Free The One You Fear by Paul Pilkington Page A

pressure,’ Dan said. ‘It’s not an excuse for running off, but maybe he just had to get away for a bit – like we tried to do by going to Cornwall.’
    Emma shook her head. ‘The trouble with my dad is that he won’t talk to anyone. He doesn’t even let his closest family get close enough to understand how he is feeling. He wasn’t always like that. Before Mum got sick, he wasn’t like that at all. He was open, caring. He was never the same after she died. The dad I used to know would never have done the kind of things he’s done in the past few weeks.’
    ‘Have you tried his phone again?’
    ‘Still switched off.’
    ‘Maybe you’ll have better luck in the morning. He’s probably checked into a hotel. Give him a night to think things over and he’ll probably be in touch tomorrow.’
    ‘Maybe,’ Emma replied, not particularly believing it. It was equally possible that her father intended the break to be permanent. He could be on the road, getting as far away from them all as possible, driving without any particular destination in mind.
    She had an unsettling feeling that she had seen the last of him.
     

 
     
    10
     
     
     
    ‘Impressed?’ Lizzy arrived at the flat right on time. It was early Wednesday morning, just before nine, the day Emma had arranged to meet the agent, Diana Saunders. It was also Dan’s first day back in the office, and there was an important team meeting about a new multinational client, so Lizzy had offered to accompany Emma. After what had happened at the deli café, where someone had obviously been watching her, they all thought it increasingly important that Emma shouldn’t be alone.
    ‘Come in,’ Emma said. ‘Dan’s just left.’
    As Emma boiled the kettle, Lizzy jumped right in. ‘Have you told him about the letter?’
    Emma dropped a tea bag into the pot. ‘No, not yet.’ She wasn’t certain that she was ever going to tell Dan about the letter from Stuart Harris. ‘I’m still not sure that I’m actually going to read it.’ Since Monday, the letter had remained buried in the bottom of her sock drawer.
    Lizzy let the topic drop. ‘Did you have a nice day yesterday?’
    ‘Pretty good, under the circumstances.’ Dan had suggested a day out in Windsor. The forecast had been good, and it was their last day on holiday, so they’d taken the train and spent the day touring the sights, including the castle and Eton College. She hadn’t been there since she was a little child, and although she didn’t tell Dan, the place really reminded her of her parents – which, with her father still missing, wasn’t necessarily a good thing. But still, they had enjoyed the day, and in places, it was a great distraction from other concerns.
    Lizzy seemed to read Emma’s mind. ‘No word from your dad?’
    Emma shook her head. ‘Nothing. Miranda called again last night, checking whether he’d been in touch.’
    ‘And no news from David Sherborn?’
    ‘No.’
    They were due to meet with him later that day, to see whether he had managed to identify anyone who was following her. Emma doubted whether he would come up with anything. ‘To be honest, I’m starting to wonder whether he’s actually been doing what he promised.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Well, I haven’t heard or seen him at all since our meeting on Monday. He’s never replied to the texts I sent, letting him know where I was.’
    ‘I guess he didn’t really need to reply. He just needed to read your text and go to that location.’
    Emma shrugged. ‘I would have thought I’d see him, maybe not a lot, but occasionally. For instance, yesterday in Windsor, I looked around quite a bit, but there was no sign of him.’
    ‘Maybe he’s got better at staying out of sight.’
    ‘Yeah, maybe I’m underestimating him.’
     
     
    ***
     
     
    Emma and Lizzy got off the tube at Piccadilly Circus, glad to be out into the relatively fresher air at street level – the underground network was a great resource, but it