me a glass of wine. ‘Thought you could do with something a bit stronger than a cup of tea.’
‘Thanks.’ I take the wine. To be honest I’m not really in a wine sort of mood, so I take a sip out of politeness and place it on the table next to me. ‘Where’s your laptop, then?’ I ask, looking around.
‘In the spare room. I’ll get it all up and running in a moment.’ Tom sits on the sofa next to me. ‘Are you okay? I mean, really okay?’