Coming here had been yet another stupid mistake in a long line of stupid mistakes. But he was here now – there had to be something he could do to entrap Lucy, to prove to the world that she needed to be behind bars.
Maybe he should show himself. How would she react? She was so cool – he imagined her resting heart rate was down in the forties – that she probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid if he strode up to her front door in the nude.
Perhaps what they needed to do was lay temptation in Lucy’s path. What did she really enjoy doing? Ruining other people’s happiness. Destroying their nests. She and Chris had sold the ground-floor flat to Jamie and Kirsty – having wrecked the previous occupants’ lives – because they wanted another happy couple to play with, to torment and drive apart. No doubt if Jamie had left when Kirsty did, if they’d put the flat on the market as Kirsty had wanted, Lucy and Chris would have bought it back and sold it on to another couple. And so on.
Perhaps he and Anita should pretend to be a couple? He could be the new boyfriend, moving in. He’d have to disguise himself, of course . . . But it could work . . .
As he was mulling this over, Anita came into the room holding his phone, which he’d left in the kitchen.
‘You had a missed call,’ she said. ‘Sorry, I couldn’t get it to you in time.’
He checked the screen and his heart skipped. Kirsty. Kirsty had tried to ring him.
‘Anyone important?’
She was being disingenuous – she must have seen Kirsty’s name flash up – but Jamie shook his head and took the phone upstairs to his room.
‘Hello?’
For a moment, he couldn’t speak. He hadn’t heard her voice for, what, five years? Just hearing those two syllables hit him in the gut.
‘Jamie? Are you there?’
He forced the words out. ‘Yes, sorry. I . . . It’s just so weird to be talking to you after all this time.’
That’s right, Jamie. Play it cool.
She laughed, and it was like he was five years younger. ‘It’s been too long.’
A short silence fell between them and he wondered what she was thinking about. Was she already regretting picking up? No, her voice was warm.
‘Whereabouts are you?’ she asked.
‘Shropshire.’
‘What are you doing there?’
‘I’m . . .’ He couldn’t tell her the truth. She would think he was still as obsessed with Lucy as he used to be. Brian’s face popped into his head, giving him an answer. ‘I’m researching a book. A novel.’
‘Oh. Really?’
He hoped she didn’t ask him what it was about.
‘So is that what you do now? You’re a novelist?’
He cleared his throat. ‘No, it’s my first but, um, I was kind of inspired after bumping into Brian.’ He paused. ‘Did you read that book he wrote about us?’
‘God, no. Why would I want to do that?’ She sounded disgusted by the idea.
‘It was pretty bad,’ he said. ‘Full of ridiculous sex scenes.’
He cringed. Why did he have to mention the sex scenes?
‘Anyway,’ he said hurriedly. ‘You called me . . .’
‘Yes. I just wanted to ask when you’ll be free to meet up for this coffee? I’m going away with Sasha next week and I didn’t want to miss you while you’re in England.’
‘Is that your daughter?’
‘Yeah.’
He heard a high-pitched voice in the background.
‘Actually, saying her name summons her. She’s asking for a snack. She’s always asking for a snack. I’d better go. Let me know about meeting up, okay? I’ll be away for a week from Saturday.’
She was about to hang up when he hurriedly said, ‘Kirsty.’
‘Yes?’
‘It’s . . . it’s great to hear your voice.’ He swallowed. ‘I’ve missed you.’
There was a long pause. ‘I’ve missed you too.’
This might be the only chance he got to tell her how he felt. ‘I should never have stayed at the flat. I should have come with you. If I could reverse time, do it all again . . .’
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have left. We should have stuck together.’
The sadness in her voice broke his heart all over again. ‘Maybe it’s not too late for us,’ he said.
Another long pause before she said, ‘Maybe.’
Before he could find the right words, she said, ‘Listen, Jamie, I’ve really got to go. Sasha is scattering crisps across the kitchen floor and stamping on them. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?’
She hung up, leaving him with the phone pressed to his ear.
She had called him. She was keen to meet up. He hadn’t made a mistake coming back to the UK after all. Except he shouldn’t be here, close to Lucy – he ought to be in London, near Kirsty. That was the mistake.
He went downstairs, ready to tell Anita that this wasn’t going to work, that he was sorry but it was time he left. He had the whole speech in his head, ready to go.
She was in the living room, pacing excitedly.
‘Look!’
She handed Jamie a folded sheet of paper. In block capitals, someone had written TOUCH MY GARDEN AGAIN AND YOU’LL REGRET IT. He recognised the writing, but there was only one candidate anyway. Lucy.
‘Can we take this to the police?’ she asked.
He studied the words. ‘No. It’s not strong or specific enough. But it shows we’re getting to her. It’s working. We’re provoking her.’
Anita was as pale as the sheet of paper. ‘I’m scared, Jamie. She’s scary.’
‘I know. But this is exactly what we want. We want her coming round here, threatening to kill you. Maybe we could actually get her to attack you . . .’
‘What?’
‘Not actually hurting you . . . I’d be here to step in and save you, stop her. But imagine if we get her on camera, putting her hands around your throat – that would be perfect.’
She gawped at him. ‘I really don’t want her trying to strangle me. I’ve heard of taking one for the team, but that’s going a bit too far.’
‘Anita, I wouldn’t let her kill you.’
‘Good to know.’
He laid a hand on her arm. She didn’t flinch away. ‘Like I said, I’ll be here. We just need to do enough to make her really mad and act on her threat.’
He looked out into the garden.
‘It could even happen tonight.’
Anita stepped away and folded the note. She took a deep breath. ‘Okay. I trust you, Jamie. Please don’t make me regret it. I’ll put this somewhere safe.’ She paused. ‘There’s still no sign of Belle. I’m starting to get really worried.’
‘Don’t. I told you, Lucy would never hurt a cat.’
Apparently mollified, she left the room and Jamie sat back, facing the window. All his thoughts of leaving, of going to see Kirsty in London, were forgotten.
Seven
At just after eleven, the lights in Lucy’s maisonette went out. Jamie, who had his ear pressed to the wall against what he was sure was Lucy’s bedroom, came downstairs.
‘Okay, I’m pretty sure she’s gone to bed. Let’s give her twenty minutes to fall asleep, just to be safe.’