Free How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst Page B

doesn’t look convinced. ‘How much can you actually trust her? After all, she’s a murderer, Susan.’
    I try not to show my anger but my face flushes red, giving my fury away. ‘As am I, or had you forgotten?’
    Nick looks embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.’
    ‘Cassie has been there for me since the day I got to Oakdale. I trust her as much as I trust myself. I’m not justifying our friendship to you or anyone else. You need to accept that she has done what she’s done, and it’s more than likely that so have I. I’ll understand if you don’t want to get involved in this any more.’
    Nick shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I did. I’ll try and be nicer to Cassie, although it’s pretty clear she doesn’t trust me one bit.’
    ‘She’s used to it being just the two of us. She’ll come round. She’s very protective of me.’
    ‘OK, I’ll be nice.’ Nick smiles. ‘So if we’re presuming that none of us told anyone else, then maybe you were overheard. Tell me again what you did after you got the photo.’
    I repeat my exact movements from the minute I picked up the envelope until the time I met him yesterday. Nick listens intently, trying to figure out when someone might have discovered that I was poking around.
    ‘Did you speak to anyone at the library?’ he asks eventually.
    ‘No. Well, just to apply for a library card in my new name. I spoke to the counter lady, Evelyn, but I didn’t tell her what I was looking for.’
    He looks thoughtful. ‘In that case I’d say it’s the same person who sent you the photo. Too many coincidences otherwise.’
    ‘And the phone call.’ The memory comes to me as though someone’s handed me a Post-it. How had I forgotten? But it didn’t seem like anything at the time; could it be something now?
    ‘What phone call?’
    ‘It was last week, right at the beginning, like Monday or Tuesday. The house phone went and I straight away thought it was a sales call. No one else calls my house phone. I don’t even know why I answered it.’
    ‘And who was it?’
    ‘No one. Well, almost no one. I thought it was a dead line, but then there was some house noise, like footsteps and a TV somewhere. Then there was a kid, I don’t know if it was a boy or a girl, shouted “Nanny” and it went dead. I thought it was a wrong number.’
    ‘Is that what you think now?’
    ‘I don’t know. What do you think?’
    ‘I want to say coincidence, but how many coincidences can happen to one person in two weeks? The article in your bag, the photo, your house, now this? I don’t know.’
    I’m not too proud to admit that this scares me. When I received the photo, Cassie and I were quick to dismiss it as a prank; only for a minute did I consider it could be anything more sinister. Does someone really want to hurt me?
    ‘Do you think my phone’s been tapped?’
    Nick looks impressed that I’ve thought of the possibility.
    ‘It’s something you have to think about. I mean, I don’t want to be dramatic, but the photo is a relatively harmless – albeit unpleasant – trick to play. Trashing your house? That’s escalated quickly. Maybe whoever it was knew you were meeting me.’
    I sit back in my seat, the mug of tea warming my hands and providing a much-needed sugar kick. ‘The police officer I spoke to suggested that people round here wouldn’t want a child killer in their town. He’s probably right.’
    Nick purses his lips sympathetically. ‘It does happen, I’m afraid. Some people hold grudges because they have nothing better to do with their lives. They might not know you from Adam, just what you did.’
    My head is hurting again. It’s all a bit surreal for me. I don’t live in a world where things like this happen. This is my life, not boredom relief for some desperate housewife. I sigh and rest my head in my hands, covering my tired eyes. When neither of us has spoken for five minutes, I look up to check Nick is