Free When Night Closes in by Iris Gower Page B

excuses were so bizarre?
    Lowri went into the kitchen and switched on the kettle. Was she going mad – had she imagined the love in Jon’s eyes, the tenderness in his touch?
    She made tea and her hands trembled as she lifted the cup. She felt tears constrict her throat and swallowed painfully. What was happening to her? She was losing control; she was being swept this way and that. Suddenly, she wished that Jim Lainey, with his kindness, his reassuring presence, was here with her.
    Before she went to bed, she took great care locking up; her nerves were on edge, her heart still beating unnaturally fast. She carried her tea into the bedroom and switched on all the lights. She put down the cup; perhaps she should check on her mother. Maybe she had been disturbed by Sarah’s angry voice.
    Her mother was asleep curled into a ball, half hidden under the bedclothes. Beside her on the table was a bottle of sleeping-pills.
    Lowri’s face softened. Her mother looked so young in sleep, so vulnerable. She did not deserve the treatment meted out to her by her husband. Lowri picked up the bottle and took out a tablet. She needed to sleep, needed to forget all about Jon Brandon and his crazy wife. Quietly, she closed the door and went into her own room.
    Lowri sat at her desk feeling weary, defeated. Her mother had reacted to an irate phone call from Charles and had rushed back home, and even at the last minute Lowri wondered if she should talk to her about Jon. In the end she said nothing; her mother had enough to cope with.
    â€˜I feel my life is disintegrating into one huge mess, Sal.’ She closed her eyes, resting her head in her hands.
    â€˜I can see you’re off colour,’ Sally said. ‘Time of the month, is it? I’ll make you a nice cup of coffee now.’
    Lowri rose to her feet, filled with the need to do something, anything. ‘No thanks.’ She felt suddenly charged with energy. ‘I’m going to drive down to the Swan. Perhaps one of the staff might have seen Jon leave.’ She smiled grimly. ‘At least I can find out if he’s been there again with another girlfriend.’
    â€˜No, don’t go!’ Sally said. Lowri looked at her in surprise.
    â€˜Why not?’
    â€˜Well, what about Mr Watson?’ Sally asked. ‘He’ll get fed up of you taking time off work.’
    â€˜No, he won’t.’ Lowri smiled. ‘You’ve said yourself, he thinks I’m wonderful.’
    â€˜Wait, Lowri, do you really think this is a good idea?’ Sally seemed agitated. ‘I don’t want you to throw away your job here, I’d be lost without you.’
    â€˜That’s very touching, Sal, but it won’t come to that.’ She sighed. ‘I have to do something, I just can’t sit around twiddling my thumbs. Jon must have gone somewhere and someone must have seen him leave. I won’t be too long.’
    Lowri left the office and walked round to the back of the building to pick up the Mazda. As she slipped into the driving seat, she hesitated: could she face going back to the hotel? She started the car; she was going and that was that.
    Even if the police were any nearer to finding out where Jon had gone, they were keeping quiet about it. She would have to try to discover for herself the truth about Jon Brandon and his vanishing act.
    The roads were busy and the drive to the hotel took longer than she had anticipated. By the time she got there, Lowri was hot and uncomfortable. Sally was right about one thing: it
was
that time of the month.
    She turned into the gravelled courtyard and drew the car to a halt, pulling on the handbrake. She climbed out and looked up at the fine old building, wondering at the secrets hidden behind the many windows. Had Jon met another woman that night? Had a more tempting offer come along? Perhaps she would never know.
    She looked up at the hotel again; would anyone there recognize her? Perhaps it would